The importance of restaurant lighting

Why is good lighting crucial in a restaurant?

No matter how sophisticated the design interior of a restaurant is or the quality of the food, this can all be ruined by inappropriate or garish lighting which will have a big impact on customer satisfaction and ultimately the business.
With this in mind, it pays to spend time assessing lighting needs and getting it just right and there are a number of factors to take into consideration in order to create the perfect environment for customers:

Mood & time of day
Depending on what time of day food is served, it can be useful to install adjustable lighting such as a dimmer so that the right ambience is created depending on the meal being served. For instance, breakfast settings will require brighter lighting as customers may be reading papers and this will also signify the time of the day when people are waking up and drinking coffee.
Restaurants serving lunch may have a faster turnover of customers and a certain amount of bustle so a medium level light setting will be better for ensuring customers don’t linger too long.
Dinner lighting will be more subdued and intimate and will need an inviting and relaxing atmosphere where people will wish to spend more time over meals and soak up their surroundings.

Design
In terms of aesthetics, it is no good getting the perfect lighting level if the fittings are cheap or don’t fit with the setting as this will not look attractive and spoil the effect that you are trying to achieve. Therefore make sure to factor attractive and functional fittings into the equation and consider how they fit into the overall restaurant space and design including the lighting structure.

Colour
Many people have experienced the kind of fluorescent or white lighting that casts an eerie glow over everything, therefore the colour and tone of lighting needs to be warm and sufficient and this will also have an influence on how customers enjoy and perceive their food. The kind of white, harsh lighting mentioned above can also be off-putting, and conversely the right lighting will enhance their enjoyment of the meal and their experience in the restaurant.

Other benefits of good lighting
Of course it goes without saying that there are also health and safety benefits and requirements for having the right light settings for customers and this also extends to staff environments such kitchens where the correct degree of lighting will be needed for this very busy setting.
So to summarise, the importance of lighting in a restaurant cannot be over-emphasised and will make a huge difference to the success of your business and the desire of customers to keep on returning. The whole restaurant environment invokes a range of moods and emotions so to get this right confer with friends, family and other business owners in conjunction with light and design experts to get a range of feedback and then you can create that beautifully illuminated eating space.

To view a recent restaurant renovation undertaken by us, have a look at EPICUREAN RESTAURANT in our projects section.