Area split: kitchen first
The most common failure in a first restaurant is a dining room designed to a cover count and a kitchen fitted into whatever was left. It produces a venue that can seat 90 and cannot plate for more than 55 on a Saturday, and no amount of interior quality rescues it. Fix the back-of-house area from the menu and the projected covers per service before drawing a single table.
| Format | Back-of-house % | Sq ft per cover, front | Covers on 2,500 sq ft | Kitchen area needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QSR / counter service | 35–45% | 10–14 | 110–140 | 875–1,125 sq ft |
| Casual dining | 30–36% | 14–17 | 100–120 | 750–900 sq ft |
| Bar-led / gastropub | 26–32% | 13–16 | 110–130 | 650–800 sq ft |
| Premium casual | 30–35% | 18–22 | 78–95 | 750–875 sq ft |
| Fine dining | 35–42% | 24–32 | 50–65 | 875–1,050 sq ft |
| Café / bakery | 28–34% | 12–16 | 105–130 | 700–850 sq ft |
Back-of-house includes kitchen, cold and dry stores, wash-up, staff change, office and the waiter station. Not the customer toilets.
The dimensions in the dining room
| Element | Minimum | Comfortable | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table edge per diner | 600 mm | 750 mm | Below 600 mm elbows touch |
| Two-top table | 700 x 700 mm | 800 x 800 mm | 600 x 600 mm is a coffee table, not a dining one |
| Four-top | 900 x 900 mm | 1100 x 750 mm | Rectangles seat four better than squares |
| Chair back to chair back | 1200 mm | 1500 mm | This is where servers walk |
| Service aisle, main | 1200 mm | 1500 mm | 1500 mm if trays or trolleys pass |
| Chair pull-out | 450 mm | 600 mm | Measured from the table edge |
| Banquette depth | 600 mm | 650 mm | 550 mm seat plus back cushion |
| Bar counter height / stool | 1050 mm / 750 mm | 1100 mm / 780 mm | Allow 650 mm of counter per stool |
| Bar working aisle | 900 mm | 1050 mm | Two bartenders need 1050 mm |
Acoustics: the difference between busy and unbearable
Noise is the single most common complaint in reviews of new Indian restaurants, and it is entirely a design outcome. A hard-surfaced room — polished concrete floor, exposed ceiling, glass, timber tables, no curtains — will have a reverberation time of 1.2 to 1.8 seconds. At 60% occupancy that reads as lively. At 90% it becomes a room where nobody at a six-top can hear the person opposite, and people shorten their visit, which shortens the spend.
| Treatment | Where | RT reduction | Cost, ex-GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acoustic ceiling raft or baffles | Above the dining floor, 25–40% coverage | 0.3–0.5 s | ₹450–₹1,100 / sq ft of raft |
| Perforated acoustic timber ceiling | Full ceiling | 0.4–0.6 s | ₹850–₹1,900 / sq ft |
| Upholstered banquette backs | Perimeter | 0.1–0.2 s | ₹1,800–₹4,200 / rft |
| Heavy curtains at windows | Facade | 0.1–0.15 s | ₹450–₹1,200 / sq ft |
| Carpet or rug zones | Under key tables | 0.1–0.2 s | ₹180–₹650 / sq ft |
| Acoustic plaster | Ceiling, seamless look | 0.4–0.6 s | ₹1,200–₹2,400 / sq ft |
Target under 0.8 s at mid frequencies in a dining room. Budget 3–6% of the fit-out for acoustics; it is the line item most often deleted and most often regretted.
Services — resolve these before the layout is fixed
- Kitchen exhaust and grease duct route. Where does the duct rise, and does the landlord or the society permit it? In a Mumbai mall it is a defined shaft; on a high street it is often the single hardest thing to solve, and it has determined the location of more kitchens than any design consideration.
- Makeup air. A kitchen exhausting 6,000 CFM must be given 5,000–5,500 CFM of tempered makeup air, or the dining room goes negative, the doors become hard to open and the kitchen smell is pulled into the dining room.
- Grease trap and drainage. Location, capacity and access for cleaning. Retrofitting a trap into a finished floor means breaking it.
- Electrical load. A 100-cover kitchen with combi ovens and induction can need 60–120 kW. Confirm the sanctioned load before signing the lease, not after.
- Gas. Commercial LPG bank location, the safety distances, and the local fire NOC requirements.
- Water and hot water. Dishwash alone can use 400–900 litres per service. Check the building's supply and storage.
- Fire NOC and licences. Fire, health, FSSAI, excise if you are serving alcohol, and the shop-and-establishment licence. In Mumbai this list can take 8–20 weeks and runs in parallel with construction, not after it.
What a restaurant fit-out costs in 2026
| Format | Scope | ₹ per sq ft, ex-GST |
|---|---|---|
| QSR / café, 800–1,500 sq ft | Counter, seating, basic kitchen shell, signage | ₹2,600–₹4,200 |
| Casual dining, 2,000–3,500 sq ft | Full FOH, bar, acoustics, toilets, kitchen civil and MEP | ₹3,200–₹5,200 |
| Premium / bar-led | Bespoke joinery, feature lighting, full acoustics, façade | ₹5,000–₹8,500 |
| Add: commercial kitchen equipment | Ranges, combi, refrigeration, exhaust hood | ₹18–₹60 L for 100 covers |
| Add: grease duct and exhaust system | Hood, duct, ESP, fan, makeup air unit | ₹9–₹28 L |
| Add: acoustic package | 3–6% of fit-out | ₹120–₹400 / sq ft |
Add 18% GST. Kitchen equipment is a separate capital line and is usually procured by the operator directly.
We have never been asked to make a restaurant quieter before it opened. We are asked every few months to make one quieter afterwards, and by then the answer is expensive.
Greenbox commercial fit-out lead
Front of house planned from the kitchen outward
A sequence that works
- Menu and covers firstThe menu sets the kitchen equipment; the equipment sets the kitchen area; the kitchen area sets the covers. Working the other way produces a dining room the kitchen cannot serve.
- Resolve the exhaust routeBefore the lease is signed if possible. It is the constraint most likely to kill a site.
- Fix the back-of-house layoutWash-up, cold store, prep, line, pass. Then draw the dining room in what is left.
- Design the dining room to the covers, not to the plan shapeMixed table sizes: roughly 60% two-tops, 30% four-tops, 10% larger. Two-tops that combine are worth more than fixed six-tops.
- Specify acoustics at concept, not at value engineeringIt is 3–6% of the budget and it is the difference between a room people stay in and one they leave.
- Run licences in parallel with constructionFire, health, FSSAI, excise. Starting them at handover adds two to five months of empty rent.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
How many square feet per cover does a restaurant need?+
14 to 17 sq ft per cover in the dining area for casual dining, 18 to 22 for premium casual and 24 to 32 for fine dining, with QSR as tight as 10 to 14. Those are front-of-house figures only — add 30 to 40 per cent of the total area for the kitchen, stores, wash-up and staff areas.
How much of a restaurant should be kitchen?+
30 to 40 per cent of the total leased area, including cold and dry stores, wash-up, staff change and the waiter station. Casual dining sits at the lower end and fine dining and QSR at the higher. Under-sizing the kitchen is the most common and least recoverable planning error — a dining room that seats 90 with a kitchen that plates 55 loses money every Saturday.
Why are new restaurants so loud, and can it be fixed later?+
Hard surfaces — polished concrete, exposed ceilings, glass and bare timber — give a reverberation time of 1.2 to 1.8 seconds, against the 0.8 seconds a dining room needs. It can be improved after opening with ceiling rafts or baffles, typically ₹450 to ₹1,100 per sq ft of raft, but retrofitting means closing the room and the result is rarely as clean as designing it in at 3 to 6 per cent of the fit-out.
What licences does a restaurant need in Mumbai?+
Fire NOC, health licence from the municipal corporation, FSSAI registration, shop and establishment registration, an eating-house licence, and an excise licence if you serve alcohol. Allow 8 to 20 weeks and run the applications in parallel with construction — starting them at handover adds months of rent on an empty unit.
What does a restaurant fit-out cost per square foot in India?+
₹3,200 to ₹5,200 per sq ft for casual dining of 2,000 to 3,500 sq ft in 2026, ex-GST, covering front of house, bar, acoustics, toilets and the kitchen's civil and MEP works. Premium and bar-led venues run ₹5,000 to ₹8,500. Commercial kitchen equipment is separate, at ₹18 to ₹60 lakh for a 100-cover operation.