Tips for Upgrading an Old Bar and Restaurant

As a restaurateur, your main priority might be ensuring the food you serve is pleasing to your consumers. Still, other aspects of owning a restaurant, cafe, or bar contribute to customers’ experiences and satisfaction, as well as the likelihood they’ll return to your eatery. Your establishment’s decoration, design, and atmosphere can determine how much you sell, too. Considering how essential the interior and exterior are to creating excellent experiences for your patrons, described below are ways you can upgrade an old bar and restaurant.

Follow a concrete renovation plan.

Although customers in the U.S. frequented fast-food restaurants more during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data shows they reported more satisfaction with full-service establishments. The stay-at-home orders and partial, temporary, or indefinite restaurant closures resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak likely caused the increased demand for full-service restaurants. Respond by upgrading and renovating your old bar or restaurant in ways that will impress eager customers.

Renovations can be expensive and time-consuming. These projects typically require architects, interior designers, equipment consultants, and structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers. With this in mind, consider your bar or restaurant’s condition and age, and determine which professionals you need to call for services that can transform your building in such a way that it feels like a new structure altogether. Work out a budget, timeframe, and schedule that enables you to take care of critical needs like foundation repairs, electrical work, and new equipment installation first. After handling such primary issues, you can focus on redesigning and redecorating your establishment in ways that align with the concept you defined for it, your target clientele, and the experience you aim to provide them.

Repair and strengthen your bar or restaurant’s foundation.

Just as homeowners take care of their home’s foundation, business owners must do the same regarding their eateries. After years of servicing patrons, an old establishment has probably seen wear and tear. You may notice when it’s time to do away with old, worn barstools, counters, booths, tables, and light fixtures, but it might not be as easy to notice structural damage your building incurred. In many cases, leaks and cracks in your establishment’s basement floors, walls, and ceilings can be noticeable indicators that your bar or restaurant may have foundation problems that threaten its structural integrity. It’s best to address minor cracks soon to keep them from becoming a more significant problem. Call on professional contractors who have years of experience identifying different types of cracks. Experts will have the training, skills, and equipment needed to repair cracks in basement walls and ceilings and resolve foundation settling and shrinkage issues. Ultimately, restoring and strengthening an old bar or restaurant’s foundation guarantees that it’ll be functional and safe enough to remain open to the public.

Keep your electrical system in working condition.

A crucial part of ensuring your establishment is safe is updating its electrical system. An old bar or restaurant likely has an older electrical system—which can be a fire and safety hazard. Outdated wiring and electrical components can become overloaded, overheating the system and wearing insulation. Old wiring and electrical fixtures require repairing and replacing, and panel boxes need upgrading to function as necessary. Electrical needs, like foundation repairs, are tall orders best left to professional electrical services. The best electrical contractor can handle all types of commercial electrical work and lighting repairs, ranging from custom indoor and outdoor lighting, swimming pool lighting, generator installation, and smart home technology.

For bar owners and restaurateurs in New Jersey, the best Electrician in Marlboro, NJ, provides routine inspections, maintenance, and emergency services that empower their generators and electrical systems to stay in optimal condition. Upgrading your electrical system through professional electrical repairs permits you to equip your establishment with enhanced lighting fixtures inside and outside and more efficient plugs and outlets. Your business will even be able to handle pole lighting and neon signage—displays that can help you make your bar or restaurant stand out in the community.

Incorporate uniqueness into your design.

Once you have emergency services, foundation repairs, and electrical rewiring completed, don’t stop there—update your bar, restaurant, or brewpub so that its design and ambiance convey your brand. Leave your design needs in the hands of custom beer draft line installation experts. Explain your needs and vision for your establishment with experienced technicians who can create a custom plan for you. The best technicians will know just what setup works for your establishment’s services and floor plan. From there, they implement their strategies, equip your bar or pub with machines and systems designed for alcoholic beverages and coffee, and thoroughly check that the draft lines dispense correctly, maintain carbonation, and are easy to clean and service.

Once you and the enlisted professionals determine how much space you’ll utilize for customized full-service glycol systems, walk-in organizations, growler stations, keg cabinets, and more, plan your seating areas accordingly. Consider places your patrons may not want to sit. Try sitting at each barstool and every table to determine if there’s something that could potentially be bothersome to customers, like drafts of cold air or insufficient legroom. If needed, rearrange the furniture to make your seating arrangements more suitable.