From the West to the East Coast, Create an American Steakhouse for Everyone

  From the wild, wild West to the corner restaurant on your block, what the past and present American steakhouses have in common is not only their true-to-tradition menus—but their downright delicious homemade cookin’.

  Whether you’ve just opened up your brand new franchise or if you’ve been put in charge of creating an American steakhouse that delights the senses, making the customers hunger back for more, you have a lot on your plate. Literally—most American steakhouses are known to serve you a big heaping help of food that you almost can’t indulge in.

  Although the American diet might seem like something diet—with fats and sugars leading the way, the design of your steakhouse restaurant should still leave your customers wanting more as they exit from your doors for the first time.

  In this guide today, we’re going to go through a variety of different features and interior design elements that can help spruce up your style and get your customers coming back.

A Large Spectrum of Style

  Just like how wide the coast spreads from west to east, you have so many directions you could go to when looking for inspiration for your American Steakhouse.

  When we take a closer look at the American culture, you won’t be surprised to recognize the wide variety of choices and styles you can aim towards.

  From the Cali, laid-back vibe with a surfer, pineapple Hawaii burgers to Texas, down south feel, you can really choose a style based on what your preference is—and the target customers you’re aiming for.

  This is great news for you—making your job of designing your American Steakhouse restaurant that much easier when it comes to selection.

  However, this might be a little overwhelming, especially when you’re a first-time restaurant owner when you’re trying to figure out which style will truly suit you and your staff best.

  To help you with interior design and décor, we’ve created this guide that takes you step-by-step through important elements and various details that can really help you nail that restaurant you’ve been envisioning. 

Restaurant Design

  Especially since social media has gone viral, you don’t really have a choice nowadays—whatever your restaurant or food looks like can and most likely will make it online.

  Whether you want it to or not, this could really be an opportunity for you to take advantage of the extra exposure that you’ll be getting once you hone in on your design.

  Nowadays, that responsibility and privilege of getting the design just right takes a lot of courage but also a lot of knowledge or research.

  You have to know the right design elements, a broader understanding of the concept you are attempting to create, and the environment you’re going to be working with. It’s really all about the ambiance.

  For an American Steakhouse, you’re going to be working with good ol’ American tradition—which is great because it is seemingly patriotic. However, there are so many different ways you can be patriotic.

  Are you going to be adhering to the clientele from the south, with big ol’ briskets and various large food items on your menu to show that things really are bigger in Texas or are you going more to the midwest or to the north? This is a broad range of styles—let’s state the obvious here, America is a HUGE country with a lot of different influences.

  In other words: you really can’t go wrong with the design and interior décor.

  However, making the investment in what you envision can go a long way with design and drawing your customers in. Of course, it depends on the kind of clientele and target customers you want to draw in—but once you’ve made these crucial decisions, you can get into the planning of your restaurant, from layout to the details of décor.

  Investing time and money in planning and design can benefit you through a few ways. As we mentioned, in simpler terms—if your place looks photograph-able, then the advertisement is going to be virtually free for you, spread through social media.

  Another way—the good old-fashioned way—it can enhance the experience of your customers who have decided to take their business to your eatery today.

  The interior design of your American Steakhouse Restaurant has a lot of power for your profit and the future of your restaurant. So, let‘s get into the small details:

What makes a restaurant an American Steakhouse Restaurant

  As we just mentioned, there’s not really one thing that can define the American culture—so defining what makes a restaurant an American Steakhouse Restaurant is equally as difficult.

  However, regardless of the direction, you take on the American history and culture in your design, the important part of it is the passion behind not only how you run your restaurant and its food, but also how you decorate it.

  From the most intimate details to the overall design, your customers will be able to truly appreciate a handcrafted design.

  The saying, “Made in America” goes a long way when designing your American Steakhouse Restaurant. Investing not only in your country but in those little details is a thoughtful and surefire way that will help you connect with your customers.

  Especially if you overflow your restaurant with these minor details, it will encourage your customers to keep coming back for more and more after every visit—since they always seem to find something new.

  When you’re going to be designing your steakhouse, remember—people don’t go dining out simply for the food. Although that’s a huge part of it, they mainly come for the customer experience. This can be done through creating an overall mood and ambiance—that you have complete control over as the owner or designer.

  Since you’re in charge of an American restaurant you can either choose one branch of our culture to aim for—like country or coast—or you can combine the two, making a walk-through of your restaurant a full experience of differing styles, types, and histories within the same space.

  This will create a storyline and a major difference from what a customer expects to what a customer experiences.

So, let’s get into what makes a steakhouse:

• It’s important to note that a steakhouse can also be called a “chophouse”. It also doesn’t just focus mainly on steaks—other meats are served there too. If you’re a vegetarian or don’t necessarily like red meat, you can also enjoy dining at a steakhouse, since most also specialize in other types of meat, like poultry, prime rib, veal, fish, and seafood.

• It’s going to be a combination of all the senses. Remember, most people don‘t go out simply for the food and the taste of it—they want the full experience, from aroma to taste, from sight to surroundings, from interactive bands or musical experiences to live waiters throwing bread rolls at you to catch from across the room.

• Make the experience worth the cash. Especially since the majority of your customers will be dining on steak, it usually means that they’re prepared to dish out the cash. Make sure they know you appreciate their business, and value the worth of a dollar. This can mean that if you’re trying to invest in experience, you really want to make sure the restaurant serves high-quality dishes, has exceptional service, and is clean!

What to include to complement an American Steakhouse Eating Experience

  As we just mentioned, eating at a steakhouse is more than just the steak—it’s the experience.

  So, before you open up your doors to customers, make sure that your guests are going to be getting a true American      Steakhouse eating experience—whatever that may look like to you. 

  You might have memories from when you were little of what your experiences were when dining at your local restaurant. You might remember the color, the textures, the live entertainment or even what the waiters were wearing or how they interacted with you. These memories can help—especially since you associate the American Steakhouse experience with the restaurant’s title.

 Even though it’s such a broad style, we’re going to get into what it may look like at a “traditional” steakhouse:

 You’ll want to focus on your warm colors. You definitely want your guests to feel like they’re right at home. Especially since most of these steakhouses are known for serving large dishes with a lot of food, you want your guests to feel comfortable enough to eat as much as they please.

 Warm colors around your establishment, along with extra larger details like dark-polished wood can create that homey feeling that your customers crave more than your finest slice of prime rib.

 If you’re looking for more of an elegant look, you can choose an elegant backdrop of book-matched marble. From an inspiration back in the 50’s to the 60’s you can get as fancy as you want—your customers are spending money so you should make them feel fancy!

Choose dramatic chandeliers and tufted velvet banquettes that not only scream elegance but are comfortable enough for you to sit on and look a bit lived in so your guests still feel comfortable.

Creating that sort of effect and design is great for your customers to be able to connect with one another and—more importantly—enjoy a nice piece of steak.

What goes into decorating an American Steakhouse restaurant

  Your first decision was whether or not you wanted to go for more of an upscale vibe or for a homey, comfortable feeling.

  Once you’ve chosen either one, then we can get into the finer details when talking about decorations, lightings, and extra additional elements.

  As we already mentioned, fortunately, there isn’t really a “one-size-fits-all” look for an American steakhouse—especially when it comes to design. Since there are so many different aspects of culture to choose from, you can really go with your gut feeling on it.

  One thing to keep in mind, however—it’s all about balance. Although you might think that adding clutter might make some guests feel like home, you need to have enough clutter and clarity to adhere to both different sets of customers.

  If your favorite color is peach, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your customers will enjoy eating their steak surrounded by the inside of a pinkish-orangey fruit—but we’ll get into color more, later.

  Although—you really can’t go wrong with red. It’s both warm and induces hunger and appetite.

  To help you out with other decorating ideas, here are a few more tips:

• Focus on minimalism. Although you may think over-cluttering in decoration is a great way to go, try and use minimalism ideas, like shelving. Not only does this create a sense of function to your restaurant in the fact that you can use it to actually make the place feel like home and post up important things, but you can also use it to add style.

• Another great thing about focusing on minimalism? You actually save money doing it—less is more, baby! You can hang up most shelves on your own—and who doesn’t love a quality DIY project? 

• Plant it up. Go green is the new worldwide campaign, so why not show everyone you’re also on board? Especially since most steakhouses get a bad rep since they’re serving a whole lot of meat, the more green points and environmentally-friendly things you can put out there, the better.

• Fortunately, you don’t even have to go with real plants—play around with budget-friendly plants that can even be changed and interchanged on a weekly or monthly basis.

• Keep it local in design. Everybody loves the restaurant who supports local artists and local vendors. By supporting them, you also get great promotion for them to come to eat at your restaurant. Especially if you go really local with artists that are not exactly known yet, you can get artwork for cheap—or even free. Assigning paintings or murals that tie into your American Steakhouse theme can also be a focal point for wall art.

• Use lighting fixtures to keep the room comfortable. As we mentioned before, you want your customers to feel at home. Make sure that your lighting fixtures and the warmth of the actual light tailor to that specific mood.

• Switch it up with your seats. Make it unique but make it comfortable. You can choose a traditional seating style with stools and booths—but you can make it all your own with a fresh paint job or repurposing an existing chair. Mix and match to create a style all your own.

What are the must-haves in an American Steakhouse restaurant interior 

decorations

 When we refer to “must-haves” here, we definitely aren’t just talking about the food.

 Yes, you should be able to serve an amazing steak with a side of house fries but you should also place your focus on the look and feel of your restaurant—since this plays a crucial role in your guests’ experiences.

  The interior of your restaurant has so much decoration potential—that it can not only serve the purpose of enhancing your customers’ experience but also help you with functional design.

 As we mentioned before, colors play a huge role. So, decorations and interior details are a great place to start with tiny accents here and there that keep the color palette synonymous throughout your whole eating establishment—from your the outside of the building to the menu to the paintings lining the walls. You want to create more than just interior design with your restaurant, you want to make a brand.

 Not only should your American Steakhouse have a good milkshake for dessert or on the side of your dinner menu (um, hello, Steak n’ Shake), but they should also try to incorporate some of these tips in design:

 1. Either liven it up with technology or keep it hidden. You can’t go in between here. If you want to go to a sports bar look, have your tech menus out and your TVs blaring at every corn of the room. If you don’t want to give off that kind of vibe, go for a more traditional feeling of the less technology the better.

 2. Use as much of the wall space as possible. Want to hire a local artist to paint a mural? Advertise your menu right on the wall itself! It saves you paper (points for being environmentally-friendly) and gets the customers’ attention right off the bat.

 3. Social media is king. You’ve probably heard the saying before to make it “Insta-worthy”. From your decor to how you plate your food, you’ll definitely want to keep everything photo-ready to be posted. Nowadays, take a look at each customer as your own advertising channel. Not only should a bright color palette and lots of lighting help you make your food insta-worthy, try signing your restaurant up for a profile itself. Make hashtags and place them around your restaurant. Remember—free advertisement!

4. Light fixtures shouldn’t be dull. First and foremost, you should decide what kind of lighting ambiance you want to give off for your guests. An intimate atmosphere with warm but dim lighting can create the homemade feeling you’ll want for a more traditional, American steakhouse. However, if you want that chic, high-end inspiration, you’ll have to have the lighting reflect that. You can even get into the DIY project with lighting to be different with bulb string lights or even mason jar lights—instead of that traditional candle.

5. Your menu is everything. Most people eat with their eyes. If your menu is loaded with pictures, readable text and eye-catching fonts, it’ll enhance the first impression your customers will have of your food. Your menu should also be in line with the restaurant decoration. People automatically like congruency—it’s easy on the eyes. So if you already have your colors chosen, from main ones to accent ones, try and put that on the menu, too.

6. Design an open floor plan. A good old American-style dinner doesn’t get too intimate—so open it up for the whole family! Takedown the walls from your previous design and invite the place to get loud and rowdy! An open floor plan can help encourage more people to come to dine—with more parties and business teams to come along, too.

7. Let your personality through. No matter how big or chain-like you want your restaurant to become, don’t forget that people are there for a unique dining experience, so don’t keep your personality suppressed—showcase it through interior decor and design to make it unique!

8. Keep it as budget-friendly as possible. There’s no need to be dishing out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a remodel. Unless you’re working on opening up space structurally speaking, you really shouldn’t be going bankrupt over these designs. Keep it simple, handmade, local, and you’ll be on your way to success.

Conclusion

  Knowing what you want before you even begin on your design is a great place to start. You also shouldn’t have to do it on your own. Have your team help you and especially put their input on your design.

   If you need any guidance with furnishing and your American Steakhouse restaurant layout, keep in mind that Central Seating, Inc. has got your back! We’re here for you to help not only make your restaurant as inviting as possible so the customers keep on coming back for more, but we also want to perfect any vision you may have.

  We hope that this guide has helped guide you in creating the ideal American Steakhouse layout. From lighting to menu design to specific colors and the psychology behind it, we want you to have the best chance of setting up a successful restaurant.