Lighting for bars, cafés, and restaurants: ideas, tips, rules

What tasks should lighting accomplish in a café?

Café, restaurant, bar — it doesn’t matter.
We are talking about a place where people can relax, drink, and eat.

The primary task of lighting is its direct function, i.e., illuminating the space.
But another key task is to divide the space into zones. To summarize, the tasks of lighting in a café, restaurant, or bar can be outlined as follows:

• Attracting customers — this is the role of signage, façade and outdoor lighting, and entry lighting. Don’t forget to light up thresholds, stairs, and steps.
• Creating a comfortable atmosphere in the hall — achieved by combining general, ambient, and local lighting fixtures.
• Altering the interior — throughout the day, the use of lighting control systems (e.g., DALI or ZigBee) can change the look without moving furniture or decor.
• Ensuring proper working conditions for staff in the kitchen, bar, and other workspaces.
• Zoning — highlighting areas like tables, lounges, karaoke zones, dance floors, VIP sections, and bars with lighting (e.g., track lighting).

What should not be in bar lighting?

For a classic bar, café, or restaurant — a place where people come to relax, chat, and spend time — bright lights are entirely inappropriate.

Bright lighting suits fast-food places, snack bars, and quick-service restaurants where customers need to grab their food and leave quickly.

For bars, cafés, or restaurants, softer, intimate lighting is ideal. For example, you can use “Barvanor” recessed spotlights from the UNIQUE, PILL, or REVOLVE MINI lines.

What lighting fixtures are suitable for restaurants?

For such establishments, wall-mounted (recessed or suspended), ceiling, floor, and table lamps, as well as track systems (magnetic rails with spotlights), are commonly used.

If you prefer a large chandelier, it should be a single piece,
for example, the UMBRELLA 1200 or 1000 mm model.

Don’t like chandeliers?
Then try another modern option — hidden recessed spotlights, grouped together to create the effect of a large light source.
The light sources themselves are concealed with diffusing profiles.

Recessed spotlights can be used in any quantity, as long as they’re appropriate.

Lighting bars and restaurants: rules and tips

• Lighting should highlight dishes and drinks attractively.
• The bar should be well-lit to immediately catch the eye of someone entering from the street.
• The atmosphere created by lighting is much more important than architectural design.
• Each table should have its own light source.
• Lighting should have a dimming function for intensity adjustment.
• Multifunctional venues benefit from track systems.
• Plan lighting activation and deactivation to avoid opening or closing in darkness.
• Place dimmers and switches away from tables to avoid disturbing guests.
• If natural light enters the venue, conduct a lighting calculation to understand how to combine natural and artificial lighting.
• Consider the number of reflective surfaces in your design.
• The best color temperature for restaurant lighting is neutral white (3200−4000 K).
• Plan multiple lighting scenarios, utilizing lighting control systems.
• A bright light source is necessary for cleaning and organizing before opening or after closing.

Winning lighting ideas

In establishments where people eat and relax, lighting levels matter.
This means lighting each table individually rather than providing uniform light across the room, creating an "island" effect in the hall.

Walls can also be softly lit. For this, we recommend subtle “Barvanor” UP & DOWN model wall lamps.

In lounge areas, soft lighting is best, with recessed spotlights.
Entrances and decorative elements should also be lit with dimmer light than the main lighting.

Diffused lighting works well in restaurants and bars, achieved with lampshades and fixtures set in recesses.

For a romantic atmosphere, use adjustable colored lighting, which can create different moods by changing color and intensity.

Mix light and dark zones. Generally, guest areas are darker, while bars and open kitchens are brighter. You can also play with light and dark zones on guest tables by brightening the center and dimming the edges.

Where to buy lighting for restaurants, cafés, and bars

In this article, we mentioned “Barvanor” — a Ukrainian manufacturer of track lighting and LED fixtures for homes, offices, and restaurants, cafés, bars, and other establishments.

From basic, ambient, decorative, or zonal lighting, you can order everything on the company’s website, along with lighting calculations and control systems.

Explore prices and the lighting catalog on the “Barvanor” website.

To purchase tracks, fixtures, or other products, leave a request or call +38(099) 963-72-24.
Delivery is available to Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, and other cities in Ukraine.