Restaurant Furniture Blog

There was a growing trend in the nineties that saw many restaurants include external dining in their restaurant furniture layout. The problem with moving the inside to the outside is that interior furniture is rarely suited to the outdoors.

It doesn’t have to be a problem, however, if you are prepared to think about the practicality of the furniture you select and the comfort of your patrons. You should also take into consideration the attitude of your patrons - if they are dining outside, they are not going to expect the same type of furniture that is being used inside.

Is the trend of including external dining in your restaurant furniture design returning? I’ll let you in on a little secret - it never left us. Sidewalk cafes have been around for decades and take their inspiration from the thousands of sidewalk cafes in Europe, particularly France. Is it successful for restaurants as well? Yes, but not necessarily on the sidewalk.

There are now a lot of restaurants that have built out. They need extra floor space to cater for the increase in patron numbers - they cannot buy the space around them but they can add balconies and terraces and upstairs dining. I keep wondering if one day a restaurant will open a roof garden - that would be worth visiting - French cuisine under the stars, with of course, the very best in champagne. I digress.

If you look around you will find a lot of very good quality restaurant patio furniture. The fact that manufacturers now support such as wide range of external furniture tells you how popular external eating is.

Adding outside dining to your restaurant need never be a problem on account of furniture. With so much to choose from there is no excuse for getting your restaurant furniture design to include external dining. You just need the patrons that will accept and use it and the desire within your own mind to succeed with it.