NYC Awnings: Setting Up A Storefront Dining Area

NYC awnings can help your restaurant make more money. Really. That’s because you can use awnings to extend your restaurant right out to the street. Or the back patio. And that enables you to grow your business in several ways:

  • You can increase seating capacity without an expensive add-on or remodel, assuming you could even do that with your existing physical space. And you can simply remove the storefront dining area when you aren’t using it.
  • It’s hip to be cool, in the words of Huey Lewis. And nothing is quite a cool as Euro-style outdoor seating. There’s just something about it that gives your place a special flair unlike anything else.
  • Outdoor seating can help attract more customers. You automatically get increased visibility for your restaurant’s location, not to mention the food. Smell is the strongest and most memorable sense.
  • It all gives people another reason to return.

So what are you waiting for?

Creating a storefront dining area can be simply a matter of setting out some tables and chairs. But wait a minute. First you need to check out NYC’s restrictions to be sure that’s OK where you are. Talk to the NYC Fire Department, too. It’s smart to learn everything you can about what’s required – or not allowed – so you don’t waste time planning and paying for things you can’t keep.

NYC awnings protect people in your dining area.
We tend to think of awnings as shading us from the summer sun’s heat and glare. But your awning can also protect patrons from breeze, even rain or snow.

How? Simply by turning your storefront dining area into an outdoor “room.”

You can add side curtains, also called rail curtains. They can be about waist-high, giving your space plenty of definition without impeding the view into or out from the dining area. Or they can be full-length walls, with or without built-in windows. These allow you to use the space when the weather isn’t all that conducive to sitting outside without a little help, by adding heat or fans or air conditioning. You can actually outfit your storefront dining area to serve people year round.

Side curtains and other awning accessories that match the rest of your thematic colors augment your brand and give people a hint of what to expect on the inside, too.

There are several styles of NYC awnings suitable for making the most of your storefront dining area — traditional canopies that extend from your building’s exterior wall, a temporary free-standing structure or always-popular umbrellas. Use one, or a combination. They can be colorful or understated, sophisticated or brash. Just like your restaurant.

If all you really need is summertime use, a retractable awning may be a good choice. Although they aren’t designed to stand up to difficult weather, especially uncomfortably strong wind, when it comes to shading people from the sun, retractables really shine. So to speak. You can simply unfurl the awning when your dining area is open, and retract it again when you’re closed.

NYC awnings promote your restaurant.
With an awning in place to establish your storefront dining area, you might as well put it to full use. Think of it as a supremely classy billboard. By dressing it up in your official colors, with your name and logo, you can:

  • Even more easily capture attention from people passing by, whether on foot, on a bike, in a car or bus.
  • Increase impulse business. Your place will look so inviting, people will want to stop for a cup of coffee, a quick lunch or an after-work glass of wine with coworkers.

Add temporary signs that match your awning and restaurant décor to advertise daily specials, or simply offer a cheery or humorous greeting.

Establishments from ice cream parlors to white-linen fine dining can benefit from a storefront dining area. So what are you waiting for?

Photo Credit: Signe Karin via Flickr

Restaurant Awnings