restaurant furniture

Points to consider:
Flow Patterns
Distance
Furniture Arrangements
Speed/Turnaround times

These will help create an atmosphere that suits the environment and ensures that staff can work efficiently. All providing a great customer experience.

Flow Patterns 
The flow of a restaurant must be considered carefully. How smoothly things run will affect the experience the customer has and ultimately return trade. The layout of a restaurant is key in ensuring a hassle free flow of people. Fast and professional service requires efficient flow in a restaurant.

Distance 
Very Important. There should be at least 45cm (18") between chairs, ensuring customers don't get bumped by staff or other customers. Extend this distance for finer dining. The distance from the back to front of house is also a crucial element of any floor plan.

Furniture Arrangements
For restaurants that have greeting or waiting areas, this area must be close to the front door so it can be seen but not too close to block traffic entering and leaving the restaurant. If larger groups are common, a larger greeting area will be required.
Greeting areas should be comfortable but relatively hard so customers don't relax too much and are difficult move to their tables.
A restaurant used primarily for meetings needs: 
To encourage interaction between guests with face to face seating and an asymmetrical bar shape.
A restaurant used primarily for private dining needs:
Wide spaced tables.
Tables at angles to each other to restrict views.
High backed seats.
Chairs in a row, creating a barrier.
Linear bars.
Booth seating, although this is inflexible so requires careful thought.
Square tables allow flexibility and re-arrangement, depending on the size of group booked.
Light chairs can be moved easily and don't damage floors.
Heavy chairs give a more elegant/regal feeling. Attaching felt glides protects floors and reduces noise.
Having a mix of table sizes and seating arrangements creates a visually interesting restaurant.

Speed/Turnaround times 
Depending on your type of business you will want your customers to stay for different lengths of time. Turnaround times are a very important part of running a successful business.
In a fast food place or café, everything should be laid out for speed. Flow lines must be kept short and must not cross. The seating shouldn't be too comfortable as ideally people should only stay for about 30 minutes, and all the surfaces must be easily cleaned.
Whereas, a fine dining establishment requires thought about how many sittings you plan to have, e.g. 1 sitting or 2. The comfort of your seating must correspond with the length of time you wish customers to stay.