Awnings can do a lot more for your restaurant than simply provide sun or rain protection along your sidewalk. A restaurant awning can speak for you, announcing your presence and giving potential diners an idea what they’ll find inside. Like your logo, an awning is a visual representation of your business.
What message is your restaurant awning sending?
If your restaurant awning is purely functional, you’re squandering a golden opportunity to upgrade your restaurant’s exterior and entice more customers through the door. Let’s look at what you might be missing.
Does your restaurant awning help people find you?
It’s a visual marker – a landmark that makes it easy for people to spot your location and entrance, whether they’re on foot, riding a bike or the bus, driving down the street. Except for pedestrians, people have only a few seconds to see and assimilate whatever words or graphics your awning has to offer.
Words and numbers must be easy to read at a distance, and your logo or other brand-specific graphic elements have to be large enough to be clearly recognizable.
Does it actively promote your restaurant?
So people can find you. Can they tell what kind of food you offer? The kind of ambiance they’ll find inside? Whether you’re dishing up waffles or upscale fine dining, your restaurant awning should make that obvious to people.
It can be a discreet, sleek presence over your doorway that says “sophisticated” or “cozy.” Or it can create an imposing presence across your entire façade that says “friendly” or even “outrageous.”
Does it announce that you have outdoor seating?
Tables out front on the sidewalk might be a dead giveaway, but what if your outdoor dining area is off to the side or around in back where folks might not immediately notice it? The right restaurant awning can be bold and literally up-front, but it can also give people a “sneak peek” – a glimpse that says “come on in, then join us outside.”
Restaurant awning accoutrements can help you expand your outdoor area, or make it usable in more seasons. Add some umbrellas in the summer, side curtains with big windows for cooler months.
Does your restaurant awning say “quality”?
If you look around, you’ll notice not all awnings look equally appealing. But quality shines through, no matter how unique your awning’s style or appearance. And an attractive restaurant awning is, well, an attraction. Incorporating key elements of good design doesn’t mean your awning can’t be entertaining, if that’s what your restaurant is all about.
Good design says you’re a quality establishment, whereas a restaurant awning that’s faded or dirty warns maybe your food or interior aren’t up to standard, either.
That’s why quality materials and craftsmanship are so important. A beautiful awning that doesn’t last is a waste of money. You can’t easily see quality construction or installation when it’s new, but working with a reputable restaurant awning company will ensure you get quality design that’s durable, too.
In fact, consulting a professional is valuable in other ways. They’ll help you avoid common mistakes, give you great ideas, work with you or your design team to create a one-of-a-kind restaurant awning that sends exactly the right message about your place 24/7, so it’s working for you even when you’re closed.
Perhaps it’s time for a new restaurant awning. One that sends just the right message.
There are lots of good reasons to invest in a new awning:
- Maybe you don’t even have one now.
- You’re expanding or remodeling.
- You have a new name or concept.
- You’re a new owner, and you want to put your stamp on the exterior as well as the menu.
- The old awning is tired and ready to retire.
- You’re bored with the old one and want something fresh.
- It’s spring, why not have a new awning?
What do you want to say about your restaurant?
Photo Credit: zigazou76 via Flickr
