Bistro chairs as kit of the trade: frames, seats and arms

Between the lunch line and close, every chair in a cafe gets pulled out, sat on, shoved back, knocked by a pram and finally lifted onto a table so the floor can be mopped. A bistro chair is a tool of the trade, the same as the till. It earns its place by doing that every day without fuss.

So we judge bistro chairs the way a shopkeeper would. What is the frame made of, and what is the seat made of? Does it have arms, and will the arms fit your tables? Can one person stack it at night? And which part will you be replacing first? This piece goes through each in turn and points to the longer guides on metal and wood.

The frame takes the knocks

Most cafe chairs we sell stand on a metal frame or a wood one, and the frame is what the regulars kick, bump and tip back on.

The warranty tells you a good deal about how each is expected to work. Metal chairs that do not swivel carry 7 years against defects in materials and workmanship. Selected wood side chairs carry 3 years. Wood chairs with arms, and the other wood chairs, carry 1 year. Patio chairs carry 6 months. Where the period is clear for a given chair, its product page says so, and the full terms sit on our warranty page.

A metal ladder-back chair shows what a plain steel workhorse looks like on paper: 17 inches wide, 20 deep and 32 tall, 18 pounds, with a listed capacity of 500 pounds and a seat in fabric, vinyl or wood. The rest of that family is under metal chairs, and the guide to metal bistro chairs looks harder at frames, finishes and the foot.

Wood brings warmth and asks more of you. The Freya bentwood bistro chair has a wood frame, a vinyl or wood seat, and comes in at 10 pounds; its capacity is listed as 400. That lighter weight matters at close. The wooden bistro chairs guide covers wood frames and the warranty periods that go with them.

The seat is the part that wears

Frames take the knocks. Seats take the hours.

Most of our cafe chairs let you pick what you sit on, be it wood, vinyl or fabric. A wood seat wipes and scrapes clean and shows its wear as a soft polish where people sit. Vinyl wipes down with a damp cloth between customers. Fabric is kind to sit on and less forgiving of a spilled latte, so keep it for the quieter corner.

Pick a seat finish you can still live with in three years, because that is the surface the room looks at. Order a free swatch from samples and leave it by the till for a week. If it still looks right after a few days of hands and cups, it will suit the floor.

Arms or no arms at a two-top

Arms make a chair easier to get in and out of. They also make it wider.

Compare two versions of the same ladder-back. The side chair is 17 inches wide. The ladder-back metal chair with arms measures 19 inches across and stands 32 1/2 inches high. Each guest takes roughly 24 inches of the table's rim. A 17-inch chair leaves 7 inches of air in that 24, and the 19-inch one leaves 5. Neither is a problem at a 30-inch square. At a 24-inch two-top, where each side is just one guest wide, the arm chair is snug, and a 22-inch chair with arms would leave only 2 inches.

Here is the slip owners make. They buy arm chairs for comfort, then find the arms will not slide under the tabletop, so the chair stands out in the aisle all day. Before you order chairs with arms, measure the underside of your tables, from the floor to the bottom edge of the apron or top. Then ask us for the arm height.

Seat height against your tables

Most cafe tables sit at dining height, about 29 to 30 inches. A chair for them has a seat of roughly 17 to 19 inches, which leaves 10 to 12 inches for knees and the edge of a plate.

The sum is easy. Take an 18-inch seat away from a 30-inch table and you have 12 inches. From a 29-inch one, 11. Both work. When a product page gives a seat height, hold it against your table before you buy a few dozen; when it gives only the overall height, ask us first.

A taller table changes everything: counter and bar tables take stools, not chairs. Keep the chairs for the dining-height floor and the stools for the window and the counter.

Stacking and the last sweep

At close, chairs either go up on the tables or into a stack. A chair listed as stackable saves your back and frees the floor for the mop.

The stackable all-metal chair in distressed blue is a good case: 18 inches wide, 19 deep and 33 tall, 10 pounds, metal seat and frame, listed for indoor and patio use. Weight adds up quickly at the end of a shift. Twenty chairs at 10 pounds is 200 pounds lifted. Twenty chairs at 22 pounds, the listed weight of a heavier wood dining chair, is 440. The person closing the shop feels that difference every night.

You can see what else stacks under stacking chairs, and the wider cafe set sits in coffee shop chairs. For the old cafe look in wood or metal, the vintage bistro furniture collection gathers the bentwood and the classic shapes.

Replacing three chairs without closing

Chairs wear unevenly. The two by the door go first, and one day you will want to replace three of them, not the room.

Write down the exact frame color, seat material and seat color when you first order, and keep the order reference with it. Finish and upholstery lists change over time, so when you reorder, have us send a fresh swatch and hold it against a chair on your floor before the order goes in. We ask for at least 8 pieces per order, chairs and tables mixed as you like, so a short reorder can pair new chairs with a table or two you were going to replace anyway. If you are adding a wall seat as well, read about cafe benches before you settle the chair count.