How to Design a Restaurant Floor Plan: Layouts That Boost Profits & Experiences

A restaurant floor plan is usually a sketch or barebones layout of your restaurant space, including your dining area, kitchen, storage, bathrooms, and entrances. The best restaurant floor plans support operational workflows while communicating your brand to customers and reinforcing your concept. 

Your specific restaurant layout will depend on your restaurant type, but a 40/60 split between the kitchen and dining room is industry standard. Designing even a simple restaurant kitchen layout, let alone a large, full-service establishment, requires designing a restaurant floor plan that includes the following steps:

1. Add your back office
2. Understand your location, local permits & ADA compliance requirements
3. List your restaurant’s functional spaces
4. Draw or plot out your restaurant kitchen floor plan
5. Draw or plot out your dining room layout
6. Add flow-of-service paths for guests & staff
7. Add bars & service counters
8. Add bars & service counters
9. Designate break and staff areas

Step 1: Understand your location, local permits & ADA compliance requirements

Before you get your heart set on a particular restaurant layout, you’ll want to do a little housekeeping, especially if you’re planning on making any cosmetic or structural changes to your space.

Use your building’s blueprints to identify existing electrical lines, water lines, load-bearing walls, and areas where you can place floor drains. If you don’t have a copy of your blueprints from a previous building owner, you can look them up through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) website. 

Unfortunately, online forums suggest that if the previous building owner doesn’t have your blueprints, they might not exist. In that case, you might need to consult a contractor to determine the most sensible places for your kitchen equipment, restrooms, and bar equipment. Overall, the availability of gas lines, electricity, ethernet cables, phone lines, and water lines will influence how you layout your restaurant space. 

After that, contact your landlord and local zoning board to learn about any restrictions that could impact your choices. Your landlord, for example, may have rules for where you can receive deliveries and where entrances and exits can face. Zoning is primarily a concern for exterior signage and concepts that want to add drive-thru service. 

Local ordinances may not permit drive-thrus, or you may need special permits and licenses for restaurants for sidewalk seating and outdoor patios. Zoning ordinances also determine where you can vent kitchen fumes and smoke. 

Finally, familiarize yourself with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for restaurants. Accessibility and universal design are huge for every type of restaurant, as they decide everything from the width of your doorframes (at least 3 feet) to the height of your tables (between 28 and 34 inches above the floor), restroom sizes, furniture selection, and parking accommodations. 

All guest-facing areas of your restaurant are under scrutiny in this area and must be ADA-compliant, so it’s a good idea to design them at the same time. Doorways must be wheelchair accessible, and you must have at least one restroom stall in each bathroom that is also wheelchair accessible.

I talk a lot about ADA compliance in this guide because it’s that important. But beyond that, accessible spaces are good for business. The more customers that feel welcome in your space, the wider your customer base. Good for one, good for all. 

Step 2: List your restaurant’s functional spaces

Every restaurant has several operational spaces for storing and preparing food, selling products, and sanitizing preparation and serving equipment. The size of each area will vary based on your restaurant’s style and whether customers eat on-site or take food to go.

But the primary operational areas of the restaurant floor plan include entry and waiting areas, kitchens, and more. Functional spaces are key, as even the best groups, such as The Alinea Group, fall victim to closures when their dining rooms are not properly mapped out.

• Entry and waiting area: This area needs serious consideration if you expect your restaurant to have wait times. For quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and cafe concepts, this space can be minimal, especially if you have a bar for counter service.
• Dining areas: Restaurant dining areas typically need 60% of the restaurant space to provide adequate room for seating and traffic flow. Delivery-only restaurants or quick-service spots may not need this much room. If you use a POS system, you’ll need space for terminals throughout your dining room.
• Kitchen: In most restaurant floor plans, the kitchen takes up about 40% of your space. This might seem like a lot for a space that patrons never see, but it’s the heart of your business. Kitchens also need gas lines, water lines, electrical wiring, floor drains, and ventilation hoods.
• Restrooms: In most locations, the health code requires restrooms for both your customers and your employees. These all typically need to be ADA-compliant.
• Delivery entrances and loading docks: In most locations, you don’t receive supplies through the same entrances that customers use. Large commercial buildings will already have loading docks or back entrances for vendor deliveries.
  
  If your building doesn’t have one, it’s a good idea to add a delivery entrance to your restaurant. You don’t want customers walking around vegetable crates to get to a table!
• Staff areas and back office: Restaurants need a back office to hold sensitive business information like personnel files, tax documents, computing equipment, and cash reserves. Some cities also require employers to provide break areas for staff.
• Bar and service counters: A bar area is essential for restaurants with robust cocktail, coffee, or juice programs. If you allow customer seating at your bar, you’ll need to ensure that a portion of it is ADA-compliant, with counter space no higher than 36 inches and at least 36 inches wide with a 12-inch overhang.
  
  Delis, sushi shops, and other quick-service restaurants also need counters or bar areas. The availability of floor drains, electrical lines, and water lines will usually determine where you can place your bar or service counter.
• Takeout and delivery pick-up areas: If you do a lot of takeout and delivery business, you should set aside space to hold completed orders and enable efficient pick-up. Full-service restaurants with dine-in guests alongside delivery services should separate the two guest types to keep business flowing.
• Outdoor spaces: For some restaurants, the only outdoor space is the front entrance. But, in temperate climates, you’ll want to expand your dining space with outdoor patios or sidewalk seating.

As you make your list, I recommend you consider how many people need to work or dine in each area simultaneously and how long they will occupy the space. Allocate the most space in your floor plan to areas where the most people will congregate for the most extended amount of time. 

Dining rooms in full-service restaurants where customers spend two hours per meal will naturally be larger than in a burger joint where most customers take food to-go, or tables turn over faster.

Step 3: Draw or plot out your restaurant kitchen floor plan

Your restaurant’s kitchen has the most significant technical needs of any part of your restaurant. That’s why you start with the kitchen. Most restaurants allocate 30% to 40% of their total space to the kitchen to allow adequate food prep, cooking, sanitizing, and service space. But there’s more than just food to consider. 

A restaurant kitchen must allow for adequate flow of: 

• Raw ingredients going into the kitchen, and prepared food flowing out.
• Cooking and cleaning staff in an efficient workspace, and service staff in an efficient pick-up space.
• Waiters bringing orders into the kitchen and picking them up when they’re ready.
• Cooking fumes, steam, and smoke safely vented from the building, and wastewater and cooking grease properly disposed of.

A restaurant kitchen is also a nerve center for all your utilities. To remain safe and sanitary, a restaurant kitchen needs: 

• Gas lines to power cooking equipment.
• Electrical lines to power cooking and ventilation equipment, refrigerators, freezers, and POS equipment like printers and kitchen display systems (KDS).
• Water lines to supply dishwashers and sinks, specialty beverage equipment like soft drink dispensers and espresso machines, and sprinkler systems or fire suppression equipment.
• Floor drains for refrigerators, ice machines, ice bins, and sinks.
• Grease trap connections to prevent cooking fats from wastewater and cooking equipment from entering public wastewater.

Once you’ve chosen the best spot in your restaurant space to support your kitchen equipment, you’re ready to think about the layout of the kitchen itself. 

Traditionally, there are three primary commercial kitchen designs for restaurants: assembly line, island, and zone. Some people also list the open kitchen. And each restaurant kitchen layout has benefits and drawbacks.

Assembly line kitchen layouts

This floor plan includes three distinct areas for food production, food prep, cooking, and service (i.e., plating and pick-up). An assembly line keeps staff in defined workspaces, so there’s little movement between stations. An assembly line kitchen is best for high-volume full-service, pizza, and institutional kitchens.

Island kitchen layouts

The circular layout of an island kitchen floor plan allows more cook movement and supervision between stations. The cooking equipment — ovens, grills, and fryers — is centralized, with other stations for storage, food prep, and washing placed around the perimeter. 

It’s easy for a head chef to see all the kitchen stations at once in an island kitchen, making this format a great choice for restaurants with a chef-owner and kitchens with flexible staff.

Zone kitchen layouts

A zone layout breaks your kitchen into squares of about equal size for each task, from food storage to cooking. Defining zones for each kitchen task allows easier staff movement, giving front-of-house staff easy access to prep and cooking zones. 

This setup is excellent for small spaces and food service operations like coffee shops, where the same staff prepares food and rings in orders. Because the cooking area is small, it works well for restaurants that serve a lot of cold dishes, like salads and desserts, or other food items that don’t require cooking.

Open kitchen layouts

The only difference between an open kitchen and a traditional restaurant kitchen layout is the walls that separate customers from the kitchen. Open kitchens can be assembly line, zone, or island kitchen layouts, depending on the available space, budget, and operational needs. But restaurateurs, beware: Choosing an open kitchen actually has a bigger impact on your dining room layout than your kitchen layout.

This is a popular configuration for pizza shops and delivery-heavy restaurants that want to infuse services with a little more drama and flare (think rising flame, tossed dough, and passionate communication) while also ensuring ample space for line forming. Open kitchens are also popular with celebrity chef concepts, establishments with exclusive chef’s tables, and high-end restaurants where customers expect a show.

Step 4: Draw or plot out your dining room layout

Restaurant dining areas use around 60% of your total restaurant space. What you put in this space (high-top tables, lounge sofas, traditional two- and four-top tables, etc.) depends on your restaurant type. The first step in this equation is determining how much space you need to support your expected customer levels. 

Generally, fine dining restaurants need to allow more space per customer than fast service or casual restaurants. But your location, restaurant size, and even your chefs can help you figure this out. 

A menu-inspired dining room design keeps your concept in mind, seamlessly blending your cuisine into your space. When it comes to achieving menu-inspired design, your chefs are your secret weapons. Get them involved in the design process. If your most popular item is made tableside, they can help you ensure there’s space for tableside chefs to serve and entertain and keep space for others to get around without disrupting one another.

Beyond that, follow the industry standard ratios for the square footage per customer: 

• Fine dining restaurants need 18 to 20 square feet per person.
• Full-service casual restaurants need 15 to 18 square feet per person.
• Counter-service restaurants need 12 to 15 square feet per person.

You can start with your target customer number to determine how large you need to make your dining room or go the other way and use the size of your available space to figure the number of customers you can likely serve simultaneously. 

Suppose you’re operating in an existing space. In that case, you’ll likely also have a certificate of occupancy issued by the local fire marshal that tells you exactly how many people can be in your space at one time. This can be a great starting point for designing your dining room layout.

Once you know how many people you’re accommodating, you’ll want to consider how much individual space to allocate for individual seating. The following table and chair space allocations allow staff and customers to co-exist easily and provide room for most wheelchairs to pass. 

• Occupied chairs: At bars, service, counters, and tables, there should be 18 to 20 inches of space between occupied chairs. 
• Parallel tables: There should be 42 to 60 inches between the sides of tables that are parallel to each other.
• Diagonal tables: Square tables set on a diagonal only need about 24 to 30 inches between table sides. Space saving is one reason this table configuration is so popular. 

Of course, much of your space allocation for tables and chairs depends on your restaurant concept and the types of seating you use. Mixing table styles optimizes dining space by making clever use of wall space and supporting efficient traffic flow. You can move freestanding tables to accommodate large parties or change your space’s look and flow. 

Booths maximize wall space, and mixing them in with tables gives patrons their choice of seating. Many dining concepts add counter-height tables to add visual variety. Most restaurant POS systems and the best waitlist and table management apps have customizable table layout tools. If you use this software, tinker with the built-in floor plan tools to help you find your ideal table configuration.

Full-service bar & restaurant layout

A bar and restaurant need two distinct seating areas, usually separated by a visible barrier to mark bar seating clearly. These casual spots can also make efficient use of booths and freestanding tables to expand seating and give customers options. In this layout, the kitchen is completely closed off from the dining room, which is a great idea if your kitchen is busy, hot, or relies heavily on fryers.

Quick-service restaurant layout

A quick-service restaurant needs direct access to the kitchen since many QSR staff have both food preparation and customer service duties. This layout also gives the team good sightlines of the entire dining room so they can stay on top of cleaning duties and the main entrance so they can greet customers. 

This restaurant design works best for cafeterias, burger joints, barbecue, and build-your-own concepts (burritos, salads, combos, etc.).

Server and POS stations

Beyond supporting the efficient flow of your staff and customers, your restaurant dining room has another critical component: information flow. Whether you use a cash register or a POS system, you need to send order information from customers to your kitchen and payment information from your customers to your payment processor. 

So, don’t forget to include server stations equipped with card readers or POS terminals in your dining room layout near electrical outlets. If you use a top iPad POS, you’ll need to think a lot about your walls. The more walls between your POS terminals and your Wi-Fi router, the weaker your signal will be. 

Meanwhile, open floor plans are great for cloud POS users because you can still have a dining room full of partitions and cozy nooks. Just remember to add Wi-Fi signal boosters to your design plan.

Outdoor dining areas

In outdoor spaces, plan for adequate walking space between tables and umbrellas (if you use them). Also, plan for wide walkways and aisles alongside planters and walls. Just like your indoor spaces, you need to leave enough room in the main thoroughfares to allow wheelchairs to pass. And if you plan to accept tableside payments, you’ll likely need a Wi-Fi signal booster. 

Lighting, POS hardware, and some outdoor heating equipment may also need electricity, so plan for that, too. And, while it’s tempting to place a patio on any available strip of outdoor space, remember not to place your patio near exhaust outlets, dumpsters, or any other unpleasant spaces.

Check local zoning laws before you place dining tables on your sidewalk. Many locations require a separate permit or may limit the hours you can use outdoor seating.

Step 5: Add restrooms and flow-of-service paths for guests & staff, including entryways, waiting & pick-up areas

Step 6: Add bars & service counters

Bar or countertop dining areas can be a great addition to your restaurant floor plan. If you haven’t considered one, you should add one if space allows. A bar can be a more profitable use of space than a large waiting area since patrons can order drinks while waiting. Plus, a bar creates a small-footprint dining space since diners expect less elbow room at a bar or counter than they do at a table.

For placement, a bar or countertop that shares its back wall with the kitchen works very well, especially in small spaces. That lets you tie into your existing plumbing for bar sinks or add a pass-through window to the kitchen for a diner, cafe-style coffee house, or bistro restaurant concept.

Allow 14 feet of width for any bars or countertops in your restaurant floor plan. This allows plenty of room for customers to gather on one side, width for the counter itself, room for your staff to work, and room for a backbar for additional workspace behind the counter. Expand the sections below for more details on specific bar and service counter types. 

Step 7: Designate break and staff areas

You’ve addressed the needs of customers and vendors. Now, it’s time to turn your attention to your staff’s needs. Staff areas don’t need to be large since they don’t generate revenue, and ideally, your team isn’t spending long hours in them, but they should be thoughtfully designed.

• Staff entrance: A separate staff entrance prevents traffic jams between your staff and your customers. A staff entrance can also double as a delivery entrance. 
• Locker room: If you have the space, a staff locker room is an excellent addition to your restaurant floor plan. A staff locker room gives your team a place to change from street clothes into work clothes and securely stow their personal belongings while they work. 

Since anything that travels from outside your restaurant is a potential source of food-borne illness, many health inspectors will dock points on your health department rating if they see employee belongings in food service areas.

Step 8: Add your back office

Like your other staff-supporting areas, your restaurant back office doesn’t need to be large, but it does need to be secure. This means no windows and typically one entrance/exit. It’s common to place a restaurant’s back office somewhere in the middle of your overall floor plan, away from customers’ view. Basements that aren’t prone to flooding can be promising places for back offices. 

Your back office holds sensitive information like hiring documents, tax information, and business licenses. It also holds valuable items like your back office computer, security system hub, and safe. There should always be at least two lockable doors between your safe and the outside world. Your office door should be solid, and it should lock from the inside so that your team is secure when counting cash and handling deposits.

Restaurant floor plan considerations

When designing your restaurant floor plan, the most important thing to remember is that your layout must enable the flow of several elements throughout your restaurant. Your ultimate restaurant layout should consider the flow of people, products, and utilities.

• The flow of people, including your staff, customers, and vendors.
• The flow of products, including your food and beverage deliveries and sales.
• The flow of utilities and information, including electricity, water, air, order information, and payment data.

Your restaurant should also be secure, with doors and windows that are easily lockable. Restaurants have valuable inventory, equipment, and sometimes cash on hand that can make them a target for would-be thieves. Beyond that, your restaurant floor plan must comply with essential regulations. 

• Health code compliance: Health codes determine everything from the required temperature of your handwash sinks to the distance between warewashing and food prep areas. Make sure you know your local codes before committing to a restaurant floor plan. 
• Fire code compliance: Restaurants use all types of fuel, from gas to wood, each of which has its own fire safety requirements. The fire code also specifies the number and placement of required emergency exits. 
• ADA compliance: We’ve talked a lot about this throughout this article, but this is a final reminder that all new and renovated restaurant floor plans should honor the ADA. 

The list of considerations for a restaurant floor plan is not lengthy, but each item is important to get right. Your local health and fire departments are an excellent resource if you have any questions. Then, it’s all about giving your team the room they need to work and your customers enough space to enjoy your food and atmosphere.

3 common floor plan mistakes in small restaurant layout plans

1. Overcrowding: Putting too many essential spaces too close together can lead to overcrowding and bottlenecks. Not to mention, guests notice people standing in tight clusters. Overcrowding hurts your ambiance and cheapens your experience overall, discouraging your customers from staying longer. Overcrowding may also indicate a problem with table management, wait time accuracy, and table turnover speeds.
   
2. Ignoring ADA requirements: ADA violations can carry fines up to $100,000. If there isn’t enough space between tables or wheelchair-friendly seating, doorways, and restrooms, you run financial risks. On top of that, you send a message to customers that some people aren’t welcome. What is good for one is good for everyone. You’re not just turning down single diners when you’re not ADA compliant, but you make their families and parties less likely to dine with you.
   
3. Bad service flow, walking paths, or too-small spaces: It’s not surprising that common mistakes all have to do with too-little spaces. When staff can’t move about freely, they have to spend more time plotting routes to tables and dodging one another.
   
   Meanwhile, cramped layouts limit flexibility, discourage groups, and make guests feel rushed or unwelcome. This feeling shrinks check averages and word-of-mouth appeal. And trying to put too many seats or tables in one space can lead to slow service overall.

Restaurant Floor Plan Considerations

When designing your restaurant floor plan, the most important thing to remember is that your layout must enable the flow of several elements through your restaurant. Your ultimate restaurant layout should take these elements into consideration:

• The flow of people: Your staff, customers, and vendors
• The flow of product: Food and beverage deliveries and food and beverage sales
• The flow of utilities and information: Electricity, water, air, order information, and payment data

Your restaurant should also be secure, with doors and windows that are easily lockable. Restaurants have valuable inventory, equipment, and sometimes cash on hand that can make them a target for would-be thieves. Beyond that, your restaurant floor plan must also:

• Comply with health code: Health codes determine everything from the required temperature of your handwash sinks to the distance required between ware washing and food prep areas. Make sure you know your local codes before committing to a restaurant floor plan.
• Comply with fire code: Restaurants use all types of fuel from gas to wood, each of which has its own fire safety requirements. The fire code also specifies the number and placement of required emergency exits.
• Comply with ADA requirements: We’ve talked a lot about this throughout this article, but this is a final reminder; all new and renovated restaurant floor plans should honor the ADA.

The list of considerations for a restaurant floor plan is not lengthy, but each item is important to get right. Your local health and fire departments are an excellent resource if you have any questions. Then, it’s all about giving your team the room they need to work and your customers enough space to enjoy your food and atmosphere.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Restaurant floor plans can be simple or complex, depending on your restaurant type. These are the most common questions I hear about restaurant floor plans.

Last bite

Your restaurant’s floor plan dictates the entire workflow of your operation, from the kitchen and dining areas to customer amenities like waiting areas and restrooms. Allocating about 40% of your total area to the kitchen is the industry standard, with 60% for your customer-facing areas. The layout that works best for your restaurant will depend on your restaurant type and sales volume.

The best restaurant floor plans support the smooth flow of employees, customers, food, and information through the restaurant space, giving employees the room they need to work and customers the space they need to settle in and enjoy your amazing food.