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 […]
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:
Toast’s restaurant floor plan templates can help you get inspired as you map or reimagine your restaurant’s layout. Visualize how employees and guests will move through the space, and learn how technology has become integral to the restaurant floor plan today.
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The term “restaurant floor plan” can refer to a few things. Most commonly, a restaurant floor plan refers to a drawing that illustrates a restaurant’s functional areas, from the staff and customer entrances to the kitchen, dining room, and staff areas. Overall, your floor plan should include:
You’ll also hear people talk about a restaurant’s floor plan when referring to a restaurant’s general physical layout. A floor plan can also mean the virtual diagram of a restaurant’s dining room, a feature found in some of the best restaurant POS systems.
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.
Pro tip: Re-configuring an old restaurant to meet your needs costs a lot less than starting with a raw commercial space. Find a commercial real estate pro with restaurant experience to help you find the ideal restaurant location to rework. They can usually advise you on SBA restaurant loans and financing options, too.
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.
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.
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:
A restaurant kitchen is also a nerve center for all your utilities. To remain safe and sanitary, a restaurant kitchen needs:
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.
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You’ve likely been making notes and pen-and-paper illustrations as you’ve gone through the steps above. Now, it’s time to create an official copy of your restaurant floor plan. You can do this on your own with a free illustrator app like Canva or a specialized tool like SmartDraw.
However, if you’re courting investors or have a complex restaurant operation, consider hiring a professional to draft a physical copy of your restaurant floor plan. You can typically find graphic designers who specialize in restaurant floor plans on freelancer sites like Fiverr for rates ranging from $10 to $100, depending on your restaurant size and how quickly you need the floor plan.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Pro tip: Whichever kitchen layout fits your needs, it’s a good idea to test your plan before installing any permanent equipment. Have staff walk through workflows to ensure there are no traffic jams. Then, you can lock in your 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.).
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.
Pro tip: Design your layout to drive profits. High tops near the bar move guests in and out fast. Booths tucked into quieter zones invite longer stays and bigger checks. Lighting sets the tempo, with bright lights communicating quick bites, while soft, warm lighting keeps cocktails flowing. Acoustic control turns chaos into calm, raising perceived value. Every detail shapes how long guests stay, what they order, and how often tables turn.
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.
Your restaurant entrance should clearly communicate your restaurant’s concept and brand. This is the first visual and tactile experience your patrons have when entering your establishment, so carry any design choices you make in your dining room forward to your entry. Or simply customize your door to complement your signage and brand concept.
If your entryway includes stairs or a step up or down from ground level, you’ll need to think about ADA adjustments. Fitting a ramp alongside any stairs is usually the simplest solution. But you might also consider a separate, wheelchair-accessible entrance or a wheelchair lift.
For cafe, bistro, and diner concepts, your entrance can be minimal, especially if you have a bar or countertop where patrons can wait. If you need a defined wait space in front, plan this area to allow traffic flow in and out and accommodate seating, if possible.
A few comfortable chairs work, but bench seating against the wall can better use a tight space. And if it works in your location and climate, adding outdoor seating to your wait space can be a good idea. A few patio-type chairs or benches can do the job with style.
Many restaurants are struggling to keep up with the rising consumer demand for online ordering and delivery. Whether you provide takeout and delivery with your in-house staff or rely on third-party delivery services, you should set aside an area specifically for drivers and customers to pick up delivery and takeout orders. If your delivery program is especially robust, it makes sense for the pick-up area to be near or in your kitchen.
Depending on your business level, this area can be a series of shelves inside your front entrance or a drive-thru window. Suppose your restaurant is a delivery-only concept like a ghost kitchen or cloud kitchen. In that case, you’ll want to invest in warming cabinets or countertops with heat lamps to keep your food at optimum temperature.
Placing your restrooms near kitchens can save you money on your plumbing by tying into nearby water and sewer lines. However, placing your restrooms away from the kitchen can reduce crowding in a high-traffic area. Restrooms are also spots that require careful consideration for ADA compliance.
The ADA generally requires at least 60 inches of turning space between fixtures for wheelchair accessibility. Small restaurants may only have room for single-occupancy restrooms to stay within ADA guidelines. So place your restrooms carefully. This isn’t an element that’s easily moved about the space.
Did you know? Failing to comply with ADA regulations can result in fines between $75,000 and $100,000. If you’re worried about your space, consider hiring a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) to inspect your space and ensure compliance. A CASp assessment typically costs between $500 and $2,000, depending on your location size. Find local CASp services with a quick internet search.
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.
Since a bar is a beverage preparation area, you need warewashing and handwashing sinks, plus floor drains for ice bins and refrigerators. You’ll need water lines and electrical lines for dishwashers, refrigerators, and espresso machines.
If you plan to serve beers on tap, you’ll also want to consider room for kegs and draft lines. In some locations, your bar and your restaurant kitchen receive separate health department licenses, so any full-service bar must be configured to the same standards as a kitchen.
If you plan to serve draft beer, talk with your beer supplier. They will typically have an on-staff keg and draft expert who can help you determine the best place to store kegs and run draft lines. Since they have a vested interest in you serving their product under optimal conditions, this service is usually free.
Quick-service restaurants like pizza shops and burger joints ring in customer orders at a central counter equipped with registers or POS terminals. This counter is usually the only separation between the kitchen and the dining area.
Order counters are common in coffee shop floor plans and typically only need electrical outlets and an internet connection to process payments. Many restaurants also use this real estate to store dry goods and paper supplies under the counter.
Delis, bakeries, and slice shops perform most of their business from a counter. Depending on the food you serve, this counter may need to support refrigerated or heated displays. These service counters are like mini-kitchens and need access to electric and water lines as well as drainage and ventilation.
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.
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.
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.
Pro tip: Allow enough back office space for two desks so your chef and front-of-house manager can both perform necessary tasks, like placing orders and printing closing reports, at the same time.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
The five key areas to consider when designing a restaurant are your dining room(s), kitchen spaces (including cook, prep, cleaning, and storage areas), restrooms, outdoor dining spaces, and entryways and waiting areas.
However, some restaurant owners may prioritize other areas, depending on their concepts or building size. Additional areas to consider include delivery entrances and loading docks, staff areas and back offices, bar and service counters, and takeout and delivery pick-up areas.
The best way to ensure smooth guest and staff flow is by optimizing the placement of furniture, tables, and pathways throughout your restaurant. Ideally, placing in and out doors to the kitchen can prevent bottlenecks and accidents. Meanwhile, tables placed at a diagonal need less space between them, making more space for walking paths and tableside service.
Times and trends change quickly, but the general consensus is to update your restaurant floor plan every five years. These changes not only reflect the evolution of your menu and concept. They can also communicate to customers that your space is modern, clean, and comfortable.
Nothing detracts from a space faster than worn-out furniture and fixtures. That’s not to say old pieces don’t have charm, but if vintage is your concept, prioritize regular cleaning.
In most cities, you’ll need to include a copy of your restaurant floor plan when you apply for business, health, and fire safety permits. If you’re seeking investors, it’s a good idea to include your floor plan in your restaurant’s business plan, too.
Your restaurant layout should include all entrances, exits, waiting areas, a dining room, a kitchen and prep area, restrooms, staff-only areas, a back office, and loading dock or delivery and pick-up entrances.
Creating a restaurant floor plan is a multi-step process that requires considering your restaurant space, operational needs, and local health and safety regulations.
Once you narrow down your operational spaces, you can create a physical illustration of your restaurant floor plan in your POS, reservation system, or plan drawing app like SmartDraw. If you work with an architect, contractor, or a Certified Access Specialist, they may provide you with a floor plan illustration.
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.
Ray Delucci is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America with a Bachelor’s in Food Business Management. He has experience managing restaurants in New York City, Houston, and Chicago. He is also the host of the Line Cook Thoughts Podcast, where he interviews and shares the stories of foodservice workers. Ray currently works in food manufacturing and food product development.
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