Why Restaurants Need Security Barriers and Bollards

You give a lot of thought to the interior of your restaurant to ensure your patrons feel comfortable and safe within. However, it is essential to consider the outside of the restaurant, as well, especially if you have outdoor seating facing the street or parking lot. Accidents can happen, and the last thing you want is a stray vehicle intruding on your customers’ lunch.

This is why it’s critical that you have a restaurant perimeter safety barrier to protect the outside of your facility. When it comes to protective barriers for restaurants, bollards are an excellent choice. Perimeter bollards and bollards for the restaurant seating area help passing vehicles avoid infringing on your property and protect your patrons.

Blockaides Barriers and Bollards for Restaurant Use

Restaurant owners can use bollards in many ways to protect their restaurant’s space while enhancing the exterior aesthetics of the area. From visual appeal to practicalities, here are some of the main reasons restaurants should include bollards in their outdoor layout:

Décor

Some restaurant owners may be reluctant to use bollards to protect their restaurant and its diners because they fear they will be unattractive and disrupt the exterior décor of the establishment. But bollards don’t have to be an eyesore. When the right style is selected, bollards can be seamlessly incorporated to embellish a restaurant’s outdoor layout.

Here are some types of bollards that can complement a restaurant’s exterior:

• Illuminative: Lighted bollards can brighten pathways to help people see better while walking to or from your restaurant. They can also provide mood lighting for those dining in an outdoor seating space.
• Ornamental: Decorative and cast iron bollards can tie a restaurant’s exterior design together by matching the restaurant’s other landscaping and exterior décor. Customize your bollards’ shape and color to complete your restaurant’s theme and make it stand out to potential patrons.
• Retractable: If you want the safety elements of bollards but can’t find one that fits in with your theme, some bollards can be retracted when not in use. You can raise retractable bollards when needed, such as at night, and lower them during the day when there are customers.

Toughness

Bollards can protect your restaurant from vehicle impact and prevent property damage. Protecting your restaurant from cars crashing through it is crucial because there are about 60 storefront crashes each day in America. Guarding your restaurant against these crashes will both protect the building and potentially save some of the 500 lives lost each year in storefront crashes.

Regardless of whether a crash is accidental or on purpose, bollards will help protect a restaurant. Although any bollard will mitigate most of a crash’s impact, different bollards are designed to be sturdier than others. Depending on how traffic-heavy the area around your restaurant is, choose a bollard with an appropriate crash rating for your restaurant’s needs.

Bollards will keep your restaurant building and the customers inside safe from passing cars and serve to protect walkways by creating a median between pedestrians and the parking lot. Having bollards available as a barrier between a pedestrian and a vehicle could act as a shield in a time of crisis.

Outdoor Seating

When warmer weather hits, outdoor seating at restaurants and bars becomes desirable. There’s nothing like enjoying a good meal or cocktail outside on a lovely summer evening. However, it’s important that these customers are just as safe as those seated inside the restaurant.

Bollards are a great way both to protect patrons as they eat or wait to be seated outside and preserve your restaurant’s outdoor space. When there aren’t any customers at your outdoor tables, the accommodations are still out and at risk of getting damaged by vehicles. If repairs are too expensive, a restaurant could lose its outdoor seating area after an accident.

Along with safety, bollards add ambiance to an outdoor dining space. Incorporating lighted bollards into a restaurant’s exterior design can improve guests’ experiences simply by helping them see the menu and each other better. Decorative bollards can also contribute to whatever theme or mood a restaurant is trying to cultivate.

Traffic Regulation

Bollards can help drivers in more ways than just preventing them from crashing into a building. Bollards can also help drivers navigate the parking lot. Good bollard placement can direct restaurant customers on where to go by signaling entrances and exits. If your restaurant’s parking lot often confuses drivers, gets busy or is shared with other businesses, consider adding bollards to help regulate traffic.

Blockaides Restaurant Bollard Options

There’s no need to worry about curb appeal or functionality when you get your bollards from Blockaides, as we offer a variety of design styles and decorative bollards to meet your safety and aesthetic needs. We also offer a variety of attractive bollard accessories, like bollard covers, wrap covers and bollard caps that not only give your bollards a more attractive appearance but also make them more visible to passing cars, so they are easier to notice and avoid.

We have many different types of bollards suitable for restaurant use, including:

• Retractable and Removable Bollards: If you wish to have bollards that disappear when patrons are not using the exterior of the restaurant to clean up the sightline, you may want to consider our manual or automatic retractable bollards or our locking removable bollards. These are bollards that stay securely in place when in use. Then, you can easily retract or remove them when you don’t need them.
• Lighted Bollards: If you offer night time service, you’ll love these lighted bollards. They provide some extra illumination for your diners after night falls while also ensuring the traffic passing by will see your bollards, even with limited visibility.
• Fixed Bollards: If keeping your bollards firmly in place is the priority and you do not anticipate having to move them, try our fixed surface-mounted bollards.
• Decorative Bollards: If maintaining a unique aesthetic is important for your establishment, turn to Blockaides. Our decorative cast iron bollards come in a variety of unique molds to blend well with any vibe your restaurant may looking to maintain. They come in three options, including general, lighted, and as covers of K-rated bollards to still offer the protection you need.

Benefits of Bollards

Bollards are your first line of defense against any type of storefront crash. Whether saving your restaurant from property damage or sparing patrons from injury, bollards are the best way to protect both your customers and outdoor spaces.

By limiting the amount of damage a crash can do, bollards will save you money if a car ever does crash near your restaurant. Instead of allowing that car to go through your storefront window or outdoor seating area and cause serious harm, bollards can help block its path and stop it from causing serious damage. This will keep restaurant owners from having to pay for expensive building repairs that insurance might not cover.

Bollards at a restaurant can provide customers with just as much peace of mind as restaurant owners. Bollards ensure a safe dining experience by safeguarding the area from reckless drivers and protecting pedestrians inside walkways. Lighted bollards can also provide light to areas and cultivate a feeling of safety.

Crash Rated Bollard Options for Restaurants