The premises: dining room, kitchen and rent

How the premises are split

The split depends on the concept, the menu, the number of covers, the comfort you want to offer and how much you use pre-prepared products.

• Kitchen: 15% to 25% of the area.
• Dining room: 45% to 65%.
• Storage and services: 20% to 35%.

The dining room

It's worked out with an area per customer of 1.10 to 1.50 m², plus 10% to 20% for walkways. That tells you right away whether a space works: if it doesn't have the meters for your covers at the planned comfort level, pass on it; if it's bigger, negotiate the rent proportionally.

The kitchen

There are no fixed ratios: the kitchen grows less than proportionally with covers. It's designed around principles:

• Defined work zones and short routes.
• Dirty tasks (receiving, washing) separated from clean ones (mise en place, cooking, plating), with no crossings or backtracking.
• Separate routes for staff, goods and customers.
• Kitchen and dining room on the same level, with one-way circulation.
• Minimum height of 3 m, good ventilation, non-slip floors, 85–90 cm high counters and 1.20 m aisles.

Rent

It shouldn't exceed 10% of net revenue, and 5% is optimal. Project your sales before signing.