Planning a Restaurant Bar – How Much Space Do You Need?

October 30, 2024
When planning a restaurant bar, how large should it be
secrets
how to calculate the area
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BAR DESIGN TIP:

The local fire marshal makes the final determination of stated occupant loads.

Architectural drawing of restaurant / sports bar with an occupancy of 157
ARCHITECTURAL PLAN OF RESTAURANT / SPORTS BAR

PLANNING BUILDINGS FOR PROSPECTIVE RESTAURANT/BARS

 planning new restaurant bars
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  • Back-of-the-house generally accounts for 30 – 40% of the total building area.
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  • 60 – 70% of a given building’s space is designated as front-of-the-house, which is the area intended for customers.  The 10% variance is normally the result of the complexity of the menu.
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  • Sports bars tend to require less kitchen space, whereas fine dining requires more. Also note in this example that the bar and bar dining areas account for nearly 43% of the front-of-the-house area as well as 60% of the total occupant load. Conversely, the non-bar dining accounts for 27% of the front-of-the-house area and 40% of the occupant load. The remaining front-of-the-house space (30%) is dedicated to common areas, as shown in the following tables:
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Table 1. Front-Of-The-House Occupancy Analysis
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Room Area % of Total
Bar Area
·Bar (seated) 29 18.5
· Bar Dining 65 41.4
Sub-Total 94 59.9
Non-Bar Areas
·Reception 06 3.8
·Dining Room 45 28.7
·VIP Room 12 7.6
Sub-Total 63 40.1
Total 157 100.0
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Table 2. Front-Of-The-House Area Analysis
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Room Area % of Total
Bar Dining
·Bar (seated) 410 12.7
Bar (tables) 983 30.4
Sub-Total 1,393 43.1
·Non-Bar Dining
·Dining Room 681 21.0
·VIP Room 183 5.7
Sub-Total 864 26.7
Common Areas
·Reception 106 3.3
·Men’s Restroom 140 4.3
·Women’s Restroom 146 4.5
·Hallways 423 13.1
·Vestibule 164 5.0
Sub-Total 979 30.2
Total 3,236 100.0
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SAMPLE CALCULATION FOR PLANNING A RESTAURANT BAR

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  • 3,236 sq.ft./157 occupants = 20.6 sq.ft./occupant
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  • 100 occupants x 20.6 sq.ft./occupant – 2,060 sq.ft.
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  • 2,060 sq.ft./.7 = 2,944 sq.ft.
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  • 2,944 sq.ft. – 2,060 sq.ft. = 884 sq.ft.
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DESIGNING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

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WHY PLANNING OPEN SPACE IS SO TRICKY

_x000D_ Planning open space is very deceiving, so a person needs to beware when considering a bar for an open area. Unobstructed sight lines – particularly when accompanied by windows and high ceilings – often lead to misunderstanding the true space. I recall the difficulty a new client was having several years ago when trying to plan an island bar. A new addition was being completed at the time and what initially appeared to be an easy design project ended up being a tight fit! The subject space was 1,000 square feet with roll-up garage doors on three sides, as shown in the plan below._x000D_ _x000D_  _x000D_ _x000D_
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Architectural plan of a large open space for an island bar
A 1,000 SQ.FT. SPACE FOR AN ISLAND BAR
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_x000D_ _x000D_ Bars need to be designed from the inside-out. In spite of the large space we had to deal with, it wasn’t obvious to me whether or not an island bar would fit. One of critical design features was to provide a perimeter drink rail with seating. After all, with a river in the backdrop, roll-up doors and perimeter seating was a must. Therefore, I resorted to drawing the bar and seating in section view so I could feel comfortable moving forward with the full design. As shown in the photo below, the section view revealed that we had just enough room to fit the bar!_x000D_ _x000D_  _x000D_ _x000D_
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A section view of an island bar depicts how bars are designed from the inside-out
THIS SECTION VIEW DEPICTS WHY BARS NEED TO BE DESIGNED FROM THE INSIDE-OUT
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NEW CHANGES TO THE IBC FOR OCCUPANCY A-2

_x000D_ The building code is constantly evolving. According to my good friend, architect Tom Kuhn of CSK Architects:_x000D_ _x000D_ DESIGN TIP: _x000D_

As of 2018, IBC now requires businesses in Occupancy A-2 that serve alcohol, any new or existing modified fire area over 1500 sq.ft. are now required to have sprinklers if you wanted to meet current code without implementing work-around design parameters in Chapter 34. Always consult your local architect.

_x000D_ I want to thank our good friends at Bullpen Luxury Sports Bar and Gelsosomo’s Pizza for their courtesy. A great place to hang-out, have pizza and watch the game._x000D_ _x000D_ TODAY’S TAKEAWAY: _x000D_

Restaurants with bars don’t require large waiting areas, as many patrons enjoy waiting at the bar.

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