A back bar design that invites guests to explore more.
There are some smart calls we can take, by tweaking things done in past (that do not work) to a manner that makes people feel at ease. Because anything that does not make people feel at ease is avoided.
With our extensive work in luxury end spaces working with top guest profiles and leading designers, we know what guests want. Surprisingly majority of hoteliers and restaurateurs violate these preferences without knowing.
Check out below the 10 commandments for an inviting back bar design. Meet them, and see how your guests return as they feel more comfortable, at ease. Violate them at your own risk.
Commandment No. 1
Select warm finishes for human touch – use deco finishes.
We feel comfortable in warmer materials, that is why we take vacations to sea side spots rich in white, blue and brown views. Live colors inspire us. Unless its essential (outdoors seaside), replace steel finishes with warm custom finishes in back bar refrigeration.
Or designer Steel Finishes
If steel is essential in back bar design then use one of the custom finishes that gives steel an art form and creates an interesting visual experience, such as this jewel-finishing.
Warm finishes make for a cozy space to hang out.
Commandment No. 2
Add some drawers to the back bar refrigeration.
When people see inconvenience and hurriedness, such transfers to their experience making them hassled. Drawers are seen and also experienced as convenient and warm. They add an inviting feel to the cold refrigeration counter. Use custom finish in a warm woody or ocean blue color to create an experience where you are sure to increase the customer stay duration. Comfort has a spa like effect. Drawers are a key element.
Add more drawers, deliver a higher luxury brand/ space value.
Commandment No. 3
Blue feels refreshing, cool and inviting.
Use blue color in refrigeration instead of warm. Blue signals the mind, of freshness, that the products inside are colder. Some times designers think of warm or dull led, even switching off the light in fridges, focusing instead of warm ambient lighting. But when its about cold beverage refrigeration, the color is truly blue.
Warm light carries UV, which is anyway harmful to wines. So wine cellars will often have blue lights. Blue light will also lower the heating up of cabin, keeping actually the cooler, colder by few degrees!
Blue LED is shown to increase the open product shelf life.
A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore has found that blue LEDs have strong antibacterial effect on major foodborne pathogens, and are most effective in cold temperatures (between 4 and 15 °C) and mildly acidic conditions around pH 4.5. (learn more)
Go Blue. Keep it fresher, and cooler.
Commandment No. 4
Less is more, and more is clutter.
Don’t clutter the back bar top. Keep important things in focus. The back bar is a dressed up shop window and not a bulk storage rack system.
When power of back wall space is shared with more items, each value diminishes. Call it GDP per Capita of the Bar Display Wall. Less is more and more is clutter.
Avoid glassware storage in backbar, use hygienic and secured glass racks to avoid contamination. Below is a perfect back bar example.
Less is more when it comes to gaining a position in mind.
Commandment No. 5
Raise the backbar to eye level.
Raise back bar height, three to size inches above floor to the height matching front bar top. Do not lower backbar products from eye view. Out of sight is out of mind. To place POS use a recessed stand.
Often, bar coolers are found of short or reduced height of 30 inches with 4″ casters. A front bar counter is almost 12″ higher at 42 to 44 inches.
The guests behind find it increasingly difficult to view entire bar cooler frontage. A glass door refrigerator is also a product display counter creating desire to buy a cold beverage. Lack of visibility is a cause of a large percentage of lost sales.
Raise the back bar height and see orders increase.
Commandment No. 6
Organize and stack in order. Avoid chaotic storage.
Bar counters quickly become a victim of clutter and disorganization because there is not enough space allocation in a systematic manner for an increasing number of cocktail and beverage ingredients.
At its inception every bar counter looks clean, but there are no guests then. The counters fold, when there is a gathering at peak time. This leads to delayed orders, breakages and wrong pours (guest cancellations).
A well organized bar system is more than great for better sales figures, it also reflects a calmness and order. Place your ducks in rows. Organize backbar products in categorized rows. Don’t store products at random.
Order creates desire. Clutter repels.
Commandment No. 7
Add Wine & Champagne display to the back bar
Create section for wine and champagne display to elevate backbar products value. Store wines the way they are meant to, horizontally for bottles and vertical for wines opened for by the glass. Use a wine preservation system on bar top counter or as built in, to serve maximum wine labels by the glass.
Adding a wines display system is a great idea
A list of wines increase perception of the venue. Knowing how to store, display the bottles in a tasteful and informed manner will do wonders for restaurant value in patrons mind. Using a built in wine display amidst the bar refrigeration spruces up the value of the bar and sales by returning guests.
Create a halo effect for all other bar products with wines integration.
Commandment No. 8
Frozen glassware in a froster depicts better drinks and safer.
Display Frosted and chilled glasses. It’s the first step in making a great drink and shows readiness. Because warm glassware in room temperature, kept openly are more than contaminated they increase the temperature of the beverage served faster.
Frozen glasses means anticipation!
Commandment No. 9
Premium to mass brands in a descending order.
Placing the premium brands in focus lit locations and upmarket liquors step below while pouring brands directly above back bar counter top sets a nice order of aspiration as well as line of vision.
Similarly, store premium higher priced beverages in one section while fast moving at one shelf below will assure increased orders for the upper shelf brands.
Raise aspirational value by an aristocratic hierarchy.
Commandment No. 10
Nothing that discounts the guest experience in bar design.
Nothing cheap looking. Let nothing cheap looking come between your guests expectations and the bar product. Raise it by using premium refrigerators that increase the experience value.
The bar fabrication takes lions size of line of sight between consumers and the service. It is as much a part of the ambience and decor, thus only use fine and upmarket bar setups that elevate the guest experience.
A cheaper looking facility reduces everything else to its level. Great bar setup reflects your professional prowess.
Conclusively
A summary of the 10 inviting bar (design) commandments.
These 10 steps guarantee the bar area will attract guests, and increase its yield per year. They are,
- Select warm finishes for human touch – use deco finishes.
- Add some drawers to the back bar refrigeration.
- Blue feels refreshing, cool and inviting.
- Less is more, and more is clutter.
- Raise the backbar to eye level.
- Organize and stack in order. Avoid chaotic storage.
- Add Wine & Champagne display to the back bar.
- Frozen glassware in a froster depicts better drinks and safer.
- Premium to mass brands in a descending order.
- Nothing that discounts the guest experience.
Brought to you in association with Glastender bars – Built in U.S.A.
The majority of recourses used in this presentation are from Glastender bar installations in the USA and India.
Glastender bar systems let us create fabulously made fitted setup with custom finishes, in an orderly method, where all ingredients are stored in an organized manner at an arms length. The fabrication and finishing is top notch that increases the guest experience with the business.
The high profile back bar refrigerators, with custom finish options, options in LED lighting finishes, are tall 36 inches (3 ft), and with casters or leg sets match the front bar top height. Meeting the point No. 5 in perfection.
Glastender back bar refrigeration carry modules of drawers, glass froster, wine and champagne doors, and regular refrigeration with organization accessories for beverage bottles. This meets most of the other inviting bar commandments.
The range of glassware storage racks in front bar and backbar undercounter removes the need to store glasses open on back bar top, removing the clutter point #4.
To get your Glastender bar designed, get in touch with us with your bar plans.
Contact for design