Tips for successful al fresco cafe dining

With social distancing measures in place, hospitality businesses are taking steps to give their customers room to move around freely, which also means making the most out of their outdoor space. To make sure that you make your customers' al fresco dining experience as pleasant as possible, we've put together a few tips.

Choose the right furniture - Choosing the right café furniture for your outdoor space will play an essential role in the success of your business. Outdoor dining furniture usually gets dirty faster than indoor furniture, and if there are any unexpected messes caused by birds on your tables and café chairs, it's likely going to put customers off. Make sure that your members of staff are checking up on the cleanliness of chairs and tables while removing plates and glasses as quickly as possible to avoid attracting wasps and flies.

Maintain your service standards - When you choose to serve customers in an outdoor seating area, it's essential to make sure that you have an adequate number of staff members on shift to ensure that your guests outside are not forgotten about when it gets busy. When customers visit your cafe, it should be immediately obvious whether they need to order inside or if you offer table service. At the same time, if the majority of your customers are seated outside, it's important to make sure that your guests inside aren't forgotten about either. As British weather can be unpredictable, it's a good idea to have team members on call when the weather is warmer to help with extra outdoor capacity.

Give your guests space - Providing customers with space is an important element of the government's post-COVID-19 measures, but it's also important to make sure that your customers outside have room to move around. Guests that choose to sit outside might be accompanied by pets or pushchairs, which can take up a significant amount of space between tables. If you want to encourage guests to bring their pets, it's also a good idea to provide them with water bowls that are topped up regularly throughout the day.

If you're looking for quality cafe furniture that you can depend on, take a look at our range at Cafe Reality today.