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What are the guidelines for designing a drink rail for a bar? In this video I'll
discuss the architectural standards for correct drink rail design for bars,
restaurants, sports bars and man caves. Coming up!
Hey, Rick Uzubell again from Cabaret Design Group, where I share my personal
ideas and tips on bar design, draught beer system
design and product reviews.
Later in this video I'll give you 'Today's Takeaway.'
If you're new here, please consider subscribing and
check-out the show notes and links in the
'YouTube Description' below.
Now let's jump into the show!
Drink rails are popular in many settings.
A drink rail is a mini-version of a bar top, and is typically featured along
walls, which is the type of drink rail I'm going to discuss today. From a
previous video of ours, you may recall the restaurant bar which featured two
seating areas along a wall, shown here. The first approach showed three 2-top
tables along the wall, which could yield dining for six, or as a drink rail for 11.
While drink rails can facilitate greater occupancy, they aren't conducive to
dining. However, even where food is being featured, some owners prefer the
profitability of selling more alcohol. When space planning, we need to ensure
proper circulation and interface clearances in front of the bar and drink
rail. Use the following updated ADA standards for ergonomic bar design,
referenced in this downloadable sketch. The height of the drink rail should
match the bar top height, which is between 42 and 45 inches.
The drink rail should be between 10 to 12 inches in depth and should have a
four inch backsplash.
Plan 18 inches for the 'Customer Activity Zone', or 24 inches if using barstools.
Always include a 36 inch 'Activity Zone' for ADA and waitstaff.
Our most popular DIY drink rail design is shown here, reference the downloadable sketch.
If you're unable to afford the same material for your drink
rail as the bar top, at least use a high pressure laminate with a 3/4 inch
particle board core, as shown in this photo. All drink rails should have a continuous
plywood underlayment, setback not more than two inches from the outside edge of
the drink rail. The key to this drink rail design is that it doesn't need
support brackets and it's wholly and continuously supported by the plywood
underlayment, which is fully-constrained between two layers of 2x4 plates inside
the wall. Use three-and-a-half-inch coarse threaded deck screws to fasten.
The drink rail should be bonded to the underlayment with construction adhesive
and for commercial applications, all materials should be fired-treated.
Drink rails work best when the distance from the edge of the bar top to the
opposing wall is between 82 and 96 inches. See you next time!