Restaurant benches and lounge seating

13 pieces fill this small category: waiting benches, upholstered lounge seating and a few resin pieces listed for the patio. Benches live by the door, the window or the bar, so the first question is the clear floor around them, not the cushion.

Where a bench earns its floor

A bench by the door sits in the traffic, so give people room to pass. Keep a route at least 36 inches wide, and mark the space on the plan before you order. The 2010 ADA Standards also call for 30 by 48 inches of clear floor beside accessible seating, so read the current text of the standard and ask your designer about local code.

Styles here run plain, retro, bead board, six channel and button tufted. Seat height is listed as standard on 9 of the 13 pieces. Three have arms, and 8 offer upholstery options, so ask for a swatch before you pick a color.

Indoors and out

Three pieces here are resin, and three list both indoor and patio use. One example is a resin patio piece measuring 55 inches wide by 31 deep by 31 high, a useful size to test against a corner of the terrace. The other nine carry no usage line, so treat them as indoor pieces unless the listing says otherwise.

Wood and upholstered pieces stay under a roof. Weather fades, swells or rusts them, and the warranty does not cover that exposure. Resin and other patio-listed pieces still want a rinse, a spot to drain and a cover or a back room once the season closes.

The shelf, and the neighbors

The waiting benches page holds five listings for an entry or a host stand. Single pieces here start around $162. Delivery is palletized LTL freight, and drivers do not carry freight up stairs, so book a liftgate or inside delivery when you submit the order if the entry sits above the street. Nothing is charged on submission, and a person reviews every order before it is confirmed. For dining along a wall, booths give you a fixed back and a table in front; for loose seating at the rail or the patio, the restaurant chairs page has the long list.

Sketch the bench, the door swing and the walkway on one plan and save it to Patio plans. Move the bench six inches and see what happens to the aisle.