Tips about Lighting in Restaurants

Lighting is important in restaurants and cafes. Feature lighting creates ambiance and mood, critical for any hospitality venue. Cafe lighting, restaurant lighting, and bar lighting may vary depending on the interior's needs, however, the right lighting selection can add to the diner's experience. 

The right lighting in your restaurant can create the perfect ambiance for your guests. You need a variety of different light fixtures and equipment for your restaurant, however. The stockroom, freezer and cooking areas require brighter lights, whereas you may want to set the mood for your diners with pendant lights or commercial LED recessed track lighting. Your bar area, menu boards, and signage require their own lighting as well, as does your entrance and any outdoor patio area.

Imagine yourself in a restaurant with your partner. Interior is beautiful, service is excellent, but the lights are so bright that they permanently destroy your idea of enjoying an intimate atmosphere. Great food, good servers, and nice interior cannot make up for the feeling of discomfort created by the bright lights. In these conditions, food changes color as well, the meat is grey and vegetables are bluish. This is a tragedy, caused entirely by inappropriate lighting.

Good lighting involves combining daylight with electric light. Daylight is naturally the most comfortable and the task of the electric light is to imitate it. This combination is crucial in having pleasant lighting.

Breakfast: lots of light is needed so that customers can read the morning newspapers while enjoying their coffee and breakfast.

Lunch: if you are a fast food restaurant, a moderate level of lighting will help to create a fast turnover of customers, especially needed for lunch rushes.

Dinner: the dinner hour requires a low intensity of light to create an intimate and leisurely atmosphere.

There are multiple types of lighting to choose from when setting up your restaurant except for natural lights. You might also need to light the various areas of your establishment differently to account for time of day and preexisting light. 

Lighting Fixtures

Electric light fixtures are the easiest types of lighting to control. They are used in every establishment, and they can include overhead fluorescent lights, recessed lighting, tabletop lighting, candles, and any other lighting that you can control and adapt for your business.

Natural Lighting

Natural lighting is not only a bright way to light up your establishment--it’s also free! Use this to your benefit by taking advantage of tall windows, doors with large glass panels, and skylights, if you’re able to. Situate seating areas and tables around the perimeter of your restaurant by windows, but be mindful not to place customers directly beside doors, as they might not be comfortable with cold breezes or heavy foot traffic.

Outdoor Lighting

The outside of your restaurant should act as an extension of your dining experience by serving as an advertisement and attraction. Pay as much attention to outdoor lighting as you do indoors by highlighting the architecture of the building, illuminating signage, and brightening eating areas for when natural light is low. String lights and lanterns onto trellises, light fire pits, place candles on top of tables and create paths back into the entrance of your establishment using outdoor lighting fixtures and techniques.

Smart Lighting

As technology advances, there are more and more devices to help you run your restaurant, including tools to manage your restaurant lighting. Depending on the system you choose, you can access a variety of features. Some of these available features include automatic shut-off, daylight sensors, level control, dimming control, signage control, event scheduling, occupancy/vacancy sensors, and timelocks.

lighting can make all the difference and it is an important part of restaurant design. From the different types of lighting to the latest technology in smart lighting, there’s a lot to take into account. Choosing the right lights can create the perfect ambiance for your guests.

Reference

<https://possector.com/starting-a-business/basic-rules-about-lighting-in-a-restaurant>

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