Outdoor Restaurant Design: 6 Knock-Out Restaurant Patio Design Ideas

Your restaurant’s patio is a huge draw for customers who want to enjoy a beverage, a bite to eat, and some fresh air. Looking to revamp yours? Check out these fantastic restaurant patio design ideas to inspire you.

Patio season is here. And for restaurants, that means months full of outdoor brunches, casual business lunches, date-night dinners, and evening cocktails.

Your patio is almost as important as your menu. After all, guests love visiting an incredible venue as much as they enjoy amazing food.

So, if you’re thinking about revamping your patio to make it irresistible to guests, then you’ll love these inspiring restaurant patio design ideas.

1. Work with Your Lighting

The lighting on your patio can make or break its ambiance. The good news is that there are ample restaurant patio design opportunities available to you, whether you’ve got a lot of lighting or only a little bit.

For example, patios with lower levels of light let you incorporate various lighting options to create a cozy and intimate atmosphere. Fia in Santa Monica is a flawless example of this. With its string lights, gravel, and wood details fused with touches of greenery, this patio feels like your eating in a friend’s backyard while still maintaining an upscale atmosphere.

We are also inspired by how Plant Food + Wine in Los Angeles did their beautifully illuminated patio using an abundance of string lights that create a warm glow throughout their entire space.

2. Include Natural Elements

Nothing brings a restaurant patio to life like incorporating natural elements. You can do this by adding things like:

• Planters as dividers for pops of color
• Hanging baskets
• Climbing vines
• Wall planters
• Fire features

These elements can transform your restaurant patio into a relaxing oasis.

Check out this project that PureModern worked on at Glass & Vine in Miami, Florida. The restaurant used our rectangular planters to create a garden oasis where patrons could dine alfresco and escape the busyness of life.

We also had the opportunity to supply our fire pits for the Joey B’s Foot & Drink project that Gianino's Family Restaurant and SPACE Architecture + Design worked on. A vacant building that previously held a well-branded restaurant franchise was redesigned into a fully functional space. The outdoor space includes an outdoor patio eating area, complete with two Zen concrete fire pits.

3. Create Privacy

You can create privacy on your restaurant patio by designing clusters of intimate seating. You can do this using planters, rock wall dividers, and even live trees. This will make your restaurant feel like an intimate, cafe-style restaurant and will attract couples at dinnertime or anyone looking to escape the crowds and relax with great food or a beverage.

We especially love a thoughtfully designed patio that uses an abundance of strategically situated plants to create a sense of privacy, even between tables that are close to each other. 

To learn how you can use planters as dividers to create privacy, check out our article on the subject.

4. Incorporate Amazing Outdoor Seating

Unique outdoor seating can make your restaurant patio comfortable and memorable. So, don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to your seating choices.

Unconventional tables, chairs, booths, and stools will amplify the look and feel of your space. And don’t shy away from pops of color!

For example, Canon in Sacramento features a diverse, top-tier outdoor furniture selection that offers a cozy, minimal feel with pops of color that help give the space vibrancy and life. Revamped in collaboration with Houzz, the restaurant was looking to better align its brand with its creative and progressive menu. And if you ask us, it really hit the mark!

5. Create Transitional Patios

Your patio may be jam-packed, but with a transitional patio space, you can bring a touch of the outdoors to your customers seated inside. If you’ve got french doors or big windows, open them up wide and let the sunshine in or the cool evening air fill your space.

PureModern had the pleasure of working with RaelArchitecture(s) at the Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema in Washington, D.C. They created an outdoor spot that extended to the interior eating area. Using matte black Modern Elite Rectangular Planters, they were able to create a division between the street and cinema.

6. Elevate Your Rooftop Patio

There’s nothing better than rooftop patio space at restaurants. It offers wide-open skies fused with incredible views that will have customers lined up around the block just to get a seat.

The key to creating an amazing rooftop restaurant patio? Ample cushions, pillows, and lounge furniture mixed with some shading, such as umbrellas or cabanas, to make sure there’s a comfortable place for everyone, no matter whether they want to be in the sun or seek shelter in the shade.

We’re blown away by the rooftop patio at Aba in Chicago, which boasts bench seating with fire features, exquisite touches of greenery, and offers full-sun, partial-sun, and shaded seating options. This beautiful, comfortable patio is somewhere you could easily spend an entire day lounging, eating, and drinking.

If you’re curious about how to choose the perfect furniture, fire features, and planters for your restaurant patio, contact us to speak with one of our experts today. We’re here to help answer any questions you might have.