Restaurant floor plan: fit your seats, then check the aisles

Seats and aisles are one decision

Most arguments about a restaurant floor plan come down to one trade-off: seats versus circulation. Add a table for four and some path gets tighter. Widen the path to the kitchen pass and you lose covers.

The trade-off only means something at real size. "It looks a bit tight" isn't a decision, and taping out every option in an empty tenancy takes an afternoon per layout. MiseFits is a browser-based restaurant layout planner where every table, stool and fridge is drawn at its true size in millimetres over your own floor plan, so you can move things, measure the gap and try the next idea a minute later.

From floor area to seat count: a method

"Square metres per seat" figures online vary widely by concept, and none of them know your columns, your door or where the plumbing comes in. A more reliable way to answer "how many seats will this restaurant hold?" is to test it on the plan.

1. Measure the space you can actually seat

Start from the area on the listing and take out what you can't put tables on: the entry, toilets, stairs, columns and the path to the exit. What is left is your candidate dining area, which you can measure directly on a scaled plan.

2. Set aside the kitchen and back-of-house as an assumption

Pick a working split between front and back-of-house. Treat it as your own planning assumption, not a rule: a café plating pastries needs far less kitchen than a restaurant with a hot line and a dish pit. Then test it by placing the equipment you actually need and checking someone can work in front of each item. If it doesn't fit, move the line, not the equipment.

3. Try two or three layouts and compare

Fill the dining area a few different ways: mostly tables for two, mostly tables for four, or a wall counter with fewer tables. MiseFits counts seats as you place furniture (a counter counts one seat per 600 mm) so you can compare options side by side. The most seats isn't automatically the winner; pick the layout where service still flows.

Square metres, square feet and rent

Depending on where you are leasing, the listing may not use the unit you plan in. Commercial listings in Singapore and the UK are commonly quoted in square feet, and rent is often given per sq ft. In Australia and New Zealand, listings and rent are usually quoted in square metres.

The conversion is simple: 1 m² = 10.764 sq ft. A shop measuring 9 m × 12 m is 108 m², or about 1,163 sq ft. If rent is quoted per sq ft, multiply it by 10.764 to get the rate per m², which makes it easy to compare with another listing or with the rent you had budgeted per seat.

You don't have to do this by hand. In English mode, MiseFits shows every area in m² with sq ft alongside, both for the sheet and for any area you trace. Lengths and fixture sizes stay in millimetres, the unit most fit-out drawings use.

Table, booth and kitchen equipment sizes

These are the default sizes in the MiseFits fixture library. Real products vary by manufacturer, so once you have chosen a specific table or fridge, type its width and depth in mm in the app to override the default. Inches are rounded to the nearest whole inch.

Sizes are the outer footprint of the item itself. They don't include room to pull out a chair, open a door or stand in front of the equipment. Items marked PRO are in the Pro fixture library. The full list of fixtures across every business type is on the fixture size list.

Aisle widths: how to check them

An aisle is only as wide as its narrowest point, and that point is usually a chair back, not a table edge. So measure with the chairs pulled out, at every pinch point between the door, the tables, the counter and the kitchen pass.

MiseFits colours each measurement so you can spot tight spots at a glance. These bands are the app's rule of thumb for layout checking, not a regulation:

Focus on the busiest paths: kitchen pass to the furthest table, the counter queue, and the way to the toilets. Where staff carrying plates pass guests, one person's width is not enough.

Planning your layout in MiseFits

1. Load your floor plan or start blank. Load the PDF or image your landlord or agent sent you (for a PDF, the first page is used). No plan yet? Choose "New blank" and enter the width and depth in mm.
2. Calibrate the scale from one known dimension. Use "Set scale", click the two ends of a length you trust, such as the shopfront width, and type it in mm. Everything after this depends on it, so use the longest reliable dimension you have.
3. Place the kitchen first. From "Kitchen & plumbing", place your equipment and check there is working space in front of each item.
4. Fill the dining area. From "Restaurant & café", place tables, counters and booths. Drag to move, use the handles to rotate, or type exact sizes.
5. Measure the aisles. Press M (or use Measure) and click two points. If a gap shows red, drop a table or turn it and measure again.
6. Check seats and area. The Summary panel counts seats and shows area in m² and sq ft. Put each option on its own sheet to compare.
7. Share it. Export PNG or PDF, or print, for your partner, builder or landlord. "Save (JSON)" lets you keep editing later.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the chairs

Tables laid out edge to edge look fine until someone pushes a chair back into the aisle. Place chairs separately, pulled out, and measure from those.

Calibrating from a short or doubtful dimension

Set the scale from a "900 mm" door that is really 820 mm and every measurement is out by the same proportion. Use a long, clearly dimensioned wall, then check a second known length.

One path doing every job

If guests, servers and dirty plates share a single aisle, they will meet in the middle. Keep it wide enough to pass along its whole length, or give people somewhere to step aside.

Ignoring door swings and the queue

Entry, toilet and fridge doors all need space to open. Plan where two or three people will wait at the counter, too, or the line ends up at the door.

FAQ

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