​Re-envisioning the restaurant dining room

What will your restaurant look like in the months ahead – not so much in terms of the guests coming through your doors but in the structure and layout of your dining room? Forbes reports that most states are limiting inside dining capacity to 25 percent as restaurants reopen, putting further downward pressure on margins and forcing operators to get creative about how to fill – and adjust – their spaces. We may have seen the last of communal tables, buffets and salad bars for a while, while plexiglass barriers between tables will become more commonplace. Even restaurant operators with tables already spaced at a distance will have to think differently about how they will maximize their square footage while protecting the safety of guests and employees. Expect more outdoor seating under heat lamps as operators stretch their dining room boundaries. Bob Luz, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, recently told Boston Magazine that he is in the midst of discussions with state officials about how restaurants might be able to use additional space on sidewalks, lawns and even parking lots to increase their capacity.