8 Essential Tips For A Successful Restaurant Remodel

Although making an impression is critical in every business niche, nowhere it is so impactful as in the restaurant industry, where customers are interested in two things: delicious food and engaging ambiance. If your gastronomic game is high, but the revenue still remains flat, perhaps you need to renovate your place. Even if your restaurant is doing great, giving it a new facelift every now and then keeps it on par with new eateries that keeping sprouting like mushrooms after the rain.

Make a plan

Talk to your friendly competitors and use giveaways to reap suggestions from your customers. You can even enlist a survey company or brand management specialists. Using realistic data in the initial stage not only makes your plan foolproof but also ensures that changes you made are accepted by your patrons. However, make sure that, unless re-branding was your goal from the very start, your restaurant core concepts remain strong.

Compare it with restaurant functionality

The restaurant business is known for its cutthroat competition. In order to remain above the surface, you needn’t only establish your vision and specialty, but also make sure that your restaurant style matches those two. For example, if you want to become a top restaurant for organic, homemade-style cuisine, you may have to consider twice before ordering those glass partitions and carbon-neutral aluminum furniture.  

Recognise your target market

If you don’t know what type of patron you’re looking for, designing a space that appeals to your clientele won’t be easy. Follow the demographic trends in your area, and the results might surprise you. For example, if the recent housing development has attracted many young professionals, you might lean towards a more eclectic remodel, whereas if your main customers are families and weekenders, your remodel should be more informal.

Establish a budget

Remodelling costs are like weddings, they always cost more than what you expect, and may take a heavy blow on your profits. Setting up a budget for a restaurant requires careful planning and sometimes even the help from the outside. Specializing in developmental and remodelling projects, an experienced construction cost estimator can forecast the cost of your project even before contractors start bidding. Interestingly, contractors also use services of cost estimators when deciding whether to bid on a project.  

Check out the latest trends

The renovation checklist needs to include an overview of relevant trends in the industry. If you can’t remember when you renovated last time, chances are you’ll need a complete redo than just applying a few cosmetic changes. Go through the newest trends in the restaurant industry and come up with a plan that isn’t only trendy, but also stands out from your competition. Even if you’re catering to traditional, family-based clientele, you can still incorporate new technologies, like tablet menus and online reservations.  

Upgrade the lighting

Functional and aesthetically-pleasing restaurant lighting should be layered so that you can control what is in focus and what not. Eating out is ultimately a sensual experience, with the visual part playing an important role. While ambient lighting illuminates the space as a whole, task lights above or near each table keep each setting intimate and bound together. Accent light, such as recessed ceiling lights, should be used to highlight wall at the bar area or the special place you want to use as an anchor.

Install new flooring

Constant foot traffic, spills, and crumbs take a heavy toll on any restaurant floor, so you need an option that is both attractive, and low maintenance. In commercial settings, the floor is a feature that takes up the most space, so you want to make sure it looks great and sets the tone for the rest of the room. Acrylic-infused hardwood floors are pretty much indestructible and will give your restaurant a modern feel with long service life. If you’re more into natural materials, cleft slate tile is perfect for this use, as its rustic appeal hides all kinds of spills and stains.

Remodel the bathroom

While your main efforts will be directed at improving the main patron areas of your restaurant, you shouldn’t neglect the bathroom. This essential space will be used by nearly every patron that visits your place, and if left murky, outdated, or simply run down, the opinions about your place might go down. Even though a full bathroom renovation is expensive, there are many things you can do without gutting the whole place. Give it a fresh coat of paint, replace the fixtures, and put in a new mirror.

With matching objectives and goals with the right people, your restaurant remodel will contribute to the growth of your business. According to studies, restaurants that have undergone a recent renovation report 10-20% increase in their sales. A successful remodel not only sets you apart from the competition but can also expand your target clientele.