Table and chair heights for restaurants and hotels

What is the standard height of a dining table?

A dining table stands 71 to 76 cm from the floor to the top. Restaurants tend to work at the upper end: Mity-Lite, a US maker of hospitality tables, puts the standard restaurant table at about 76 cm.

The figures shift a little depending on who you ask. Demarques, which publishes one of the fuller Spanish guides, gives 71 to 76 cm; other retailers give 74 to 76 or 75 to 77 cm; the mathematician Claudi Alsina, writing in the Spanish journal SUMA, recommends 75 cm. All of them fall between 71 and 77 cm. The differences depend mostly on the chair the table is meant for, which is why a table is never chosen on its own.

How high should a dining chair seat be for a given table?

The seat should sit 25 to 30 cm below the table. With a 75 cm table, that means a seat of about 45 to 48 cm.

That gap matters more than either height on its own. Demarques measures it from the seat to the underside of the top, and Alsina asks for about 25 cm between seat and table to leave room for the legs. With less than 25 cm, thighs touch the table. With more than 30 cm, the plate sits high and elbows ride up.

The table applies the rule to the top surface and keeps within the usual seat range of 43 to 50 cm. If the top is thick or has an apron, check the clear height to its underside as well: that is the space legs actually get. Bar counters follow the same logic at other heights, as the guide to bar and stool heights explains.

Upholstery changes the numbers

An upholstered seat compresses by 2 to 4 cm when someone sits down, according to UK chair makers. Measure with the cushion compressed, or choose an upholstered seat slightly higher than a timber one for the same table.

Will an armchair fit under the table?

Only if the arm clears the underside of the top or the apron. Compare two measurements, the arm height of the chair and the clear height under the table, and leave a little to spare, because upholstery and uneven floors shift things by a few centimetres.

If the arm hits, the chair stops a hand's width from the table. The diner leans forward to eat, and every place takes up more floor depth, which shows when you count how many tables fit. Demarques also notes that chairs with arms need more room at the sides and in height.

If the armchair you want does not fit, there are several ways round it:

• A table without an apron, or with the apron set back, to gain clear height.
• A central pedestal instead of four legs, which frees the sides and corners.
• An armchair with lower or shorter arms that stop before the table edge.
• A slightly taller table, as long as it keeps the 25 to 30 cm gap to the seat.

Pedestal base or four legs

Four legs at the corners keep a large table steady, but on a small table for four they get in the way of the knees of whoever sits beside them. A pedestal leaves all four sides free, although it needs a wide, heavy base so the table does not rock or tip when someone leans on the edge.

On a made-to-measure piece, the height of the arm, the seat or the top is set for the project. With custom furniture, Kadek sends a technical drawing with every dimension to approve before production, so you can check that the arm clears the table on paper first.

How much table space does each diner need?

Allow about 65 cm of width by 35 cm of depth per person. That is the rectangle Alsina considers necessary to eat comfortably, with room for cutlery, plate and glasses.

If the room is tight you can squeeze a little, but every centimetre multiplies: 5 cm of width per diner, at a table with four diners down each side, is 20 cm of length.

Space behind the chair

A table needs room around it as much as on top. Alsina gives three distances, measured from the table edge:

• 65 to 70 cm to the wall, to sit down and get up.
• About 95 cm if people may walk behind the diner.
• Up to 120 cm if staff serve from behind.

These are the figures behind table spacing and aisle widths, which the guide to restaurant table spacing works through.

Are café tables and chairs different from restaurant ones?

The heights are not: the 25 to 30 cm rule holds in both. What changes is the size of the top, the type of seat and the space left around it.

• Café: short stays and small crockery. A table for two can sit at the lower end of Mity-Lite's range, around 60 cm, with armless chairs that tuck under the table. Any counter is a 90 to 95 cm serving counter with 65 to 70 cm stools.
• Restaurant: longer meals and more on the table. Tables for two closer to 76 cm, the full 65 cm per diner and, often, armchairs, which means checking the clear height under the table.
• Table service: where staff serve from behind the diner, the space behind the chair rises towards 120 cm.
• Lounge area: low tables of 35 to 50 cm with lounge chairs or sofas, where the 25 to 30 cm rule no longer applies.

How do you check the heights before you buy?

Measure table and chair together, not one at a time, and try the pairing sitting down.

1. Measure the table to the top surface and to the underside of the top or apron.
2. Measure the seat with the cushion compressed, if it is upholstered.
3. Check the difference falls between 25 and 30 cm.
4. For armchairs, compare the arm height with the clear height under the table.
5. Ask the maker for a drawing with every dimension and, if you can, sit at the real pairing.

The dining chairs in the collection can be tried alongside their tables at Kadek's Madrid showroom, by appointment on weekdays.