Planning a restaurant depends on your target market, the type of food you are serving and customer turnover.

Reception

The best place for the reception, where you would take bookings, greet customers and process bills is at the front of the restaurant, near the door.

Bar

It is advisable to have a separate bar near the entrance for diners to wait for companions or for a table to become available.

Circulation

Think about how you want customers to get to their table and how you want meals to be served. This can be forced by the use of furnishings to block throughways etc.

Space

The amount of space you should allow per customer will depend on the type of standard expected by the restaurant. The more upmarket and expensive the restaurant the greater amount of space you should allow. A seated diner will take up to 2ft (61cm) of floor space from the table therefore 6 sq ft should be allows per table for four.

To create a busy, buzzy atmosphere you may want to put the tables closer together, however this must be thought through as it may discomfort the diner. This might work in your favour by encouraging faster turnaround times.

Kitchen

A kitchen can either be hidden away or made the focal point of the restaurant (Fifteen, 140 Park Lane). In this case be aware that cooking smells and noise will be present in the restaurant which might upset a few people.

Internal fittings

The selection of internal fittings (chairs, tables etc) will depend on the style of restaurant you are planning. Make sure it is pleasing to the eye and a specialist restaurant designer may be the best choice to aid you. Also the lighting of the restaurant is exceptionally important, it can help enhance the overall mood of the restaurant and the appearance of the food being served.