1. RESTAURANT
18 CONSIDERATIONS TO REMEMBER
© 2014, Aaron Allen

2. RESTAURANT DESIGN
RESTAURANT DESIGN
In the United States alone, there are nearly 1 million restaurants, each trying hard to
differentiate itself from the next. Not an easy task. In fact, there are so many considerations
when it comes to launching a new concept—from branding (your biggest concern) right on
down to the silverware. And believe it or not, there are million-dollar corporations just winging
it, wanting to build first and ask questions later. Bad idea. Here, a few proven restaurant design
methodologies relevant both for the mom-and-pop start-up as well as the multi-national mega
chain pursuing renovations and growth.

3. RESTAURANT DESIGN
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
The overall process of restaurant design, remodeling, planning, etc. is often referred to as the
discipline of “Restaurant Concept Development.” If you’re creating a new prototype, think of it
as creating a new concept – concept development.
Restaurant concept development involves restaurant design, but also includes market and
competitive research, emerging and fading trends, financial modeling and what-if scenarios,
branding and brand evolution, supply chain issues, and potentially even brand portfolio
management (for hospitality enterprises with multiple brands in a family that must
articulate). Simply put, it involves a variety of people, not just interior designers and architects.
© 2014, Aaron Allen

4. RESTAURANT DESIGN
RESTAURANT DESIGN BUDGETS
Starbucks has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to perfect what we see today in its latest
restaurant prototype. It’s wishful thinking to think it could be duplicated for the cost of what
you could build a single unit today. But many companies think this way. To be successful, you
must consider the “soft” costs of development. Mega chains, like Darden, can afford sevenfigure salaried executive vice presidents and teams of hundreds working on a new concept.
It’s believed well over $10m (“soft” costs) was spent developing just the prototype plans for its
heralded Season’s 52 concept. Darden is the world’s most successful casual dining restaurant
chain, so it’s fair to think they weren’t just burning money with their investment.
Can a new prototype be created for less than $10m? Of course. However, it’s less likely that
the next billion-dollar brand can be conceived for less than the cost of opening a single unit.
At a minimum, you can expect to spend a lot more in the years to come correcting the
mistakes of the under-funded prototype. There’s a saying, “Measure twice and cut once.”

5. RESTAURANT DESIGN
RESTAURANT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
There are hundreds of elements to take into consideration in restaurant design. Today’s
successful restaurant concepts are about more than just:
This is a Bad Motto!
This overview is by no means comprehensive, but it does provide you with a sense for how
complex these projects can be and why it’s common to see experienced design consultants
intimately involved in bringing to life today’s successful restaurant concepts.
Good Food,
Good Service,
Good Atmosphere…
© 2014, Aaron Allen

6. 1
BRAND PERSONALITY
Brands, like people, have personalities. A person can
become known for acting or behaving a certain way. So will
your brand. The personality of your brand should be
defined and programmed.
This programming should happen before the first sketch of
the restaurant design is even considered.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

7. 2
BRAND PROMISES
We would all like to think we have integrity—saying what you’re going to do and then doing it when you say you
will.
For a brand to have integrity, one must establish a distinct set of promises that differentiate that brand and define it.
When the promises are met with integrity, a strong brand is the result. Chipotle, and it’s promise to deliver
humanely-raised food sources, is a good example.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

8. 3
BRAND POSITIONING
You don’t merely want to be considered the best of
the best; you want to be considered the only one
who does what you do.
The idea of “betterness” (we have a better burger,
better restaurant design, etc.) is subjective. When
you are the “only,” you become a sole-source
provider and can dominate a market.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

9. 4
SILVERWARE
We often don’t think consciously about our silverware when
eating in a restaurant, but it can make an impression of the
food before you even take your first bite. Light, flimsy and
cheap silverware will give an impression of light, flimsy and
cheap food. That’s why you will notice that many high-end
steakhouses use large, heavy knives. Tableware reflects on
the restaurant and should be considered in the overall
restaurant design and concept development.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

10. 5
UNIFORMS
Restaurant uniforms have come a long way since the day of
the fine dining “monkey suit.” Even celebrity fashion
designers are getting in on the action and designing uniforms
for restaurants. It’s a smart move. Some chains have tens of
thousands of employees and each is an ambassador of the
brand. The uniform is an extension of the brand and should
be viewed through the same lens as your overall restaurant
design process.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

11. 6
VENTILATION
Many regions around the world are outlawing smoking in
public places. I’m still amazed by how many places don’t. I’m
not a smoker, but I would imagine not even smokers want to
walk out of a restaurant smelling like an ashtray. Ventilation is
about more than the smells we don’t want to smell (more
later on “aroma design”). For instance, imagine a restaurant
conceived in Florida but built in Massachusetts; you have to
take an entirely different approach to seasonal temperature
fluctuations.
Lar ge caver nous spaces can be
drafty. Ventilation is an important consideration in restaurant
design and just another example as to why design is about
so much more than just good aesthetics.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

12. 7
BATHROOMS & BRAND IMMERSION
An unkempt bathroom must mean a disastrous kitchen. “If
they allow their bathrooms – which are in plain sight of
customers – to get like this, what must the kitchen look like?”
Aside from cleanliness, the bathroom presents an
opportunity to further differentiate a restaurant and make an
impression—distinctive and communicative of the brand.
Starbucks is a good example of this concept, carrying its
colors and logo features into the bathroom. You don’t lose
the feeling the brand inspires once you leave the dining area.
So, is this design or is this marketing? The two are
inextricably intertwined.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

13. 8
RESTAURANT DESIGN FOR CELEBRITIES
Restaurants, like people, have a “brand personality” and,
when properly executed, a restaurant can extend a
celebrity’s empire with a walk-in advertisement. Celebrities
such as Magic Johnson, Eva Longoria, Justin Timberlake, Gloria
Estefan and others have not only made successful businesses
with their restaurants, they have extended their brand into
new arenas. Restaurateurs and celebrities could learn from
each other. A brand should be fluid enough to travel and
transcend.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

14. 9
DOORKNOBS CAN SPEAK
We’ve all heard the expression “dumb as a doorknob.”
While doorknobs don’t have an inherent intelligence, they
can actually quite smartly communicate on your behalf. We
usually don’t pay attention to a doorknob unless the
doorknob is out of place. Doorknobs speak on behalf of
your restaurant before the hostess or greeter staff. The
texture, the weight, the materials, the style, the obviousness
or understated nature of the doorknob all communicate the
brand whether by accident or design.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

15. 10
RESTAURANT MENU DESIGN
The most important piece of marketing collateral for a restaurant is its menu. A menu can’t be viewed as simply an
inventory listing of items for sale with a corresponding price. It must be viewed as the single most important tool in
showcasing your restaurant’s offerings, culinary philosophy and brand attributes. The weight, size, paper,
presentation, fonts and typographies, photos, use of language and more are important considerations in your
restaurant menu. The menu should be viewed as an extension of the restaurant design – fully integrated in the
brand personality and positioning.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

16. 11
STORAGE NEEDS
Do you plan on receiving lots of small deliveries during the
week or will you buy in bulk for savings? Will your
distributor let you buy in bulk and store in his warehouse
without an additional fee? Do you have high-value inventory
that needs special security measures? (After all, you don’t
store Remy Martin Louis VIII the same as you store bar
napkins). Storage is an example of operational and functional
design considerations typically not considered with an
interior design curriculum. Where design meets function is
often a gap for restaurant designers without deep restaurant
industry experience.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

17. 12
REFRIGERATION NEEDS
Will you have a lot of perishables on your menu that require refrigeration, or are you bringing in boxes of frozen
wings and French fries? A restaurant concept with 20 beers on tap will have dramatically different refrigeration needs
than an ice cream store.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

18. 13
LIGHTING DESIGN
Think of flickering florescent lights over a grid of office
cubicles—it’s not a place you want to be. We may watch in
amazement as bugs continuously fly toward a bug lamp even
though it consistently delivers a fatal electric shock, but we’re
attracted to light in much the same way. For reasons not
easily explained, lighting captivates moods and wallets.
Candles are romantic. Red lights make us stop (and our
stomachs growl, incidentally). Low lighting can make us
relaxed. Staff need task lighting. Lighting is a highly
specialized area of design.
A restaurant without a
thoughtfully conceived lighting plan is like Disney without
fireworks or salt without pepper.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

19. 14
ACOUSTICAL DESIGN
A restaurant engages all of the senses. Certainly sight, smell,
taste and touch, but what about sound? One restaurant in
Spain was dreadfully slow and about to go out of business.
The owner pumped the recorded sound of a busy
restaurant out onto the sidewalk streets and watched as his
empty dining room filled to capacity. Likewise, where we do
or don’t hear music and ambient noise can make an impact.
For example, many night clubs design areas that make it easy
to talk to someone you met on a dance floor where you
can’t hear yourself think. Another example is the bathroom
—an area where you don’t want to hear other people at all.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

20. 15
AROMA DESIGN
There’s nothing worse than smelling dirty mop water in the
lobby or an unpleasant bathroom odor. A restaurant should
emit an aroma that’s appealing. This doesn’t happen by
accident. Without proper consideration, you may fill your
restaurant with wafts of smoke or other stink. You can also
have aroma pollution, where there are too many scents
floating about. One restaurant we worked with introduced
aromatherapy in a way that stimulated the senses and
appetite before customers were even in the dining room.
Without smell, we would not have taste so clearly. Don’t
leave this to chance. (Click for more information)
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

21. 16
RESTAURANT DESIGN PROCESS
The steps in the restaurant design process can be expanded
or collapsed to suit your tastes for level of detail. There are
hundreds of inter-dependent decisions and steps. Generally,
the timing of these projects can range from several very
intense weeks to potentially a year or more for large-scale
development projects moving at a steady pace.
As
restaurant design consultants, our complete process is
proprietary. We’ll be augmenting this article with a follow-up
piece on a summary of the process we undertake, but one
thing that cannot be over-emphasized is the importance of
starting with a very solid restaurant brand constitution/
platform. It’s better to spend more time in planning and soft
costs of development with an experienced pro than to rush
into the design and then try to undo mistakes later. It’s much
easier to make a change on a digital file than it is to change a
major mistake on a completed building.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

22. 17
LICENSED RESTAURANT DESIGNERS & ARCHITECTS
Each country, state, county has dramatically different codes and
laws governing design and architecture. As a result, the
permitting process for a new project can take from a few weeks
to several years. Navigating through this minefield of bureaucracy
can be challenging. Ultimately, all restaurant design plans must
be submitted to these boards via a licensed architect. They must
be “signed and sealed,” meaning a senior licensed architect has
reviewed the design, the architecture and the mechanical,
electrical and plumbing plans (often referred to as the MEP*).
The location of your selected consultants is less important
than specialization. This process can and often is completed
at a distance (i.e. architects in New York creating buildings in
Dubai, or a specialized restaurant designer in Orlando doing a
project in Mexico, or wherever).
That said, it is often advised for complex projects to also
retain a local architect who is familiar with the codes in
some jurisdictions and has the relationships to physically
“walk the plans through permitting.” Although it shouldn’t be
the case, the “locals” sometimes get special treatment.
Familiarization with local codes and officials, however,
shouldn’t be more important to you than the big picture in
your selections. We recommend hiring locals to augment
the team on bigger projects, not to necessarily run them.
We have several licensed architects we have worked with
and can recommend. We also serve as advisors and
project-lead for restaurant concept development in
articulation with your own selected licensed designer.
*[NOTE: Aaron Allen does not represent himself as a licensed interior designer or licensed architectural firm. We are restaurant design “consultants” specializing in overall restaurant design strategy,
branding, concept development and comprehensive integration of projects as Restaurant Consultant.]
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

23. 18
“MARKETING DEPT.” AND RESTAURANT DESIGN
There are dozens of specialized disciplines that must come
together to complete a successful new restaurant prototype.
So, who is the quarterback? Yes, the owner of the team is
still the owner of the team, but that’s not the person running
every call of the game. We believe the entire team should
report to the most senior marketing strategist, who in turn
reports to the executive team. The decisions for your
project should be viewed through the lens of the brand,
which is the domain of your most senior marketing advisor. I
am not a licensed designer or architect; yet I have successfully
lead restaurant design projects on six continents
representing dozens of new prototypes. It’s been a very
successful approach, and one we pioneered.
RESTAURANT DESIGN
© 2014, Aaron Allen

24. RESTAURANT DESIGN
CONCLUSION
The above list of considerations is by no means a complete set; rather it is a cherrypicked list to provide insight as to why great restaurant design can be so involved and
expensive. Restaurant design is not just about picking colors and fabrics. It involves a
lot of technical knowledge of how restaurants work. It’s why we recommend you find
a partner with a deep restaurant industry knowledge; being a qualified interior
designer or architect is not enough these days to create a truly integrated restaurant
brand.
The bottom line – great restaurant design is complicated. Shopping for “cheap”
restaurant design consultants is like shopping for a cheap neurosurgeon. Yep, they’re
out there. But ask yourself: Do I want the cheapest neurosurgeon or do I want the
best? The best and the cheapest often take very different approaches.
For more information on how we create new restaurant concepts and new
prototypes for growth-minded restaurant chains, contact Aaron Allen & Associates
online at www.aaronallen.com
Any references to Interior Design or Interior Design Work which may imply that Aaron Allen and/or affiliates is either
participating in, soliciting for, or subcontracting Interior Design Work, as defined by the Florida Statute, is not to be
construed in a manner in which Aaron Allen and/or affiliates desires to participate in any of the three activities listed
herein. © 2010 Aaron D. Allen
© 2014, Aaron Allen

25. RESTAURANT DESIGN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Third generation restaurateur Aaron Allen has held every industry
position from line-level employee to unit manager. By age 19, he
was running a $10 million food and beverage operation at a 625room resort. By 20, he was overseeing a $4 million gulf-front
Caribbean-themed restaurant that served more than 1,800 covers
per day.
Having cut his teeth in operations, Allen eventually transitioned to
restaurant-focused marketing. In 2001, he founded his own
consultancy. By 2008, he’d skyrocketed the company to become
the world’s largest restaurant consulting firm. Major clients
included esteemed brands such as Starwood Resorts and Hotels
Worldwide, The Cheesecake Factory, TGI Fridays, FEMSA (Dos
Equis), BJ’s Restaurants, Hofbrau, Land O’ Lakes, Marriott, SSP and
dozens of other global restaurant chains, regional powerhouse
brands, high-volume independents, food and beverage
manufacturers, distributors, resorts, entertainment districts, hotel
chains and more.
Allen has become one of the most sought-after speakers and
sources for restaurant industry media. He has been a go-to source
for esteemed media outlets such as the Wall Street
Journal, Entrepreneur, Smart Money, MSNBC, TIME, Forbes, USA
Today, Nation’s Restaurant News, Chain Leader, Restaurants &
Institutions, European Food Service News, Food Service Middle
East, QSR Magazine and hundreds more.
Aaron Allen
© 2014, Aaron Allen
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26. RESTAURANT DESIGN
ABOUT AARON ALLEN & ASSOCIATES
Aaron Allen & Associates provides strategic marketing, concept development, and
executive-level advisory services to leading foodservice and hospitality companies
worldwide. We identify and distill the latest restaurant and hospitality marketing trends.
We prepare tailored presentations for the executive management of growth-minded
companies and then support the development and implementation of innovative
restaurant marketing initiatives within their system.
Collectively, our clients post more than $100 billion in global sales and span more than
100 countries across all six inhabited continents. We have worked with a wide range of
clients, including high-volume independent operators, multi-billion dollar restaurant chains,
hotels, contract foodservice providers, manufacturers, distributors and trade associations.
We have direct consulting experience in nearly all cuisine types and operating models.
© 2014, Aaron Allen
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27. www.aaronallen.com
contact@aaronallen.com
United States
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Suite 2300
Orlando, Florida 32801
407-936-1010 (US)
(866) 436-4002 (US fax)
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Október 6. utca 17,
Budapest, Hungary
+36-1-798-3578 (Europe)
Copyright © Aaron Allen & Associates, LLC 2014. All rights are reserved. None of the contents of this publication may be reprinted or used without the permission of Aaron Allen & Associates, LLC
© 2014, Aaron Allen
www.aaronallen.com