Restaurant benches and lounge seating

Benches do two jobs in a dining room: they hold the party that is waiting, and they seat the one that has arrived. The 13 pieces here include waiting benches, lounge seating and resin benches, in plain, retro, bead board and channel styles. Decide which job comes first.

Waiting or dining

A bench in the entry holds a party for ten minutes. A bench along a wall holds one for two hours. Those are different seats, and the question to ask before anything else is how long the person on it will stay.

The waiting benches page collects the entry kind. Keep an aisle of about 36 inches free in front of a bench near the host stand, so the line to the door still moves while a party sits.

Backs, arms and upholstery

Of the 13 pieces, 9 list a standard seat height and 3 have arms. Upholstery options are listed on 8. Styles include plain on 3, retro on 2, and one each in bead board, 6 channel and button tufted. A tufted or channeled back reads from across the room; a plain back disappears into the wall behind it, which suits a bench meant to stay quiet.

Prices run from $162 to $1,567. Open each product page for its length, depth and height before you set a quantity, and hold the length against the wall it has to fill.

Resin and the patio

Resin appears as frame and seat on 3 pieces. Patio use is listed on 3, and indoor use on 3. Read the usage line on each listing, because a bench belongs outside only when its listing says patio use, and it still wants rinsing and a cover when the season ends.

Seats along a wall

Without arms, a bench leaves each guest's share of the seat undefined, so decide how many people it holds and size the table in front of it to match. A bench replaces a row of chairs, and a long one serves several tables. Count the length against the table edge each guest needs, about 24 inches, and see whether a booth would carry the same party with a back to lean on. For a room that wants separate seats instead, the chairs page is next door.

When the bench is chosen, save it with its neighbors to a seating plan, where the wall length and the aisle are counted together.