How to Choose Restaurant Chairs: A Buyer’s Guide for UK Operators
Choosing restaurant chairs comes down to five checks: the right seat height for your tables (typically 450–500 mm against a 760 mm top), a frame built for non-domestic use, upholstery that meets your fire standard and wear level, a footprint that suits your cover plan, and a supply route that can repeat the same chair later.
Key takeaways
- Measure from seat to the underside of the table top: a 250–300 mm gap is the usual comfort window.
- Ask which standard, edition and test level any strength evidence covers, and whether it applies to the exact model.
- Upholstered seating in restaurants and pubs is usually treated as medium hazard under BS 7176, which typically means Crib 5.
- Specify fabric at 40,000 Martindale rubs or more for contract use.
- Plan around three months from approved specification to delivery for made-to-order chairs.
Chairs are the piece of furniture guests touch longest, and the piece staff move most. Get them wrong and the problems show quickly: knees under the table edge, wobbling joints after a busy summer, scuffed upholstery, or a dining room that seats fewer covers than the plan promised. This guide sets out how UK operators, designers and fit-out contractors can specify restaurant chairs with fewer surprises. It covers sizing against your tables, frame materials, the strength and fire standards to ask about, upholstery wear ratings, accessibility, cleaning, and how the ordering timeline works for made-to-order furniture.
How do you choose restaurant chairs for your venue?
Start with the service, not the catalogue. A café turning tables every 40 minutes needs light, easy-to-clean chairs that staff can lift and tuck in quickly. A fine-dining room with two-hour sittings can justify a deeper, upholstered seat with arms. A pub dining room often needs both: hard-wearing timber chairs in the bar area and softer seating where guests linger.
Write down four things before you look at any design: the number of covers you need, the table sizes you plan to use, how the floor is cleaned (are chairs lifted onto tables every night?), and whether the room ever needs clearing for events.
Match the chair to the table first
The seat-to-table relationship matters more than any styling decision. Inside Out Contracts gives a 760 mm standard dining table height, a 450–500 mm dining chair seat height and a 250–300 mm gap between the seat and the base of the table top, with 260 mm described as the optimum for comfort (Inside Out Contracts). If your tables have an apron rail or a dropped edge, measure to that instead, and check that chair arms clear it so the chair can be pushed in. Our companion article on restaurant chair dimensions covers seat width and depth in more detail.
Which frame material suits a commercial dining room?
Each frame type trades weight, character and maintenance differently. The table below summarises the practical differences we discuss with clients; it is a qualitative comparison, not a test ranking.
| Frame | Strengths | Watch-outs | Typical venues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid timber (beech, oak, ash) | Warm look, can be re-stained or refinished, repairable joints | Joints need periodic checking; heavier than aluminium | Pubs, bistros, neighbourhood restaurants |
| Steam-bent timber (bentwood) | Light, slim profile, classic café style | Thin sections; specify reinforcement where the design allows | Cafés, brasseries |
| Powder-coated steel | Slim, rigid frames; any RAL colour | Chips at stacking contact points if no buffers are fitted | Casual dining, canteens, quick service |
| Aluminium | Light to lift; many designs stack; suits indoor and outdoor ranges | Thin-walled tube can dent under heavy knocks | Cafés, terraces, high-turnover rooms |
| Upholstered on timber or metal | Comfort for long sittings; acoustic softening | Fire standard and fabric wear rating must be specified | Fine dining, hotel restaurants |
Timber chairs are stained to an approved sample, and metal frames can be powder-coated to any RAL colour, so the frame can follow the interior scheme rather than the other way round. Designs such as the oak wishbone dining chair show how a woven seat can lighten a solid frame visually.
What strength standards apply to restaurant chairs?
The main European test standard for chairs used outside the home is BS EN 16139. Its 2025 edition covers safety, strength and durability requirements and test methods for non-domestic seating for adults weighing up to 110 kg; it excludes outdoor seating and does not cover the durability of upholstery materials, ageing or flammability, and its informative annexes include test severity by application and recommended chair dimensions (BSI). FIRA International notes that the revision added new test methods for finger entrapment, shear and compression, and a backward fall test requirement (FIRA International).
For a buyer, the practical questions are simple. Which standard and edition does the evidence refer to? Which severity or use level was tested? Does the report cover this exact model, or a similar frame? Older documents may quote BS EN 15373:2007, the earlier non-domestic seating standard, which BSI lists as withdrawn in April 2013 (BSI); make sure you know which one you are reading. If your project brief requires a particular test, put it in the brief so it is visible at quotation stage rather than raised after production.
Restaurant chairs and fire safety: what to specify
Upholstered chairs bring fire performance into the specification. Rosehill’s summary of BS 7176 places restaurants, public houses and bars, and hotel bedrooms in the medium hazard category, which calls for fabric tested to BS EN 1021-1 (cigarette) and BS EN 1021-2 (match flame) plus BS 5852 Crib 5, with combustion modified high resilience (CMHR) foam (Rosehill). The actual hazard level depends on how a building is used, so confirm requirements with the venue’s fire risk assessor.
When you name the standard, Calder & Oak confirms in writing, with the quotation, a foam, interliner and fabric build intended to meet it. If you are supplying your own fabric (COM), the same written confirmation of the combined build applies. Our guide to the BS 7176 fire standard explains the hazard levels in full.
Wear ratings for seat fabric
Abrasion resistance is usually quoted as a Martindale rub count. UK classifications run from light domestic at 10,000–15,000 rubs up to contract at 40,000 and above and severe contract at 100,000 and above (KOTHEA). The same source stresses that rub count is a guide to suitable use rather than a guaranteed lifespan, and that it does not measure fading, pilling or stain resistance.
Comfort and accessibility for every guest
A room furnished only with armless chairs can be hard work for older or less mobile guests. Guidance on inclusive public seating compiled by Wheels for Wellbeing cites BS 8300-1:2018 for armrests set around 200 mm above the seat and for a backrest at least 300 mm above seat level (Wheels for Wellbeing). Those figures were written for public seating, but they are a sensible check when you choose a proportion of armchairs for a dining room. Many operators mix armless side chairs with a few carver-style armchairs that share the same frame and finish.
Comfort is also about seat shape. A shaped or sprung seat and lower-back support matter more than overall back height. Sit in a sample for the length of a typical meal before signing off.
Cleaning, maintenance and daily handling
Think about the end of service. If staff lift chairs onto tables to clean the floor, the chair needs a smooth top rail that will not mark table tops, and a weight one person can lift comfortably. If chairs stack, check how the stack sits and whether there are buffers to protect the finish. Specify floor glides to suit your floor surface.
For upholstery, ask whether the seat pad is removable or screwed from below, so a stained seat can be recovered without replacing the whole chair. Keep a few spare chairs and some spare fabric from the same batch.
Ordering made-to-order chairs: process, MOQ and lead times
Calder & Oak’s process runs from your brief and floor plan to a written specification and quotation, then a pre-production sample in your chosen finish and fabric, which you approve in writing. Production follows, then inspection against the approved sample and specification before packing, sea freight to a UK port and delivery to site.
Typical timings are 7–15 working days for the sample, 30–45 days of production after approval and about 30–40 days of sea freight, so plan around three months in total. Minimum quantities for chairs are typically 20–50 pieces per design. Sample costs and delivery are quoted per model, and samples usually travel by air courier.
A short buying checklist
- Cover count, table sizes and table heights confirmed on the floor plan.
- Seat height and arm height checked against the underside of the table top.
- Strength evidence: standard, edition, level and model named.
- Fire standard named in the brief and confirmed with your fire risk assessor.
- Fabric Martindale rating and cleaning method on the fabric data sheet.
- Stacking, floor glides and spare stock decided before order.
- Delivery date worked back from opening, allowing around three months.
Planning a fit-out?
Get a written specification for your restaurant chairs
Send us your floor plan, table sizes and the look you want. We return a written specification and quotation, then a pre-production sample in your finish and fabric for approval.
Frequently asked questions
What seat height should restaurant chairs be?
Most dining chairs sit with a seat height of 450–500 mm, which pairs with a standard 760 mm table and leaves a 250–300 mm gap between the seat and the underside of the top, according to Inside Out Contracts. Check the gap against your actual table, including any apron or drop edge.
Do restaurant chairs need to be fire tested in the UK?
Upholstered seating for restaurants, pubs and bars is usually treated as medium hazard under BS 7176, which typically means BS EN 1021-1 and -2 plus BS 5852 Crib 5. Name the standard in your brief, and confirm the requirement with your fire risk assessor.
What Martindale rub count do I need for restaurant chairs?
UK classifications place contract use at 40,000 rubs and above, with severe contract at 100,000 and above. Busy restaurants and pubs normally specify at least the contract band, but the rub count is a guide to suitability, not a guaranteed lifespan.
How many restaurant chairs do I have to order?
For made-to-order chairs, Calder & Oak typically works to a minimum of 20–50 pieces per design. Order a small overage for breakages and future replacements, because repeating a batch later means a new production run with its own minimum quantity.
Sources
- BS EN 16139:2025 Furniture. Safety, strength and durability. Requirements and test methods for non-domestic seating, BSI Knowledge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- New version of non-domestic seating standard BS EN 16139 published, FIRA International (accessed 28 October 2026)
- In the know: seat height to table height guide, Inside Out Contracts (accessed 28 October 2026)
- What fire safety regulations apply to contract furniture?, Rosehill (accessed 28 October 2026)
- The Martindale Rub Test: Complete Guide for Upholstery Specification, KOTHEA (accessed 28 October 2026)
- BS EN 15373:2007 Furniture. Strength, durability and safety. Requirements for non-domestic seating, BSI Knowledge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Benches and seating in public spaces, Wheels for Wellbeing (accessed 28 October 2026)