One of the first steps in starting a restaurant is buying the furniture. It's always fun to look around, test out booths and chairs, and find matching furniture for your interior, but work doesn't stop there. Many restaurant owners worry about finding the perfect restaurant chair, but an aspect that is just as important is choosing the perfect tables. Chairs get more wear and tear, but tables have to handle different challenges, such as heat, weight, and potential liquid damage, caused by spilled drinks. Because of these obstacles, restaurant table tops need to be durable, sturdy, and comfortable. The best and most common materials used to make table tops are wood, metal, and stone.
Check out the list below to see which table top material is best for your restaurant!
Material Options:
Wood: This is probably the most common table material that restaurants choose. It looks sleek and can be made to match any aesthetic, from five star restaurants to dive bars. Being a natural material, wood is very sturdy, and durable too. Even if wood gets worn or damaged, it's usually an easy fix. So while there is some maintenance required, it's minimal.
If wood is just a little too out of your budget, but you're set on the look, an alternative you could try is wood lamanite. This is a synthetic material that is often used in place of wood. It has a similar look to it, but it's much lighter and cheaper than real wood.
Either of these materials can be a good option, but there are some definite pros and cons to both materials. However, if you want your tables to last longer and look better for longer, then buying a real wood table is the way to go.
Metal: While not the most used material for table tops, it has become more popular in the recent years and is now rather trendy. Metal is great because it's very sturdy, lasts for a long time, and doesn't require much maintenance. Another bonus is that it can also withstand being outside, so you can use them on the restaurant patio as well.
Buying metal tables means that you won't have to worry about replacing the tables for some time, which is always beneficial. Therefore, if you're on a stricter budget, then putting metal tables in your restaurant is recommended.
Granite/Stone: Having granite or other stone for your restaurant table tops escalates your restaurant to another level. It makes everything else look richer, and therefore more appealing. While this is exactly what you want in a restaurant, any type of stone table top will be expensive. Typically, granite or stone costs about twice what a wooden table top costs. This price difference varies too depending on the type of stone used.
Even though stone is expensive, it's a fantastic material for tables. It's clearly durable, so it lasts for years without needing maintenance. Also, it doesn't show wear and tear like wood or metal. Thanks to the grains in the stone, the pattern hids any and all knicks or marks.
