In the modern-day restaurant industry, having a successful establishment is more than just good food delivery. Customers want a holistically quality experience – from the look and feel of the restaurant, down to how the lighting and colors make them feel. So design is a huge part of that overall experience.
Being strategic, intentional, and creative with your mini restaurant design ideas are some of your biggest keys to success.
Here are some valuable and practical design ideas to make your small restaurant stand out – and keep your customers coming back.
The Power of Cozy Small Restaurant Designs
A positive and memorable restaurant experience comes from your customers feeling comfortable and relaxed in the dining room you have created. When designing a smaller venue, every little detail makes a statement. From your color scheme to your lighting, the decor you have chosen to your furniture – every single element plays a role in your customer’s overall experience of your floor plan.
It’s not just a case of banging on some benches and painting the walls your favorite color. Every element that you include in your restaurant interior design needs to add to the “feeling” you want your guests to experience – and leave with.
Curating a cohesive and welcoming environment in a mini restaurant is a delicate balancing act. Your space could easily become too cluttered or discordant. So every element needs to be carefully thought out and included with a particular purpose.
Creating a cozy layout for your small restaurant space will allow your patrons to enjoy the space in totality. They won’t feel like they’re on top of each other, but will still feel part of the social buzz in your restaurant.
There may be some interesting features that make your restaurant stand out uniquely. You might do away with chairs altogether and adorn the room with continental pillows and low tables. Or you could fill the borders of your space with overgrown plants to create a little jungle haven. Carefully selected furnishings may add an extra layer of coziness to the dining experience.
The beauty of it all is that there are loads of small restaurant design ideas that you can play with. They not only make for a great space but also represent your brand uniquely and memorably.
Key Elements of Successful Mini Restaurant Design
So what are the key elements to consider?
Represents Your Brand
Firstly, your interior needs to represent your brand. Customers get their first impression of your restaurant by your brand name, colors, the fonts that you’ve used in your branding, and the tone of voice of your brand. So the initial expectations need to be firmly met the moment they step through your doors.
If your restaurant has a quirky name, the interior should be somewhat eccentric. If your brand is more upmarket, then your interiors should be sophisticated. And if your brand identity is more bistro style and relaxed, this is what your patrons should experience from the interiors.
Thoughtfully and Intentionally Crafted
This means that you really need to put thought into the layout and design elements of your small restaurant.
Say, for example, the theme of your restaurant is romantic. You’ll want to craft your interior to allow for pockets of privacy for an intimate dining experience. Lighting would be dim to create the right mood, and your color scheme would be more muted instead of bright with lots of glaring light. Your furniture would exude comfort, and your music playlist would be curated to create a romantic, moody atmosphere.
Smart Pairing of Elements
It’s also important that your elements fit together well. First impressions are everything and a cohesive design puts forward a confident appearance that is bound to attract your ideal clientele. So you wouldn’t want vintage furniture but then have modern wall art. Or have a French restaurant theme and name, and an interior that is clearly Italian.
4 Innovative Mini Restaurant Design Ideas
Depending on your overall style and theme, here are four ideas for themes to give you some inspiration.
1. Industrial
The industrial look is currently very popular, featuring open space, metal, face brick, visible pipes, and concrete. It is quite a minimalist style that welcomes natural light, often features repurposed materials, and highlights architectural features. Want to give the impression that your restaurant is a repurposed factory layered with history? This gritty style elegantly walks the line between bourgeoisie and proletariat.
2. Minimalist
For the full minimalist style, you would use sparse furnishings that take up little space. A light color palette and lots of organic materials would be used, and your restaurant would look open, modern, and classy. This would be a great choice if your restaurant is in a highrise building with a bird’s eye view as it is already so lightweight.
3. Retro
If you want a more nostalgic, retro feel to your restaurant, antique shops and even garage sales will be your go-to for furnishings. Think back to the 40s, 50s, and 60s for inspiration, with glamorous art deco, pops of color like bold accent walls or soft furnishings, and mix-n-match patterns and colors. You will attract customers that will notice and appreciate your decor more than usual and spread the word of your business to all their friends and family.
4. Kitsch
For a fast-food restaurant type, the aim is to have a quick guest turnaround. So think of bright lighting, functional picnic table seating, simple decor, and bright energetic colors. These will encourage guests to have their meal quickly and move on, so the next round can come in.
Creative Lighting Concepts for Mini Restaurants
Lighting is a very powerful element in your restaurant design. It can create a particular mood that you want your customers to feel or highlight certain areas of your small space with accent lighting. It could also be a unique feature in its own right.
5. Bright vs Dim Lighting
Bright light tends to enhance appetites as well as encourage diners to eat more quickly and move on. It has more energy about it. It can give the impression that your mini restaurant is larger than it actually is.
Dim light can be used to create a more romantic environment with ambient lighting and encourage diners to linger. They will enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant and hopefully order more courses and more drinks. It can also create a feeling of luxury and sophistication. In a smaller space, it creates a relaxing and homely atmosphere.
6. Feature Lighting
Did you know that you can use decor creatively to turn your lighting into a feature in itself? One idea is to create origami folded napkins hung from your ceiling around some open lightbulbs. Or you could hang glass jars around pendant light bulbs to create an interesting lighting feature.
It can also be used to highlight focal points like murals created by local artists, or unique pieces of decor on the walls. Feature lighting can be particularly effective in a small space and draw all the attention so we recommend using it thoughtfully.
7. Color Psychology
It’s important to do your research into how color affects people’s experiences of something – your restaurant in this case. If you want your customers to feel relaxed and spend a longer time at your establishment, use earthy tones, and cooler colors like blue or purple. Psychologically, these colors tend to relax people.
But if you want a faster turnaround of guests, use energetic, warmer colors like yellows and oranges, or infuse bright pops of color into your decor.
Keep in mind lighter colors will expand the appearance of your small restaurant while dark ones will diminish its appearance. Neither is inherently positive or negative but it depends on what effect you specifically are trying to create.
Unique Seating Arrangements for Small Dining Spaces
Gone are the days when a small square table and four chairs were the go-to for seating arrangements. Restaurants – and in particular, small restaurants – are getting more creative with their choice of seating.
8. Booths
Booths are considered one of the most space-efficient types of seating to use in small dining areas. They can be customized to fit your space availability, color scheme, and choice of materials and patterns. They also provide some form of privacy, which is important if you’re aiming for a more intimate dining experience.
9. Flexible Furniture
Freestanding tables and chairs are more flexible and can be shifted around depending on how busy a particular service is.
You can also opt for modular furniture – sofas and chairs that can be shifted to accommodate different group sizes.
10. Creative Seating
Have you ever thought of trying out communal tables? These allow a much larger number of people to be seated and are also a great opportunity for more social engagement amongst your guests.
Or get even more creative, and try suspended tables. These are mounted on the ceiling, and give you a lot more floor space to get creative with your seating.
11. Maximize Your Patio
If you can make use of the outdoor spaces around your restaurant, this can expand your seating capacity significantly. Remember to keep your theme consistent here though, so guests still have the same experience outdoors as they would indoors. Add some LED lighting fixtures here too, and your guests will have even more to talk about.
Tips for Implementing Innovative Designs in Existing Mini Restaurants
- Match the interior design to the theme of your restaurant and the overall brand.
- Use top-notch lighting that is appropriate to the mood you want your customers to experience. Enhance the efficacy of your lighting by using unique lights like table lamps, fairy lights strung up, and innovative lighting features.
- If you’re including a bar design, optimize the innovativeness of your bar by making it a feature.
- Bring indoor plants into the room to bring life to your restaurant. Snake plants, spider plants, and even vertical gardens with fresh herbs add to the ambiance, your customers’ feeling of wellness, and even improve the air quality.
Key Takeaways
Successful implementation comes from proper planning and a solid vision of your small restaurant’s theme and complementary decor style. The next step to complete the full customer experience is managing a great event, using smart software like Perfect Venue.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial to see how Perfect Venue can be the cherry on top of your restaurant’s amazing design! Watch the demo here to see how a great system can support a great customer experience!
