There are restaurants of all different types and sizes, ranging from snack bars to full scale, free standing operations. Meanwhile, an important factor in establishing a potentially successful restaurant as a business opportunity is that old real estate cliché – location, location, location.

It is well-known that in order to establish a restaurant, you must find a good location with an existing building, or a building lot that is in a good location. Of course, building a restaurant from the ground up is always an option. You will also need to determine whether you are going to lease or buy your restaurant. The determining factor in the size of the restaurant will be the amount of money you have available for remodeling or for the construction of the building when you estimate costs associated with your restaurant startup.

When you design your restaurant, there are certain areas you will need to include in the layout.

1. A hostess station, which is usually a small area with a podium where the hostess will greet the customers when they come in the door. There should be an area to store menus and a reservation roster.

2. Cashiers station, with a cash register and a credit or debit card machine. There are usually toothpicks and some sort of mints available here, free of charge for the customer.

3. A sitting area that is furnished with comfortable seating for customers who might need to wait for a table.

4. Kitchen area - An important project in your restaurant business opportunity. This is where all the food is prepared, cooked, baked, and where the food storage, dishwashing and sanitation take place. This area does not need to be large, if it is arranged properly. The servers should present the order at one end of an assembly line type of design, and the completed order will be picked up at the other end.

The four main areas of a restaurant kitchen are:

1. Cold preparation area - to assemble appetizers, salads, and desserts. This should include a counter and several shelves to place equipment, utensils, dishes, spices, and other essential ingredients to prepare the food. You will need to make this area large enough when you plan your restaurant start up business opportunity.

2. Cooking station - this area is used by the cooks or chefs. It will include prep tables, steam tables, fryers, cooking range(s), griddle, oven, smaller refrigerators placed under prep tables, freezer, ice bin, broiler, exhaust fans, etc.. This area will need to be spacious enough for cooks or chefs to move around one another. This is an important consideration when planning a restaurant start up.

3. Dishwashing area - you will not want this area too far from the cooking area, so that large pots and pans can be reached easily. You will need two separate sinks for washing and sanitizing the cooking equipment that is too big to place in the dishwasher. You will also need a commercial dishwasher for dishes, glasses, utensils, and any other cookware that will fit in the dishwasher.

4. Food storage area - you should include a large walk in cooler, and a large walk in freezer, a scale, a table, a pantry for canned and dry goods, shelving for the freezer, pantry, and cooler. A small room for clean and dirty linen should be included. When planning your restaurant start up, make sure the rooms are large enough for the storage you will require for the size of restaurant you are planning.

5. Office area - This area would be large enough for a desk, filing cabinet, computer, phones, and any office and business equipment.

6. Break room - This is an area where your employees can place their personal items, and also serves as an area for them to take their breaks.

7. Dining area - You should estimate about 12 square feet of space per customer when you plan your dining area. You can select tables, booths, or a combination of both for customer seating. You will most likely select which type of seating you prefer when you are planning your restaurant start up.

8. Restrooms - You should need to furnish at least one restroom for your customers, while most establishments have one for men and another for women. Make sure they are ADA compliant and well ventilated. You should select a design that will be easy to clean. The restrooms will need to be kept stocked with paper towels and toilet paper at all times.

Enter supporting content here