Restaurant & Bar Window Shades
Motorized solar screens that keep the view and take the glare off the window tables, dual shades for private dining, exterior screens for the terrace and drapery that quiets the room: made in our Fort Lauderdale workroom, installed overnight by our own team, programmed to your service hours.
The 5:30 table nobody wants
Every west-facing dining room in South Florida has it: the hour when the sun comes in flat, the host starts seating away from the glass, and the view the architect paid for becomes a reason to move. Blinds that rattle and curtains that hide the window are not the answer in a room designed around the glass.
A dark 3% solar screen on a quiet motor keeps the view, drops the glare to a level a guest can face without sunglasses, and takes most of the heat off the window tables. It goes up again at dusk on a schedule, so the lights of the bay come back on cue. We make the shade in our Fort Lauderdale workroom, motorize it, install it overnight and program it to the room.
Shades, screens and drapery built for food and beverage
Motorized solar screens on the glass line
3% to 5% screens in the mills' performance weaves, coupled across spans over 144 in, in dark colors for view and glare or light colors for heat, chosen from the published figures on each fabric page.
Dual shades for private dining
Screen by day, blackout for a projected presentation or a wine dinner, on two tubes in one bracket, each on its own preset.
Exterior screens for terraces and open fronts
Somfy-motorized zip screens in exterior solar mesh: shade, wind break and insect screen in one, retracting on a wind sensor, run from the same system as the room.
Drapery that works for the room
Sheers that soften a glass wall, lined drapery that closes a private room, acoustic drapery that takes the edge off a hard room, all sewn in our workroom on motorized or hand-drawn tracks.
Fabrics that pass the inspection
NFPA 701 listed screens, blackouts and sheers from Lutron, Mermet and Phifer, and the commercial lines where a specifier asks for them.
Banquettes, booths and panels
Upholstery, box cushions and wall panels from the same workroom, in the same fabric family as the windows, so the room reads as one design.
Built around service, not around us
Overnight and closed-day installs
Measured in the afternoon lull, installed after close, programmed before prep. The room is turned back before the first cover.
Schedules and scene buttons
Sun-position or time-of-day schedules on Somfy, Lutron or Crestron, a scene button at the host stand or the bar, and a manager override on a phone.
Wipe-down fabrics
Vinyl-coated fiberglass and polyester screens clean with mild soap and water; blackouts and sheers get the care that keeps them presentable for years.
Multi-location programs
One fabric standard, one motor standard and one price list across locations, with the shop drawings and submittals your GC and landlord ask for.
Building and landlord approvals
Certificates of insurance, method statements, elevator bookings and facade rules handled before the first day, the way we do for condo boards.
Service that answers
Motors, remotes, fabrics and tracks we can service or replace one opening at a time, by the people who installed them.
Four visits, one accountable company
A floor plan and a photo of the room at the bad hour are enough to start.
1. Site visit at the problem hour
We come when the glare is in the room, measure every opening and photograph the light. You get a budgetary number per opening within days.
2. Samples held to the glass
Screen samples in two or three openness factors and colors, held up at the hour that matters, so the choice is made in the room, not in a catalog.
3. Fabrication and motor planning
Shades cut and assembled in our workroom; motor, power and control settled per opening with your electrician or integrator.
4. Installation and programming
Overnight or on the closed day. Scenes set, staff shown the controls, documentation left with the manager.
Frequently asked
What openness should a restaurant solar shade have?
On a west or south wall where the glare lands at service, 3% in a dark color: it kills the glare, keeps the view sharp and reads black from inside. On a north wall or a shaded terrace side, 5% to 10% keeps more daylight. Our openness guide and the dark-or-light guide show the mills' view and heat figures for each.
Can one window handle lunch glare and a private dinner?
Yes, with a dual shade: a solar screen for the day and a blackout or room-darkening roller on a second tube in the same bracket. Private dining rooms and event spaces get the blackout for presentations; the main room keeps the screen. See dual roller shades.
Are the fabrics fire-rated and cleanable?
We specify from the mills' NFPA 701 listed lines, and the vinyl-coated fiberglass and polyester screens we use most wipe down with mild soap and water, which matters in a dining room. The care rules are on our cleaning guide.
Can you shade the terrace?
Yes. Motorized exterior screens on Somfy exterior motors, in Phifer and Mermet exterior meshes, drop into zip side channels on terraces, lanais and open fronts, run from the same remote or control system as the interior shades, and retract when the wind picks up. They are shade and comfort products, not storm protection. See outdoor shades.
When do you install?
Around service: overnight, on the closed day, or in the morning before prep, with the room turned back before the first cover. The same crew measures, installs and programs; a dining room of eight to twelve openings is usually one visit.
Can the shades run on a schedule or from the host stand?
Yes. On Somfy, Lutron or Crestron the shades take a time-of-day schedule, a sun-position schedule or a scene button at the host stand or the bar, and a manager can override from a phone. Dimmers and shades can share the same keypad.
Do you also do banquettes, booths and drapery for the room?
Yes. The same workroom that sews the window treatments does banquette and booth upholstery, wall panels and acoustic drapery; see upholstery. A gathered drapery wall also absorbs sound that bare glass throws back into the room.
What does a restaurant shade package cost?
Order of magnitude from our published list: a 72 by 84 in motorized roller shade is about $793 on a Somfy WireFree motor, about $1,910 on a wired Somfy system and about $3,141 on Lutron, measured, installed and programmed, before tax; wide glass is built as coupled shades. Multi-opening and multi-location programs are quoted in writing from the drawings. See pricing.
Hospitality window treatments in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Hotel-grade blackout, sheers that survive daily use and motorization on the same keypad as the lighting - with named work under St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Fasano flags. Our workroom and showroom are at 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale, our second showroom is South of Fifth in Miami Beach, and the same in-house team measures and installs from Miami to Palm Beach.
Fix the glare before the season
A site visit at the hour the sun comes in, samples held to your glass, and a written number per opening.