Before choosing commercial lighting fixtures for restaurants, you must decide who your customer will be. Are you catering to a high-end crowd or families? Maybe you specialize in romantic evenings for those with a special someone. Or, your clientele might be office workers who are dashing in for a quick bite at lunch.

Commercial lighting for restaurants should speak to who your customer is. Some restaurateurs may want to throw up box lights (or flat panel lights) and call it good.  Flat panels might be great for a kitchen or other work areas, but it’s not so great for other purposes in your restaurant. Consider the following lighting options for everything from overhead lighting to accent lighting. Pay careful attention to the focal points and ensure your restaurant lighting is designed to set the mood you intend in the dining room.

Common Types of Commercial Lighting for Restaurants

Restaurant lighting suppliers carry many types of commercial lighting fixtures for restaurants, each with unique benefits and drawbacks. Let’s go over the styles of commercial light fixtures for restaurants so you can decide which is best for your establishment.

Here are the most common types of commercial lighting for restaurants:

1. Task Lighting

Task lighting is a type of lighting that is designed to help you see what you are doing. In a restaurant, this can be critical for tasks like cooking, prep work, and cleaning. With the right task lighting, you can increase efficiency and safety in the kitchen. 

2. Wall Wash Lights

Wall wash lights are a type of lighting that is designed to light up the wall rather than the general space. It eliminates shadows on walls, making it perfect for artwork, signage, and displays.

3. Pendant Lighting

Commercial pendant lights for restaurant fixtures hanging from the ceiling by a cable chain, or stem with variable lengths. These are often used to position light more specifically over bars, tables, islands, and host stations.

4. Track Lighting

Track lighting is an effective way to implement various beam spreads with the same fixture in your environment without fully committing to a layout.. This type of lighting is installed on a track suspended from or on the ceiling or mounted to a wall. Track gives you the versatility to move your lighting along with your restaurant furniture every season.

5. Recessed lighting (aka general lighting)

Recessed lighting is installed in ceilings or walls. It sends beams of light downwards, without seeing much more than the light source. They are mostly used for ambient or general area lighting.

How to Pick A Restaurant Lighting Supplier

The source of your restaurant lighting supply matters. Once you know what type of restaurant you have and the kind of lighting that will suit you, start looking for suppliers. Lighting Representatives and Distributors offer many manufacturer lines as well as lighting design services and expertise!. In the long run, it pays off to be selective when choosing a lighting supplier.

As you move forward with your commercial lighting for restaurants project, consider the following:

• Check any recent reviews for the quality of their work. This will also give you an idea about how responsive they are to issues or changes that need to occur.
• Schedule time with them to get help gathering all the materials needed for your project. They are lighting experts – use their knowledge to your advantage!
• Keep track of everything you’ll need, including incoming materials from suppliers. That way, nothing sneaks up on you at the last minute.
• Remember to create an open line of communication with your supplier so that there are no surprises.
• When you receive the materials, do a quality check. Everything should be up to your standards before proceeding with the installation.

What to Keep in Mind When Selecting Lighting

Many technical components need to be considered in selecting commercial lighting for restaurants. This includes the fixtures and controls.

• Light fixtures – different properties, such as color, temperature, and brightness. These must match what you want for your restaurant. You must ensure that your chosen fixtures are compatible with your electrical system voltage requirements. Know which fixtures have a light source and which you need to source separately
• Dimmers, switches and smart controls – Your chosen fixtures must be compatible with your control configuration. For example, if you have a dimmer switch, ensure everything is compatible

Solais Lighting Group Is a leading LED lighting manufacturer. We’ve provided high-quality, innovative products to clients since 2008, and we’d love to help you, too. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we offer or would like more tips on restaurant lighting, check out our site or find a rep near you.