Restaurant Lighting Tips to Improve Dining Ambiance
Lighting is a mission critical part of creating the customer experience that you want in your restaurant. From the entryway to the dining areas, kitchen to bathrooms, it can set the mood in each space, making your restaurant feel welcoming and comfortable and so encouraging your guests to stay longer and spend more. It can improve the visibility and presentation of your food. And it can create a better work environment for staff members. Read on for ideas about how to put your restaurant in its best light.
How is Ambient Lighting Achieved?
Ambient lighting is often achieved through a combination of natural light sources, such as windows and skylights, and light from fixtures, such as ceiling lights, recessed lighting, and sconces.
Color temperature and light intensity are also key. Warm, soft lighting can set a cozy and intimate mood, while cool, bright lighting can make a room feel more open and energetic.
Technically, every room has ambient lighting. The question is whether that lighting creates the desired atmosphere. Read on to discover how to use this essential element of interior design to set the perfect mood in every room of your home.
Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere
As a restaurateur or chef, you understand the importance of creating a space that resonates with the core essence of your brand. If your dining experience has a high energy vibe, such as a smoothie shop or cafe, you might want to use a clean and minimalist decor with natural lighting that keeps your customers alert. If you are creating a dramatic and elegant experience, then you might want to use signature fixtures that cast a dimmer and warmer light.
Ask yourself what kind of feelings you want to evoke in your guests when they come in the front door. Is it a quiet and romantic atmosphere for dates or a place to casually hang out with friends? Do you want your customers to take their time over the meal, or eat quickly and move on to make room for more guests? And what is the overall interior design of the restaurant? You definitely want light fixtures that coordinate well with the decor.
No matter what mood you are setting or cuisine you are serving, your restaurant should be a welcoming space where customers want to relax, enjoy themselves, and return for a repeat visit. This often means using warm light that has a hint of amber or soft yellow hue to it. It’s said that “we eat first with our eyes” – so it’s wise to use task lighting in the dining area to showcase your food as it is presented, inviting guests to delight the visual experience or even snap a photo to post on their social media feeds.
Layering Light in Restaurants
Interior designers employ a technique called “layering” when designing a restaurant’s lighting plan. Layering integrates three kinds of lighting: ambient, task, and accent, all of which work together to create an overall effect and atmosphere, as well as providing focused light for key tasks.
Ambient Lighting in Restaurants
Ambient lighting is the base layer of general light in your restaurant. The first thing to consider is natural light. If your restaurant is open during the day, then you want to leverage daylight coming through the windows or skylights. Not only does this save you money on lighting throughout the day, it also shapes a pleasing atmosphere.
As day turns to evening, you’ll need light fixtures to enable customers to see clearly. Strategically place chandeliers, pendants, or recessed lights so you avoid both dark shadowy corners and harsh brightness that can strain the eyes.
Task Lighting in Restaurants
Hanging pendant lights are the most popular form of lighting for the dining area in restaurants, no matter what kind of cuisine or theme is in play. Pendants come in a wide variety of options in terms of size of the fixture, how low they hang from the ceiling, and designs and finishes, ensuring that you will be able to find an option that suits your space. Hanging a pendant light over every table lets your customers see their food and each other clearly, without detracting from the overall atmosphere.
Track lights are another increasingly popular option, especially in modern restaurants and cafes, since they coordinate with almost any interior design style, don’t take up much space, and can be adjusted to shine focused light in key areas.
Accent Lighting in Restaurants
Accent lighting lets you showcase key design features of the restaurant, or even call attention to artwork. Spotlights can be installed on your restaurant’s walls or ceilings and angled to shine a focused beam wherever appropriate. Wall sconces are another option, adding a touch of elegance and warmth. They cast a warm glow rather than a harsh or fluorescent brightness, which is often unflattering. By casting a wider and less focused beam of light, LED panel lights don’t cause eye strain, and since their fixtures are generally understated, they will coordinate with the other decor in your restaurant.
Is LED Lighting Better?
The kitchen is where a lot of work gets done, but it also needs to be a nurturing space. It’s key to hosting on special occasions, and to keeping the household fed many times a day. Food is functional, but it’s also a form of affection. A kitchen’s atmosphere needs to support all this at once.
Start with recessed ceiling lights to evenly illuminate the entire kitchen space. Incorporate under-cabinet lighting to provide additional task lighting, and consider pendant lights to add visual interest and define specific areas.
How to Customize Restaurant Lighting for Your Theme and Target Patrons
Fine Dining Lighting
With fine dining, you want to create a warm and intimate atmosphere that allows for easy conversation at your tables, as well as an elevated vibe throughout the space.
Chandeliers are one option for creating ambient light and a feeling of grandeur in your space, especially in restaurants with high ceilings. Because chandeliers come in an incredible variety of styles and sizes that are relatively easy to install, you can find ones that fit the aesthetic of your restaurant, whether that be luxurious and elegant or industrial and modern.
Wall sconces are perfect for restaurants large and small, helping you make the most of your space, as they cast a pleasant glow that can contribute as ambient or accent lighting. They do not cause harsh shadows, and are flattering to skin tones, fabric colors, and food.
Spotlights are both functional and cost-effective, when used judiciously. Fixed onto a wall or ceiling, they can be angled to shine where you want them to, whether it be an architectural feature in the space, a wine collection, or artwork.
Under-table lighting can give your tables a gentle glow that helps diners navigate through a more dimly lit space, while also creating an otherworldly feel.
Small table lamps with a warm white or yellow-tinted bulb can bring an intimate feel to your tables, so long as they don’t take up too much room or crowd your diners’ plates. And candles are the peak of romantic lighting, without necessarily being old-fashioned! They can be selected to work with any style of interior design, whether classic or modern. However, with candles be aware that they often do not provide enough illumination for the table, so you might want to pair them with some soft task lighting.
Eclectic Small Plates Restaurant Lighting
Color accent lighting and diverse styles of lighting fixtures can help set the tone in an eclectic small plate restaurant such as a tapas bar. Pendant lights are a great choice here, especially if chandeliers would overwhelm the space. They take up much less space than a chandelier, but still make a statement and provide intimate task lighting for your tables.
Track lights are also a great option, no matter what kind of food you serve, because they can be adjusted to shine focused light on whatever you choose. LED panel lights cast a wide beam of light, while also ensuring that your tables aren’t visually clouded by pesky shadows. They are not painful to look at with the naked eye and their simple and understated designs work well with almost any restaurant’s style.
And of course, you can opt for decorative statement lighting like a custom neon sign as an expression of your restaurant’s brand, and so create an Instagrammable moment for your guests.
Casual Family Restaurant Lighting
For this type of restaurant, you want bright and evenly diffused ambient lighting. Track lighting fixtures can make this happen, when used in straight or curvilinear paths across the ceiling or walls. Not only do they draw your diner’s eyes to different areas of the restaurant, they can also be installed as clusters, to provide focused lighting in certain sections. Be sure to use them with wall sconces or other accent lighting that match your themed décor.
Playful pendant lights in children’s play areas are also a great way to separate these spaces from the rest of the restaurant, and set the tone for fun times.
Modern Bistro Lighting
Minimalist pendant lighting is a good place to start in your bistro. They provide ambient light with modern and clean designs, or even industrial-style fixtures. Soft and warm recessed lighting is another option: also called can lights or downlights, these are installed into the ceiling as a grid to diffuse light evenly throughout the room. When planning downlights, it’s wise to consult with a lighting designer to ensure that you will have adequate illumination, but not too much brightness.
Outdoor Patio or Garden Restaurant Lighting
If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor seating at your restaurant, then consider string lights or hurricane lamps hanging from the ceiling to bring a festive feeling to your patio or deck. If your restaurant has garden beds, then spotlights for trees or plants are worth considering, as are solar-powered stake lights along pathways to help keep your diners from stumbling while also creating a lovely atmosphere.
Lighting for Different Dining Areas
Entryway, Reception, and Waiting Area Lighting
An overhead chandelier can set the tone when guests first walk into your restaurant, especially when used in tandem with accent lighting that helps keep corners from being too dark or dim. Recessed lighting or pendants can also be viable options, but whatever overhead lighting you choose, be sure that your staff, such as a host or hostess, has adequate light to do their job through a soft overhead spotlight or table lamp. With the right task lighting, ranging from track lights to wall-mounted fixtures, you can even create a directional flow into your space, guiding your customers deeper into the restaurant by calling attention to an open kitchen or intimate sections of the space, making them focal points to draw diners over for a closer look.
Dining Area Lighting
In the dining areas, you want to apply the principles of layering light. After all, you want your dining experience to be relaxed and inviting, even in a busy diner, while providing enough light for guests to find their way. Start with overhead fixtures such as hanging pendant lights, then add wall-mounted fixtures or sconces to help with general illumination while saving floor space and adding a touch of sophistication. Soft spotlights or table lamps can provide task lighting where needed, especially if you choose fixtures with soft shades to reinforce a relaxed atmosphere. And track lighting and brighter spotlights can be used to highlight art pieces, wine collections, bookshelves, or architectural features.
Kitchen Lighting
When planning your kitchen lighting, talk to your staff about their needs as they will be working in the restaurant day in and day out. You want the light to be bright enough for them to see clearly, but not so bright that it irritates and strains their eyes.
Ambient light is often best accomplished with recessed lights, which are energy efficient and give a clean and modern look to the space without giving up headspace for fixtures. As in any kitchen, under-cabinet lighting can provide task lighting for countertops and cooking areas, to enhance the safety and usability of these spaces. And accent lighting inside of cabinets or installed on shelves can draw the eye to these points of interest.
Restroom lighting
You want the lighting in your bathroom to be bright enough for guests to see clearly in mirrors, without being overly harsh or unflattering to different skin tones. Recessed lights overhead should do the trick, but there is also value in placing wall sconces and mirror lights at key spots, to create softer light that still illuminates the room effectively.
Staircase lighting
When integrated into steps leading up to the front of your restaurant or in interior stairwells, step lights help make walking at any time of day safer. They can also add a decorative touch to your restaurant’s ambiance, especially when used in conjunction with other types of accent lighting.
Emergency and exit lighting
Don’t forget about emergency exit lighting, which often comes as an illuminated exit sign. This is an important safety feature of restaurants, enabling diners to know how to leave the premises quickly and calmly in the event of a crisis.
Exterior and Signage Lighting
Last but not least, be certain to consider the first impression that your restaurant makes. A combination of spotlights on your front sign and welcoming lanterns, solar stake lights, and even outdoor lamps can help create the expectation of luxury, relaxation, or party fun that you want your restaurant to communicate even before guests step foot inside and place their orders!
We’re Here to Help with Your Restaurant Lighting Needs
Feeling inspired by some of these ideas? Visit visualcomfort.com to find timeless and trendy options that will make your restaurant glow and keep guests coming back for more.
FAQs
What are the best lighting fixtures for a cozy restaurant atmosphere?
Start by considering a combination of ambient overhead lighting from recessed lighting or a thoughtfully placed chandelier can set the tone, while hanging pendant lights over tables and wall sconces to accent particular architectural features, wine displays, or artwork.
How does lighting affect the dining experience?
Warm and inviting lighting can set the mood for diners, enhance the beauty of your plated food, define separate areas within the restaurant, and even influence customers’ desire to come back repeatedly. Dim ambient light encourages guests to relax and stay longer, while brighter light is better suited for quick customer turnaround in high traffic restaurants.
What are some energy-efficient lighting options for restaurants?
LED lighting is a great choice for restaurants as it will cut down on your electricity bills, because it is up to 90% more energy efficient than incandescent lighting. LED bulbs also last for years rather than months, reducing the hassle of changing bulbs and the amount of waste that your restaurant generates.
How often should restaurant lighting be updated or maintained?
With all lighting, you want to check connections and bulbs at least once a year, to ensure that they are operating safely and efficiently. Cleaning your lights on a regular basis is also a good idea: wipe the fixtures with a clean rag, then if necessary wash the metal and glass gently with soapy water before applying any metal polish.