Public spaces
Restaurant indirect lighting
A restaurant sells atmosphere as much as food. The same dining room is bright at lunch and dim in the evening – and the transition between them is the restaurant’s most important lighting decision.
Light is part of the product
In dim lighting guests stay longer, order more and rate the food higher – this has been repeated in studies. But dim does not mean dark: faces must be visible, the menu readable and the food must look the way the kitchen intended. Restaurant lighting is therefore three things at once: atmosphere in the room, light on the table, colour in the food.
Indirect light handles the first. It does not dazzle, it does not cast point shadows on faces, and dimmed it is exactly the glow people mean by ‘atmosphere’.
Image: a dining room with indirect light – a ceiling glowing from the edge of the dropped ceiling, pendants over the tables. No photo yet – to be added when a project has been photographed.
Three layers
| Layer | Source | Lunch | Dinner | Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indirect general light | Strip at the edge of the dropped ceiling or at the ceiling edge | 300-400 lx | 50-100 lx | Atmosphere, no glare, the space takes shape |
| Table light | Pendant or spotlight above the table | 400 lx | 200-300 lx | Food and faces – light from above, not from the side |
| Accent | Strip under the bar counter, in the wine rack, on artworks | 30 % | 100 % | Guiding the eye, depth, brand |
All three as separate groups. At lunch the general light is up and the accents down; in the evening the reverse. The transition is one button or a schedule – not three dimmers adjusted by the waiting staff.
In practice: a 40-seat dining room 8 × 12 m, height 3.0 m, dropped ceiling around the edges
The edge of the dropped ceiling runs round the room: 40 m of strip. 100 lx is good for dinner. And lunch? Indirect light alone is nowhere near enough. So size for lunch and dim for the evening.
300 lx on a white ceiling at 3 m height: according to the table about 900 lm/m, so 14.4 W/m is enough. 40 × 14.4 = 576 W. One 600 W driver or a few 360 W ones.
In the evening dimmed to 25 %: 75 lx general light, table lights 60 %, bar counter strip 100 %. A schedule or button switches the scene when dinner service starts.
Materials, strip and profile 40 × €45 = €1,800, drivers €450, DALI or Zigbee control €700.
Colour temperature and CRI – the food decides
Food looks best in warm light. 2700 K for a dinner restaurant, 3000 K for a lunch place. Above 3500 K makes meat look grey and salad yellowish – and faces pale. Every fine-dining restaurant knows this, which is why they always have warm light.
CRI is just as important. Below 90 turns red brown and green flat. For a restaurant, CRI 95 at least – the colours of the food are a selling point. It is the same reason a grocery store uses CRI 95 in its display cases.
One tone for the whole dining room
Warm 2700 K indirect general light and a neutral 4000 K pendant at the same table looks like a mistake – the food looks a different colour from its surroundings. All layers in the same tone. If lunch and dinner are wanted in different tones, a CCT strip changes them all together.
Zones – a dining room is not one space
- Entrance and waiting – brighter than the dining room, 200 lx, so the eye has time to adapt. Warm, not clinical.
- Dining room – indirect general light + table lights. Window tables as their own group: not needed by day, the same as the rest in the evening.
- Bar counter – strip under the front edge of the counter with light onto the floor (floating counter), and a backlight for the bottle shelves. Always 100 %, also in the evening – the bar is the brightest spot in the room.
- Kitchen view – if the kitchen is open, it is a 500 lx workspace and the brightest area. Keep the light in the kitchen, not in the dining room.
- WC and corridors – 100-150 lx, motion sensor, the same tone as the dining room.
| General light | Lunch 300-400 lx, dinner 50-100 lx – the same strip dimmed |
| Strip power | 14.4 W/m sized for lunch, dimmed to 25 % for the evening |
| Colour temperature | 2700 K dinner, 3000 K lunch. CCT if both happen in the same place |
| CRI | ≥ 95 – food colours |
| Control | DALI or Zigbee, 3 layers × zones, schedule lunch → dinner |
| Operating hours | 3,000-4,000 h/yr – a long-warranty strip, aluminium profile essential |
Retail – fixture lighting on the same principle → · Colour temperature → · Dimming and control →
Restaurant project → LedStore
Frequently asked questions
How is indirect lighting done in a restaurant?
At the edge of the dropped ceiling or at the ceiling edge all round the dining room, dimmable. It is general light at 300 lx for lunch and 75 lx in the evening. Table lights and accent lights as their own layers.
How much light for a restaurant?
In a dinner restaurant 50-150 lx general light and 200-300 lx on the table. In a lunch restaurant 300-500 lx. The same room needs different light at different times – size for lunch, dim for the evening.
Which colour temperature for a restaurant?
2700 K for a dinner restaurant, 3000 K for a lunch place. Warm light makes food appetising and faces look healthy. Above 3500 K makes food look grey.
Should restaurant lighting be dimmable?
Yes, and it matters more than in any other space. Lunch and dinner need different light, and dimming on a schedule is cheaper than two separate lighting systems.
Which CRI for a restaurant?
At least 95. The colours of the food are a selling point, and below CRI 90 meat looks grey and salad yellowish.
How is a bar counter lit?
A strip under the front edge of the counter with light onto the floor – the counter floats – and a backlight for the bottle shelves. The bar is the brightest spot in the room even in the evening, because it draws the eye and sells.
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