Starting a restaurant

There are two restaurants we recently designed in Gainesville and now have finish pictures of (thanks to Stone Photography.)  All the spaces are looking great and serving our clients well! Here are some samples of Dough Religion (two themes within one space).

And Burrito Brothers

The similarities between the two are owing to the building in which they are both situated, but end there. They exist happily together, feeding Gainesville some of the best food it has ever known!

One of the highlights for us designing restaurant spaces was the opportunity to learn very specific equipment specification related to beer. We are beer fans, so learning from the expertise of restaurant consultants was a delight. 

As well, the design considerations related to restaurant management and profitability were very fun. We have lots of fun on the stuff that is most important to clients. We want to get it right.

Here are 3 important points, distilled:

1) Sometimes a line is good: a common mistake made by DIY restaurants is to put the POS (point of sale) right in your face when you walk in. The thinking here is that it is convenient and will make people happy. But if you order prior to receiving product, you have line stacking going outside and you will need good exterior cover. If your customers sit down and order and pay after enjoyment this creates a bottleneck for people trying to get in. In reality, this is a stacking disaster: putting the POS reasonably inside the restaurant or retail space allows for proper queuing, which can attract more people to your business. But it depends on your service model.

2) Bullhorn your brand!  The customer should be inundated with your brand as manifested by the space and the elements of the space (tectonics, materials, graphics, lights, textures etc..) before they have to talk to anyone! In other words - you are preparing your customer for what they should expect before you have to spend any time telling them what you offer. Make your space work for you and not you work for your space.

3) Don’t turn your back to an 800# gorilla. In other words - whatever tenant space you are going in, or if you are developing a pad/stand alone, you cannot afford to ignore the major influences of the specific environment your business will be housed in. In the case of restaurants above - tons of natural light exposure as well as sidewalk cafe / exterior spaces. I’ve seen some restaurants try to shut out the “storefront” with shades, window treatments, walls, work counters etc…. Treat challenges as opportunities instead.

Are you looking to start a restaurant? Hire a design professional with inside expertise to the industry. Contact us!