RESTAURANT DINING TABLE DESIGNS, STYLES & TYPES

For upcoming dining businesses like restaurants, bistros, cafes, food courts and a slew of other types of dining businesses that have recently launched, ordering and setting up tables can be tricky.  

The decision primarily depends on the type of restaurant you wish to set-up, the audience you wish to attract, and the guessing the arrangement in which they’ll come…couples, families, large group of friends, etc.   

Order too many of them and you’ll have wasted money that you’re unlikely to get back due to lack of occupancy, order a few of them and you’re going to lose potential business, guess the audience patterns wrong and the business will suffer.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg, the truth is that the variations between different designs of restaurant tables, types, sizes, and shapes are so varied that this post can only skim through a portion of it. But we’ll take a stab at it anyway. 

COMPONENTS OF A RESTAURANT TABLE

We’ll quickly run through the boring stuff, beginning with the constituent elements of a dining table, the reason we need to know this is because, unlike residential dining tables, tabes that is sold to restaurants, bars, cafes, etc are always sold in knocked down versions.

They’re basically a disassembled version of a table with various segregated parts, mainly:

1. The Table Base This is the bottom portion of the dining table that is also called the legs or the neck of the table, depending on the table design and the table type 

2. The Table Top This is the large slab that sits on the top and on which the food is served, they come in various sizes, thicknesses, materials, and patterns.

3. The Base Plate  The base plate is the foundation of the table, smaller restaurant table designs have only a single neck as opposed to 4 or 6 legs, so in order to increase stability a base plate with a wide span is used.

4. The Spider – This is the component that attaches the tabletop with the table base

8 RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS & STYLES

rattan woven & metallic outdoor restaurant table & chair set

OUTDOOR DINING TABLES

Dining businesses like cafes, casual restaurants, bistros, cafeterias & resto-bars by their very nature are places to unwind and get away from the petty grievances of everyday life.

Due to this, outdoor dining has a very special place in the dining industry, warm, breezy, and fresh air while eating and drinking in the outdoors provides an unparalleled level of comfort.

Unfortunately, this can be detrimental for your furniture, tables, especially as outdoor conditions are generally a lot harsher, it’s is much hotter, damper, dusty & just generally much rougher. This is precisely why using outdoor grade tables is a must.

Outdoor grade tables generally are made of metal, wicker (rattan), cane or outdoor grade wood. Of course, plastic tables are also used but you don’t want them or else you wouldn’t be reading this article.

black metal outdoor restaurant table in cast iron spider table base
cafe style wooden dining table in outdoor grade wood
marble top (quartz) dining table for outdoor commercial use

INDUSTRIAL TABLE DESIGN

In youth-centric restaurants, and dining businesses, in general, industrial design is quite prevalent and widely used. 

Industrial furniture design took birth around the turn of the 19th century in England where raw, unadulterated & freshly mined materials were first extracted and processed in large machines. 

Dining tables soon began using robust cast iron, black metal, bronze, unprocessed steel, exposed nailheads, and a slew of different design elements that radiate a raw and rugged appeal. 

Today, Industrial design tables are mainly an ode to the bygone era and a wildly popular design along with its 21st-century variations that include modern-industrial, farmhouse Industrial and more.  

4 seater industrial trestle dining table with exposed nailhead
industrial restaurnat dining table with black metal base & distressed wood tabletop
Industrial table design with steampunk wheels & cast iron base
fine dining table in modern industrial design

At FurnitureRoots, we sell our commercial wooden tabletops to these locations globally

modern dining tables for luxury restuarants

MODERN RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS

“The 21st century has brought with its materials and design philosophies that are simply jaw-dropping and if you’ve been around long enough to see the definition of “modern furniture” evolve, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.  

Dining tables have also come up to speed with this trend & the main way in which they do this is through the adoption of modern materials, finishing techniques, polishing techniques, and shapes.  

Stainless steel and mild steel are among the most widely used materials in modern restaurant tables. Electroplating, galvanizing & plasti-dipping techniques are used to achieve copper, bronze, gold, silver, and platinum finishes for a glossy and chrome appeal.   

The wide usage of marbles like Italian Marble, Quartz & Corian have given to some stunning dining table designs as you can see in the images”

mid century modern dining table in steel frame
mid century modern dining table with marble tabletop
black metal height adjustable modern dining table with bronze plating

BAR TABLE DESIGNS

While not exactly a design style, bar tables certainly deserve a mention of their own, since they’re quite unusual & understanding of them is important if you’re running the type of dining business that requires knowledge of such tables  

Bar Height” by its very meaning is a standardized measurement used in dining businesses. You may have seen some pibs and taverns with higher than usual seating and table arrangements. 

For tables, the height is 42 inches from the ground, and for seating furniture, this is pegged at close to 44 inches from the ground. 

Bar tables typically come in round shape and they seat 2 but supplies sell several different variations of these

bar height pub table and chair sets
42 inch high bar table design with double X table base
bar height table with ring kickplate in X table base design
White metal bar height table with wooden counter top
Large Wooden Dining Table in Rustic Design

FARMHOUSE WOODEN DINING TABLE DESIGNS

Farmhouse wooden tables exude a warm, comforting, and countryside appeal and are ideal for a family restaurant.

Wood and wooden products have a special place in our hearts and always remind us of the comfort of our homes, away from the wilderness, thus, the feeling of warmth that most diners feel with wooden, farmhouse style furniture is quite easy to understand, it simply is an evolutionary trait. 

These restaurant tables come in full wood, with a wooden table base or table with a wooden tabletop.

solid darkwood high-end dining table with curved legs
sleek mid century farmhouse dining table
antique, carved farmhouse design dining table with X base

FINE DINING RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS

Unlike the types of dining tables listed earlier, fine dining tables need to be a lot more formal.  

That does not necessarily mean stripping away every detail that makes them unique, but exercising restraint with overdoing decorative elements 

Simple, timeless, and classical styles are what works best with fine dining restaurant tables.

italian design fine dining table setup
classic traditional fine dining restaurant tables
fine dining commercial table with chrome stainless steel top and trestle base
fine dining Euro design round dining table
series of counter height dining tables

COUNTER HEIGHT RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS

This is the standard measurement used to denote tables that have their tabletop at a height which is somewhere between the “bar height” and more than the “standard height” 

Bar counters and counter height dining tables typically refer to tables that sit at around 34 inches to 36 inches off the ground, this means a seating height of about 25 inches. 

Almost all types of establishments that serve alcohol use counter height dining tables and they’re typically rectangular and allow for 4 diners to eat and drink at once. 

folding banquet-style dining table
counter height restaurant and bar table with burntwood design
classic counter height dining table with industrial style tablebase

TABLES USED IN DINING BOOTHS

Dining booths are great for an intimate and private dining experience, the tables used in these are somewhat different, they’re either stuck to the ground or the tabletops are drilled to the wall as in the picture to the left.  

Although other instances of free-standing benches are also used in more casual restaurant booth style seating arrangements

mounted restaurant table base
private booth style table restaurant dining table design
floor fixed restaurant booth table design
V shaped Table base design for private dining booths

RESTAURANT TABLES BY SIZES

6 & 8 PERSON RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS

Particularly suited for restaurants that see plenty of family folk or large group of friends visit on the regular.

Typically restaurants and pubs assume 25% of their dining capacity provisioned for visits in groups of 6 or larger. Here are some of the 6 seater & 8 seater dining table designs 

8 person restaurant table with hardwood tabletop
6 person table with platinum shaped W table base
free form dining table design for 6 with silver chrome legs

2 & 4 PERSON RESTAURANT TABLE DESIGNS

2 person tables and 4 person tables are among the most common type of restaurant table designs. More than 60% of a restaurant or a bar’s capacity is assumed to occupy these tables   

Here are a few of those designs

metal base dining table for 4 persons
all wood provincial design dining table
simple low cost 4 person standard restaurant table design
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