The restaurant business can be a difficult one. Potential patrons have so many options from which to choose. If you want your restaurant to stand out and draw customers, you have to add unique features. One such feature is outdoor seating.
Outdoor seating itself isn’t unique — many restaurants have patios. However, if you design an attractive patio with an outdoor heater to make it cozy, you could have a potential goldmine on your hands. Find out how outdoor seating can augment your restaurant business.
Seating Extra Tables
Your restaurant only features so much space. Fire codes will dictate how many patrons you can have in your restaurant at any one time. Space limitations also dictate your arrangement of tables. So you can only accommodate so many parties in so many configurations.
Heated outdoor seating significantly expands this space, even in the winter. You can almost double the amount of seating by expanding outdoors, depending on your location. Your outside space might not be as restricted as indoors, too. You could create different configurations, such as more two-tops to more family-style tables.
Dining in the Fresh Air
Indoors can become stuffy, especially in a multi-use space such as a restaurant. You have areas for cooking, cleaning, drinks preparation, and dining. You end up with a lot of odors mixing.
An escape from stuffiness is one reason diners often enjoy eating outside. They can enjoy a pleasant breeze or simply escape the odors and noise inside the building. They might also enjoy their food more because they can focus on their own plate and its unique scents.
Watching the Show on the Street
The hope is that diners will focus on their food when they’re eating. The reality is that many people like to watch something else while they’re chewing. What’s more, they have a span of time while they’re waiting for their food with nothing to do.
If you have seating that looks out onto a nearby sidewalk, your patrons will have a built-in show to keep them entertained. They can watch passersby — people-watching is a popular endeavor. Such heated seating usually conveys a casual ambience that’s further enhanced by the unpredictable show of the street scene.
Creating a Unique Experience
A restaurant offering good food isn’t enough to ensure success. Instead, the restaurant must create an atmosphere that diners enjoy. The experience must entice them out of their own homes — or away from a rival restaurant.
Outdoor seating allows you to promote a unique experience as an extension of your restaurant. For instance, perhaps you don’t have space to extend out. You might be able to extend up. You can have patrons dining on your heated rooftop. Diners love to eat on rooftops because they get a panoramic view of their surroundings. The outdoor heater makes the space cozy.
Promoting a Specific Ambience
Part of what makes a restaurant unique from dining at home is the ambience. Patrons can go out and experience anything from a raucous family affair to an intimate interlude for two. They can even feel like they’re getting away to another locale, such as a Parisian café.
Outdoor seating can help you create that ambience. For example, the heated exterior can be the casual part of your restaurant that helps families enjoy their time without worrying that the children are too loud. Conversely, you can set up landscaping and string lights to create some romance. You can even set up the outdoor area as a separate restaurant with its own bar and cooking station.
Achieve all of the above benefits of outdoor seating for your restaurant by creating the space and heating it with well-placed gas or propane patio heaters. Calcana can provide the heaters for your restaurant patio.
