When a customer enters a restaurant, they always focus on seating selection. After all, most people want the best spot to eat their meal. Whether it’s open seating or you are being
led to your table, you might notice a table or two that makes you wonder why it is placed there. Although it may seem like a random placement, there is a lot of thought that goes into seating locations.
Like for most businesses and to an extent, even more so, first impressions matter when someone walks through the front door of a restaurant. People want to dine in a place that matches what they are looking for. If you are going to a Japanese restaurant, most customers will pause if they do not see a visible sushi bar. This is where seating selection and placement come in. Restaurants need to highlight important things about the restaurant.
If you are going to a bar and grill like Oakwood, the bar should be visible from the moment you walk in. Some restaurants put their bar on one of the walls near the entrance. If that isn’t a viable spot, then the bar is usually placed in the center. Either way, the bar will be visible with seats organized to draw your attention to the bar by having the end of the table going towards it. Typically, it is a meeting and greeting venue which benefits from social interaction which takes place around the bar.
Restaurant seating selection is also important for efficiency. Seating efficiency allows for a better dining experience for customers and restaurant staff. Good restaurant seating will optimize space usage, enhance foot traffic flow, and boost service. That means restaurants also need to maximize seating without sacrificing comfort and spacing. A lot of restaurants will work to make a flow that allows them to move between the tables easily. Customers also should not feel cramped and feel like they can move around.
Restaurants achieve this in a few ways. Some establishments line the walls with booths to allow for more tables to be placed. Other places will the building architecture to place seating, such as building a table around a support beam. At the Driftwood Grill in Novi, a hostess station was added to aid in directing patrons. Proper seating placement makes everyone’s overall dining experience better!