Want To Add A Garage Door To Your Restaurant? 3 Things You Need To Know
Adding a garage door to a wall in your restaurant can allow you an opportunity to let more light into your restaurant throughout the year and can make it easy for you to open up your garage door and extend your dining space outward when the weather is nice.
Check Local Zoning Rules
The first thing you need to do is check with your local zoning regulations and see if you are permitted to add a garage door to your restaurant space. You don't want to put in a garage door only to find that you have to remove it or are not able to fully use it.
Next, you need to look into the rules about outside dining. In many areas, you have to obtain a permit to have an outside dining space, regardless of if the dining space is on your own property or taking up space on a public sidewalk. There are often different license that you have to obtain for building and food service in order to serve food outside. Make sure that you can obtain these permits and licenses for serving food outside before you make such a big change to your business.
Consider the View You Want to Create
Second, you need to consider the view that you want to create. Do you want a traditional commercial garage door where most of the door is made of a solid material, and windows just run across the top, letting in a little bit of light? Or do you want to bring the outdoors in throughout the year with a garage door that is all or predominantly made from glass?
The type of feeling that you want to create and the overall design and flow of your restaurant should help guide you in deciding if you want a more solid garage door or a more window-based garage door that will open up the feeling of your space throughout the year.
Figure Out How You Want the Door to Open
Finally, figure out how you want the garage door to open.
Do you want the garage door to roll-up so that the garage door is inside of your business when you have the garage door open? This works if you have lots of overhead space to work with so that you can have the garage door open and still have enough clearance for customers and employees to walk around.
Do you want the garage doors to slide open? This type of set-up only really works if you have walls on either side of the garage door that are just as large as the garage door; this is an unusual setup, but may work for the layout of some businesses.
Do you want the garage door to extend outward over your outside eating space? You can have your garage door open outward, so that it creates kind of a natural roof or awning over your outdoor space. With this type of garage door, you may need to move the outside dining tables and chairs whenever you open the garage door to have enough clearance. You also may need permission from the city to have a temporary awning like structure extend from your building.
If you want to connect your indoor and outdoor space at your restaurant, install a garage door(s) can be a great way to achieve this goal. Make sure that you get all the right permits for the construction and dining first. Then, figure out what type of view and feel you want your garage door to contribute to your restaurant setting. Finally, determine the safest and most logical way for your new garage doors to open and close.