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I'm sure no doubt when you have a look through numerous contract furniture suppliers' websites you'll come across various sizes of tables and table tops available to you. Often there can be so much variation and size choice it can get a little overwhelming. But which is the right size for your food and beverage i.e. F&B business type and your site?
Read on for useful guidance and tips on the best size table for your commercial interior project.
Square tables: what size should I go for?
If your business is a cafe or coffee shop, or you're limited on space:
Cafes, coffee shops, bars, you get the idea, can get away with the smallest standard table top size of 600x600mm. This is because items on the table are likely to be kept to a minimum i.e. a couple of coffee cups or glasses and a few plates can happily fit onto a small table top area.
A 600x600mm square table top is also handy when your site is limited on space in its trade area and you want to try and fit in a few more covers so that you can accommodate more customers at one given time.
If your business is a restaurant or pub, or space isn't an issue for you:
A more standard or conventional square table top size is 700x700mm. This will allow you to have more and/or larger items on the table - think a main meal plate, a side dish and a drink per person, as well as giving you more scope to have extra items permanently displayed on each table as mentioned above.
TIP: If you plan to put cutlery jars, condiment trays, or decorative items like a plant pot on each table it might be best to consider a 700x700mm square table top size, even if your business is a cafe, as these extra items will take up space on the table and could have negative impact on the customer's experience when their food and drinks come out... We've all been there when the poor service staff member struggles to place all of your order onto the tiny, cramped table and you end up creating a game of Tetris with everything on the table.
If your floor layout involves having 4 people around a square table:
The typical design choice would be to have a 900x900mm square table to give plenty of dining space for each person and still allow for a decorative centrepiece. But again, if you are tight on space and don't want customers knocking their chair into the back of a neighbouring group some suppliers do stock 800x800mm table tops.
Round tables: what size should I go for?
If you're seating 2 people at a round table, follow the same rules outlined above for 600x600mm and 700x700mm square tables.
If you are using a round table for 4 people I would suggest sticking to a 900mm diameter size because although in theory this is the same as a 900x900mm square table you're actually now missing the corners of the table top - so there's a little less room for lots of items. Because of these missing corners though, round 4 people table can actually help you free up a bit more /movement walking space between tables.
Rectangular tables: what size should I go for?
If it's a table of 4 people:
A standard width you can get from contract furniture suppliers is 1200mm. Some also do a shorter 1100mm width if you're limited with space in your site. With table depth you have again 600mm or 700mm as a standard size.
Wherever possible I would always try to go for the larger table top size i.e. 1200x700mm as it allows the most space and comfort for your customers - especially if your business is somewhere like a (formal) restaurant where people spend a longer length of time sat at the table waiting between courses. You can even get some ready-in-stock tables or table tops with a 1400mm width if this is better suited for your F&B business.
If it's a table of 6 people:
If you're putting 3 people on either side of the table, go with a table top that's 1800mm width and 700mm depth, ideally. If you're putting 2 people on the long sides and 1 person on each shorter side you could have a shorter width of 1500mm and then increase the depth to 800-900mm to allow for sufficient space around the table for everyone. Something like this might be more of a custom table top size, depending on your choice of contract furniture supplier.
Depending on what your F&B business is you can get away with a smaller overall table top size for 6 people than I've suggested above. For example, if your business is a bar or pub where there will mainly only be drinks on the table.
If it's a table of 8 or more people:
We're getting into bespoke table size territory here if you're planning a dedicated 8+ person table in your floor plan layout. The overall size would depend entirely on your business type and/or what you want your customer experience to be like.
An alternative option is to have two rectangular tables (that each fit 4 people) next to one another if you're looking to purchase in-stock table tops.
TIP: As a rule of thumb if you're purchasing all new tables I suggest keeping the depth of all your tables the same if you plan on frequently moving tables around to fit different group numbers in your space. This way you can easily put a 700x700mm square table next to a 1200x700mm rectangular table if you had to make a temporary table of 6 people.
Or if you have fixed seating you can have a mix of 600x600mm tables and 1200x600mm tables without it looking odd aesthetically.
Okay so I've covered quite a lot in this post on deciphering what table size would be best for your food and beverage space, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many various table styles and sizes you could use.
If you want any further advice on table sizes or want to work together on a commercial interior project, just comment below or you can get in touch via hello@studiosk.co.uk.
(Cover image: Mathias Reding via Pexels)