Serving up great food and providing outstanding service keeps customers happy. Presenting your best in a unique atmosphere keeps them coming back. Diners have choices, and you have to stay on top of their changing tastes while competing for their dollars. They want an experience, and you want to cater to their preferences. Whether you’re remodeling or building from the ground up, consider these five latest trends in restaurant construction.
1. Interiors That Make an Impression
Familiar surroundings make regulars feel at home, but you have to attract new diners and give them a reason to become repeat customers. An experienced commercial general contractor knows how to identify an existing building’s potential and make the most of what you already have. He can preserve historical elements, create live music space or set up interactive entertainment networks. New construction techniques include unique interior designs ranging from multi-level sections to vertical wall gardens. You want customers to enjoy their meal, but you also want to impress them with the experience of dining in your restaurant.
2. Restaurant and Retail Combinations
You offer carry-out services, so why not expand that concept and give diners another reason to stop by? Whether you’re renovating or drawing up new commercial construction plans, monetize space with designated areas for shelving and displays that give customers choices. Stock coolers with fresh ingredients and packaged meals that don’t require advance ordering. Attractive wine racks show off your best vintages, and they give pause to diners heading home who might make one more purchase. Offer more than table service, and your restaurant takes on a new atmosphere as both a dining and shopping destination.
3. Open Up Infrastructure and Operations
Think about remodeling strategies that actually tear down walls and open up ceilings. Exposed plumbing and ductwork can be turned into architectural elements that give a fresh retro look to interiors with an ambiance that feels completely modern. Open kitchens are diner favorites, and construction design teams know how to expose back of the house operations with style that preserves function. New restaurant construction allows you to incorporate infrastructure that doubles down as decor, and the techniques can help save on material and building costs.
4. Natural Lighting Options
Throw the windows open on your restaurant with installations that take advantage of natural illumination. Interiors light up, and diners respond to an atmosphere that doesn’t rely on traditional bulbs. Work with your commercial general contractor on unique entryways that bring the outside in. A combination of custom archways and hinged steel doors put a new face on your restaurant while skylights filter sunshine into the dining room. By opening up interiors, you cut back on the expense of fixtures, shave dollars off monthly electric bills and create an environment that shows off your food and service in the best possible light.
5. Green Restaurant Construction
Construction techniques and technologies get greener every day, and the strategies work in both restaurant remodels and new building projects. Talk to your contractor about using recycled materials like reclaimed concrete and multi-cycled structural steel. If you’re renovating, consider refurbishing and reusing flooring and ceiling materials. Put Mother Nature on your side with rooftop solar panel arrays and photovoltaic window installations, and upgrade daily operations with Energy Star equipment. Going green holds down monthly utility costs and conveys a powerful marketing message that resonates with eco-conscious diners.
As the restaurant industry evolves, your customers expect generous sides of fresh experiences with every meal. It’s our job to keep up with changes and incorporate new and exciting ideas into commercial construction and design. Before you start your next project, give us a call here at Stovall Construction. Our teams handle restaurant projects across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, and we stand ready to help you bring your very best to the table.