Coffee Shop Bar Design Recommendations: Essential Tips for Coffee Bar Counter Renovation

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The soul of a coffee shop lies in the design of its bar counter. The bar is not only where customers get their first impression, but also the workspace where baristas prepare beverages—it's the heart of the shop!

Before finalizing the bar design, you must clearly define and solidify the shop's style, then create a design plan based on the actual situation of the premises. In addition to considering the shop's style and decor, we need to fully consider the spatial allocation between customer areas and bar counter space, as well as the workflow design.

The workflow design of the bar counter must fully consider how staff can operate efficiently after receiving orders. Therefore, starting from the placement of equipment, you need to consider how to enable personnel to move smoothly from operation to serving.

Bar Counter Styles

In bar design, we first need to determine the style based on the actual situation of the shop and the business model. Generally, there are three types: open, semi-open, and closed.

An open bar means that after customers enter the shop, they can clearly see the entire process of the barista making coffee and the equipment used. A semi-open bar means that after customers enter the shop, they can only see the process of making beverages but cannot see more details. A closed bar means that after customers enter the shop, they cannot see any operational details from ordering to completion.

For independent coffee shop decoration, an open bar is recommended. Today, consumers still choose to patronize independent coffee shops partly because these small shops have more human warmth, and customers can see the entire process of their beverage being made, feeling the barista's passion and pursuit of coffee and products. This not only makes people feel reassured but also heartened.

Bar Counter Size and Orientation

The orientation of the bar counter needs to be determined based on the shop's location and size. If located on a main street with deep shop space (longitudinal rectangular layout), you can choose an L-shaped bar design that faces the door sideways; with a horizontal rectangular layout, you can opt for a straight bar design that faces the door directly. If the space is shallow (square layout), you can choose an L-shaped design that faces the door sideways.

If located in a community, usually the shop space is smaller, so it's recommended to choose a layout that faces the door sideways. If the storefront space is large enough, you can also establish a takeout window connected to the bar counter. If the space is large and deep enough, you can consider a U-shaped bar counter facing the door.

Factors to consider for bar counter size include: storage space below the bar, cash register area, operation space, serving space, cleaning area, and if selling desserts, you also need to consider the position of the dessert display cabinet.

The rationality of the workbench design directly determines the convenience of future workflow. The width of the workbench cannot exceed that of the bar counter. Therefore, you must first decide the size of the workbench based on your bar counter size. The bar counter height is recommended to be 90-110cm, with a width of 50-60cm.

The operational space on the bar counter typically includes one coffee machine and two grinders, as well as various auxiliary tools for making coffee (such as pour-over tools, espresso tools, etc.). If needed, you must also reserve space for ovens and blenders. Decide on the machines first, then determine the required length. Then, reserve space on one or both sides of the workbench for the cash register area and serving area. Workflow direction: cash register → espresso coffee → pour-over coffee → serving.

Below the workbench, partition the ice maker (place in the area below the coffee machine), storage cabinets for takeout/products, refrigerator, and water purification system (place in the area below the coffee machine). To ensure ice can be in a more hygienic and clean environment, it's recommended to maintain a certain distance from storage cabinets and the refrigerator.

The sink should preferably be placed against the wall, and the wall must be properly tiled. It should be opposite the espresso station and pour-over coffee station, so you can turn around to clean up. Below the sink can be the trash bin area. If space doesn't allow for a double-sided bar counter and you only have a single-sided one, then the sink position is usually at the corner, which saves space while ensuring the cleanliness of the entire environment.

Water and Electricity Setup

Both ice makers and semi-automatic coffee machines require water inlet and outlet connections, so where these two machines are placed, you must have technicians reserve the water inlet and outlet positions. If not connecting to a central water purification system, you can install a separate water filter at each machine's water inlet to ensure water purity! Additionally, coffee making requires soft water, so adding a water softener is essential~

If you're in the decoration phase and need to set up electricity first, you must determine the placement positions of all machines and electrical appliances to be used, then arrange the positions and quantity of outlets below the bar counter. It's better to have more than fewer, so you're prepared for future electrical equipment needs.

Equipment Investment

Act according to your means—expensive doesn't always mean better. High cost-performance within your affordable price range is the most important factor! We don't recommend blindly investing in expensive equipment when opening a shop. You really don't need to throw all your capital into equipment when starting! You can gradually upgrade equipment after your operations stabilize. A coffee shop should try to save costs during its initial opening phase.

Of course, specific adjustments need to be made according to the focus of the products you sell. This also shows how important it is to determine equipment before finalizing the workbench and bar counter, even before preparing for decoration, and to determine equipment, you must first determine your products!

Image source: Internet

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