22 Inspirational Restaurant Interior Designs

Great post from homedesigning.com with fantastic photos of innovative restaurant interiors.

22 Inspirational Restaurant Interior Designs

Branding: Are Burger King's New Ads Working?

From this report, it appears so.  They've changed ad agencies and direction, going to more food-centered commercials and the results seem to confirm that this is the right approach. The creepy-looking King character from past campaigns is out of the picture.

Imagine that - a restaurant chain finds that food is attractive to people.

The article from AdvertisingAge:

Has Burger King's First McGarryBowen's Ad Helped the Brand?

Food Trucks, Masters of Restaurant Branding

Can you guess what food this food truck serves just by looking at the truck?  I love how food trucks are very direct and straightforward about their brands.  Most times, there is no confusion as to what they sell.  While it is especially important for food trucks, being that they may set up in different locations and need to be there own billboards to folks that may be unfamiliar; the direct approach can work for anyone.



Maximus Minimus Truck from Seattle:

Maximus Minimus Menu

Article - How Companies Create A Brand

This great article on branding from the SFGate is a terrific primer on building a brand.  The article defines nine ways with which companies brand themselves and then has some discussion afterwards.  While this article applies to any kind of business, the first point, having to do with defining your brand, cannot be stressed enough for new restaurants.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/29/investopedia6483.DTL#ixzz1XSbE58zi

A Restaurant that Changes with the Seasons

Now here is an interesting restaurant idea: a restaurant that changes everything, not just its menu, with the seasons.  Not only will your food choices be different, but the decor and even the name of the restaurant changes seasonally.

The restaurant, right now called Park Avenue Autumn, currently looks like this:

However, come Winter, Park Avenue Winter will look more like this:

I think it is a pretty interesting, but most likely very expensive way to keep things seasonal and fresh.  But really, if you went one season and loved it, wouldn't you be tempted to try each season?

Here are some more details via a New York Times article: http://events.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/dining/reviews/10rest.html

And here is a link to the restaurant's site, which will show you all four transitions: http://www.parkavenyc.com/autumn/photos_seasons.php

Need Restaurant Design?

The WEBstaurant Store is more than just the largest online supplier of restaurant equipment. From opening orders for new restaurants and custom fabrication, to helping you plan your spaces for efficiency in preparation and operation, the WEBstaurant Store is your complete partner. Whether you are building a new restaurant from the ground up, or remodeling an existing business, we are here for you.


So if you need project design, this link will take you to our project design inquiry page.
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/projectrequest.html

Larry Bogdanow's Restaurant Design Work

The New York Times slideshow linked below is part of an article written in late June celebrating the work of restaurant designer Larry Bogdanow.  He had died at the age of 64.

From the slideshow description:
"Mr. Bogdanow loved natural materials and fine craftsmanship, and his designs brought a sense of warmth and ease to dozens of Manhattan's most popular restaurants."

 The slideshow is well worth a look. Slideshow Link: http://nyti.ms/larry-bogdanow

One of the images from the article:

Photo: G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times

Great Restaurants with Awful Websites

Our intention here is to have many posts regarding excellent restaurant designs.  One of the things that I am running across while gathering info on great restaurants is that the nicer looking the restaurant, the more terrible the website.  In our time,  there might be nothing more important for getting new customers in your door than having a usable, well-designed website.  No new customer wants to see the Flash intro, and your Apple device users just won't see it.

All of this reminds me of a Slate article I read a few weeks back.  If your restaurant website autoplays music, please give this article a read: 

Overdone Why are restaurant websites so horrifically bad?

Restaurant Branding - Great Menu Design

One of the elements of restaurant branding is the menu.  Not only is it important in reinforcing the restaurant's brand, but it also sells product.  It is well worth to take the time to make sure that your menu is readable (consider your lighting), accurate, and stimulates the purchasing of higher profit items.

If you need inspiration for the design of your menu, I highly recommend: Art of the Menu
An old colleague pointed this site out to me, and I am glad he did.  If you think menus are boring, then you haven't seen Art of the Menu's catalog of some of the best designed menus in the world. Great stuff.

Another resource is the WEBstaurantStore Blog. We occasionally post menu-related articles on that blog.

Of course, we carry covers from the most basic, to the very fancy. Check out this wine card holder made of cork:   

The most important thing to keep in mind about menus is their importance.  Take your time when you are considering the details of your menu.