The Dining Room
Dining areas in the accommodations and foodservice industries include the front of the house, which the customer sees, and the back of the house, which only the staff sees. In a restaurant, the back of the house is comprised of the kitchen, storage, and office areas; in the front of the house are the dining room, waiting areas, and lounges.
The front of the house gives the customer a first impression of the restaurant and is therefore of critical importance as a merchandising factor. Utilitarian furnishings with easy-to-clean plastics probably indicate a fast food operation or luncheonette; plain, modern decor often goes with a family-style restaurant. Design around a national motif usually indicates a specialty restaurant while more luxurious surroundings are intended to suggest gourmet food.
The owner or manager of a restaurant must not only consider how the dining room looks but also how much business it should yield. There is a limited amount of space available from which to obtain as much income as possible by the arrangement of tables, the space for each customer, the rate of turnover, and the average amount of the checks. In all these matters, the public image of the restaurant and the kinds of customers attracted must be kept in mind.
One of the most important considerations is the space provided for each guest. In American restaurants, twelve square feet per person is the average; some restaurants allow only ten square feet, which is considered crowded, but others give fifteen square feet, which is spacious. Enough space for the staff to work safely and effectively is crucial; many restaurants also allot space for serving stands.
The turnover in a restaurant depends on the length of time the average customer occupies a place at a table. It varies according to the kind of restaurant, from a few minutes at a fast food establishment to two hours or more at a luxury restaurant. In some places there can be a turnover of as many as three or four persons per seat during a serving (breakfast, lunch, or dinner), though a more usual rate would be two per seat.
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