Bar-height restaurant tables

A row of high tables changes how a bar feels. Guests stand, lean or perch, and the room fills differently than it does at dining height. This page holds 16 bar-height tables. Settle the stools first: the table's height and the seat height of the stools have to work together, so pick them as a pair.

Height, stools and spacing

Bar height sits at about 40 to 42 inches, and the stools that go with it have seats around 29 to 31 inches high. Measure an existing stool before you order tables to join it. Counter height is a different job: tops near 34 to 36 inches take seats of 24 to 26 inches, so keep the two apart on the order. Space stools so their centers fall 24 to 30 inches apart, and set aside the extra room a stool needs when a guest swings out of it. A 30-inch square top holds two guests with drinks and small plates.

Two products here are complete sets with the base included, each sold as one line.

Materials and where they go

Most of these tops are solid wood. Steel and laminate follow with a couple each, and there is one stainless steel, one aluminum and one synthetic teak top. Cast iron bases lead underneath, with steel next. Stools knock against a base all night, so look at the base as closely as you look at the top. A steel dining table suits a taproom or a bar with a hard, practical look, while the laminate dining table at bar height is the lowest-priced choice in the group, starting around $96.

Five of the tables carry a patio listing. Those can go on the terrace; the rest stay inside, where wood tops are safe from sun and rain.

Keeping the room open to every guest

High tables suit some guests and not others. Under the 2010 ADA Standards, accessible dining surfaces stand 28 to 34 inches high, and no less than 5 percent of the room's dining seats should sit at them, so a bar area with only high tables still needs lower ones nearby. Ask your designer to check today's version of that standard, and the local code, for this room.

That is where the rest of the house comes in. Pair the high tables with complete table sets at dining height, and choose stools from upholstered bar stools or the full range of bar stools. Sketch the high and low zones of the bar in Venue plans before you order.