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How to Choose Restaurant Chairs That Will Last 10 Years

What Every Restaurant, Pub, Hotel and Café Owner Should Know Before Investing in Hospitality Seating

When investing in restaurant furniture, it’s easy to choose a chair based on its appearance or price. However, in the hospitality industry, looks are only part of the story. Two chairs may appear almost identical, yet one could still be performing perfectly after ten years of daily commercial use, while the other begins to loosen, wobble or fail within just a few months.

The difference lies in the quality of the engineering, materials and construction.

At Warings Furniture, we’ve spent over 40 years supplying commercial furniture to restaurants, pubs, hotels, cafés and leisure venues throughout the UK. During that time, we’ve learnt exactly what separates a true hospitality-grade chair from one that simply isn’t built to withstand the demands of commercial use.

If you’re investing in new seating, these are the key features you should always look for.

1. Never Compromise on Joint Construction

A wooden chair is only ever as strong as its joints.

Many lower-cost chairs rely solely on glued dowel joints. Although inexpensive to manufacture, dowel joints can loosen over time as chairs are subjected to constant movement, impacts and thousands of sitting cycles every year.

A quality hospitality chair should instead feature:

  • Traditional mortise and tenon joints
  • Cross dowel and bolt construction where appropriate
  • Precision-machined joints
  • High-performance commercial adhesives

These construction methods provide significantly greater mechanical strength and help prevent movement, ensuring the chair remains solid for many years of commercial use.

2. Choose Solid Hardwood Frames

The timber itself is just as important as the construction.

Premium restaurant chairs should be manufactured from solid hardwoods such as European Beech or Oak. These timbers offer exceptional strength, stability and impact resistance, making them ideal for busy hospitality environments.

Hardwoods also have another major advantage they can often be repaired and refinished, extending the life of the chair considerably.

By comparison, lower-grade timbers such as Rubberwood may reduce manufacturing costs but generally don’t provide the same long-term durability required for demanding commercial applications.

3. Steam Bent Hardwood is Far Superior to Machined Curves

Many restaurant chairs feature elegant curved backs and sweeping frames, but not all curved timber is produced in the same way.

The finest Bentwood chairs still follow the traditional Michael Thonet manufacturing process developed over 150 years ago. Solid hardwood is steamed until it becomes flexible before being bent around precision formers. Once cooled and dried, the timber permanently retains its new shape while preserving the natural grain structure.

The result is an incredibly strong and resilient component that has stood the test of time in cafés and restaurants around the world.

Some lower-cost manufacturers take a different approach by machining curved components from straight sections of timber. While this process is cheaper, it cuts across the natural grain, weakening the timber and creating stress points that are far more susceptible to cracking or breaking during everyday commercial use.

Plywood can also be an excellent material when used correctly. Multiple thin veneers are laminated together with specialist adhesives and pressed into shaped formers, producing strong, stable seat and back components that are ideal for upholstered chairs.

If long-term durability is your priority, genuine steam bent hardwood remains the benchmark.

4. Ask About the Timber’s Moisture Content

Quality starts long before the chair is assembled.

Commercial chair manufacturers should use properly kiln-dried hardwood with carefully controlled moisture content.

Timber that contains too much moisture may shrink after manufacture, causing joints to loosen or cracks to develop. Timber that is too dry can become brittle and unstable.

Correctly conditioned hardwood ensures every joint remains tight and every chair performs consistently throughout its working life.

5. Consider Repairability

The most sustainable chair isn’t necessarily the cheapest it’s the one that’s still in service years later.

A well designed commercial chair should allow for:

  • Replacement glides
  • Replacement seat pads
  • Re-upholstery
  • Component repairs
  • Refinishing

Being able to repair furniture rather than replace it dramatically reduces the total cost of ownership while also helping to reduce waste.

6. Stackability Isn’t Always an Advantage

Stacking chairs are invaluable where storage space is limited, but stacking inevitably places additional stresses on the frame.

One of the most common causes of damage occurs when staff tilt a stack of wooden chairs backwards and wheel them across the floor on the rear legs of the bottom chair. The weight of every chair above is transferred through that single chair, creating loads it was never designed to withstand.

If stackability isn’t essential, a fixed-frame chair will usually provide greater rigidity and a longer service life.

7. Upholstery Quality Matters

The frame may last for decades, but poor upholstery can significantly shorten the useful life of a chair.

When specifying upholstered seating, look for:

  • High-density commercial foam
  • Traditional webbing and sprung seat construction where appropriate
  • Contract-quality fabrics
  • Fabrics with a Martindale Rub Test rating of at least 40,000 cycles
  • High quality genuine leather rather than bonded, laminated or corrected leather
  • Fire-retardant materials compliant with current UK regulations
  • Replaceable upholstery wherever possible

Ideally, the upholstery should last just as long as the frame.

8. The Finish Protects Your Investment

A beautifully made chair can still deteriorate quickly if it isn’t finished correctly.

Restaurant furniture is continually exposed to:

  • Coffee
  • Red wine
  • Alcohol
  • Food acids
  • Cleaning chemicals
  • Moisture
  • Daily abrasion
  • Sunlight

Commercial hospitality furniture should be protected using specialist lacquer systems designed specifically for heavy-use environments.

Equally important is the preparation before finishing. Careful sanding, sealing and multiple coats of lacquer all contribute to a finish capable of withstanding years of commercial use.

9. Metal Chairs Need Careful Specification Too

Metal-framed chairs can provide exceptional durability but only if they’re engineered for hospitality.

Before purchasing, ask about:

  • Steel wall thickness
  • Tube diameter
  • Weld quality
  • Weld penetration
  • Powder coating specification
  • Corrosion protection

Many inexpensive imported chairs use thin-walled steel tubing that can flex repeatedly during use. Over time this movement places stress on the welds, increasing the likelihood of fatigue and failure.

Heavier gauge steel combined with professionally welded joints and a high-quality epoxy polyester powder-coated finish will provide a far longer service life.

10. Hospitality Furniture Experiences Abuse Every Day

Hospitality furniture works harder than almost any other type of furniture.

Every day, restaurant chairs are:

  • Dragged across hard floors
  • Leaned back onto two legs
  • Knocked into tables
  • Exposed to spillages and cleaning chemicals
  • Used by hundreds of different customers
  • Loaded with shopping bags and changing bags
  • Turned upside down onto tables during cleaning
  • Accidentally dropped onto hard floors

Modern customers are also generally heavier than previous generations, placing even greater demands on chair construction.

A chair designed specifically for hospitality will take all of this into account.

11. Buy from a Hospitality Furniture Specialist

Domestic furniture and hospitality furniture may look similar, but they’re engineered for completely different environments.

Working with a specialist hospitality manufacturer means you’re investing in furniture that’s been designed, tested and built specifically for commercial use.

Experience matters and so does knowing how furniture performs years after installation.

Investing Once is Better Than Replacing Twice

The cheapest chair is rarely the least expensive over its lifetime.

A well engineered chair manufactured using quality hardwoods, robust joinery and durable commercial finishes may still be performing perfectly ten years from now. A cheaper alternative may require replacement after only a fraction of that time.

At Warings Furniture, we’ve spent more than four decades helping restaurants, hotels, pubs and cafés choose furniture that’s built to withstand the realities of everyday hospitality.

If you’re planning a new venue, refurbishing an existing space or simply replacing worn seating, we’d be delighted to help you choose furniture that’s designed to deliver years of dependable service.

Visit www.waringsfurniture.com, email sales@waringsfurniture.com or call our team on 01953 499949 to discuss your next hospitality furniture project.

 

Why Restaurant Wooden Table Tops Become Sticky

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Relay Spray wooden table top cleaner helping prevent sticky restaurant tables and protect hospitality furniture."

And How to Prevent It

In the hospitality industry, first impressions matter. Guests notice everything, from the welcome they receive to the cleanliness of the table where they sit. One of the most common complaints in restaurants, pubs, cafés and hotels is the dreaded sticky table top.

Many operators assume sticky tables are caused by poor cleaning, food residue or a lack of hygiene. In reality, the problem is often the opposite. The table may be perfectly clean, but the wrong cleaning products are slowly damaging the protective lacquer finish on the wood.

The Hidden Problem with Kitchen Sanitisers

Over the last decade, many hospitality operators have adopted powerful kitchen sanitisers throughout their venues. While these products are excellent for food preparation areas and stainless-steel work surfaces, they are often unsuitable for lacquered wooden table tops.

Repeated use of aggressive cleaning chemicals can attack and soften the lacquer coating that protects contract furniture. As the lacquer begins to deteriorate, tables can develop a tacky or sticky feel, even immediately after cleaning. Industry suppliers and furniture manufacturers frequently advise against using harsh sanitisers on lacquered timber surfaces because of the damage they can cause to the finish.

The result is a poor customer experience. Guests often associate a sticky table with poor hygiene, regardless of how clean the surface actually is.

The Cost of Damaged Table Tops

Hospitality furniture is a significant investment. Replacing damaged table tops across a restaurant, pub or hotel can quickly become an expensive exercise.

When lacquer finishes are repeatedly exposed to unsuitable cleaning chemicals, operators may experience:

  • Sticky or tacky table surfaces
  • Dull or cloudy finishes
  • Increased wear and scratching
  • Reduced furniture lifespan
  • Higher refurbishment and replacement costs

Protecting your furniture starts with using products specifically designed for front-of-house environments rather than food preparation areas.

Choosing the Right Cleaner for Wooden Table Tops

The best approach is to use a cleaner that has been formulated specifically for lacquered wooden furniture. Unlike kitchen sanitisers, these products are designed to clean effectively while being kind to the protective lacquer finish.

Relay Spray was developed specifically for hospitality operators cleaning lacquered and polished wooden table tops. The ready-to-use formula helps prevent sticky residue build-up and is designed to be gentle on contract furniture finishes.

Because it is supplied ready to use, there is no mixing, dilution or measuring required. This helps simplify cleaning procedures and ensures consistency across service teams.

Best Practice for Cleaning Hospitality Table Tops

To maximise the lifespan of your wooden tables, Warings Furniture recommends the following:

1. Avoid Harsh Kitchen Chemicals

Use food preparation sanitisers only where they are required. Avoid using them on lacquered timber furniture.

2. Clean Spills Promptly

Tea, coffee, wine and acidic drinks should be wiped away as quickly as possible to prevent staining and unnecessary wear.

3. Use Soft Cleaning Cloths

Avoid abrasive pads and scourers that can scratch the lacquer surface.

4. Follow Manufacturer Guidance

Always follow the furniture manufacturer’s care instructions to maintain warranties and maximise furniture life.

5. Use a Furniture-Friendly Cleaner

Select a cleaner specifically formulated for hospitality table tops and lacquered surfaces.

As a long-standing supplier to the hospitality sector, Warings Furniture supports the work of UKHospitality, the leading trade body representing hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafés, and hospitality businesses across the UK.

 

Protect Your Investment

At Warings Furniture, we manufacture and supply hospitality furniture designed to withstand the demands of busy commercial environments. However, even the most durable table top requires the correct care and maintenance regime.

A simple change in cleaning products can help preserve the appearance of your furniture, improve the customer experience and reduce long-term replacement costs.

If your restaurant, pub, hotel or café is experiencing sticky table tops, it may be time to review your cleaning procedures and ensure you are using products designed for the job.

Looking for Advice?

Our team can advise on the care and maintenance of wooden, veneered and laminate table tops used throughout the hospitality sector. We can also provide guidance on suitable cleaning products and maintenance schedules to help keep your furniture looking its best for years to come.