Old habits die hard – but, as it turns out, new habits also like to linger. This is especially true of consumer habits in the restaurant industry.

During the pandemic, restaurant patrons got used to the ease and convenience of take-out and the opportunity to sit outside on fresh patios – a perfect place to people-watch and safely share a great meal together.

Now restaurants are finding ways to adapt to these now even more desireable criteria, which appear to be sticking around more permanently than originally thought.

Here are some of the adaptations we’re seeing in commercial kitchen and restaurant renovations in our work at Seacoast Construction:

• Expansion of outdoor dining footprints – Increasing your exterior footprint allows you to seat more patrons as well as welcome those who may still feel uncomfortable dining indoors. It can also add a bit of a “wow” factor when done right. To read more about the benefits of adding more outdoor dining to your restaurant, be sure to read this post.

• Updating kitchen functionality to accommodate more take-out services – The ease that comes with of grab-and-go will always be in style. Although, while previously it was a domain for primarily fast food or fast-casual establishments, now even historically dine-in only restaurants are in the game. But to accommodate, this means making some changes to the kitchen. This includes things like adding more food warmers, increasing storage areas, and adding and organizing shelving to store meals while they await their pickup by different patrons or delivery services.

A well-functioning commercial kitchen is the foundation of your restaurant. To keep it running smoothly in the post-COVID era, some permanent adaptations may need to be made to streamline your services. To get started renovating your restaurant, get in touch with our team at Seacoast Construction.