Keeping seating options flexible is a key component in any restaurant's success. A dining area as open and free flowing as possible without compromising seating space is the ideal all restaurant owners should strive towards. Having enough room to allow your guests to sit in comfort while also allowing your staff to easily move around the tables is easy if you only serve a small number of customers. As most restaurateurs will tell you, when large parties arrive, this means rearranging the tables and waiting for other diners to finish their meals. To get around these issues without compromising your vision, drop leaf tables are the best solution as they easily turn from square to round adding extra seating space without requiring you to re-arrange your restaurant’s furniture layout.
Flexible Seating Capacity
When you are looking to seat more people at your tables, drop leaf is the ideal solution. For example, in a matter of a minute or two you can turn a restaurant table of 4 into a table of 6 by simply lifting the leaves and securing them in place. They can easily turn from square to round adding extra seating space without requiring you to rearrange your restaurant’s furniture to accommodate larger parties. This feature really comes in handy when you unexpectedly have a large party that you want to seat. Moving heavy wooden tables can cause damage or injury if not moved properly, so the drop leaf is also a safer option to increase capacity. Drop Leaf tables can also change the look and design of your dining room, changing your table shapes from square to round.
Like all our restaurant table tops, the drop leaf is used in commercial settings and made to withstand heavy use. The advantage that a drop-leaf table has over the regular ones is its versatility. Basically, you get two tables in one without having to spend more money.
Why Did Beaverton's China Town Restaurant Choose Drop Leaf Tables?
Beaverton's China Town Restaurant is a very popular restaurant with a large, open dining area. The traditional decor includes a large mural, wall decorations and a carpeted floor. The restaurant chairs and tables are also matching in color to the rest of the decor and are widely spaced to allow diners their privacy and servers enough room to easily move around during service.
Thanks to its popularity the restaurant is in high demand during rush hours. While helping them with the layout and product selection, our team together with the designer decided it would be best to use drop leaf tables. As a result, most of their tables are drop leaf tables allowing the staff to quickly and easily turn a table of 4 into a table of 6 or 7.
Closed Drop Leaf Tables
In their closed position drop leaf tables can comfortably accommodate between 2 and 4 people. Often large venues, like China Town Restaurant prefer to leave as much open space as possible in-between tables in order to facilitate movement and create a more intimate and pleasant atmosphere.
Opened Drop Leaf Tables
During rush hours and when large parties arrive, the drop leaf tables can be opened to add extra seating space without requiring tables to be moved around. Something that in certain cases can be difficult. In this case for example, the carpeted floor creates a lot of friction meaning that table would have to be completely raised off the floor to be moved. Within few seconds, a closed drop leaf table that used to sit 4 people has been opened and can now comfortably accommodate 7 diners without requiring the staff to waste time and energy moving tables around .
Multiple Sizes
Commonly, drop leaf tables comes with 4 leafs, meaning you can open 2 leafs and change it to an oval size or all 4 for a round shaped table. The standard drop leaf table sizes are:
- 30" X 30" (accommodates 2) opens to 42" diameter, (accommodates 4-5)
- 36" X 36" (accommodates 4) opens to 51" diameter, (accommodates 5-6)
- 42" X 42" (accommodates 4) opens to 60" diameter, (accommodates 6-8)
This makes drop leaf tables the perfect option for turning your restaurant into a venue for large events, such as banquets and weddings, without the need of permanently having large, over-sized tables taking up unnecessary space.
Structure
The drop leaf table top includes a fixed square top and most commonly, 4 leaves (one on each side) which are held in place using strong springless hinges and slide bars. This allows you to assemble your drop leaf safely and securely in just seconds and it can be changed back just as quickly. The strong slide bars and hinges are made for tough durability designed to be used multiple times in a busy commercial environment and are capable of holding up the weight placed on them the same as the rest of the table. When opened up, the leaves will blend seamlessly with the rest of the table.
Materials
Drop leaf tables can be made from several materials such as solid wood, laminate with self-edge and laminate with overlay and are available in many different styles and finishes. Solid wood table tops are usually the most common selection for a drop leaf table. Additionally, our custom laminate tables come in many different laminates giving you a wide spectrum of options to choose from to match your décor and restaurant’s theme.
Wood is divided into 2 main categories: hardwood and softwood. Solid wood table tops for commercial use are made of various types of hardwood which provides not only elegance but also strength and durability. While a little more expensive than other types of wood and wood derivative table tops, solid wood shines through thanks to its superior aesthetics and high-end looks.
Laminate is made of synthetic materials and is coated with a thin layer that can be made to look like wood, stone or any other material. More heat and scratch resistant than solid wood melamine is a good choice when looking for a cheaper alternative that also has a lot of customization options. The self edge laminate has the same color and texture on the edges as it does on the top creating the impression of a table top made from one solid piece.
The overlay laminate has a wooden edge overlapping the laminate top. With the top made to look like anything from stone to metal and even a printed image, the wooden edge adds an extra dimension to the top making it stand out and be noticed.
