Short answer: Vastu for a restaurant starts with the kitchen: the cooking range goes in the south-east, with the cook facing east. The cash counter sits in the south-west or west of the front area, facing north or east. Guests sit best in the north, east or west, and hotel guest rooms go in the north-west.
Why I start with the kitchen
In a restaurant, the kitchen is the business. Guests come back for the food, and the food comes out of one hot, crowded room that runs for twelve hours a day. So when an owner sends me a plan, the first thing I mark is where the burners, the tandoor and the fryers sit. Only then do I look at the dining hall and the billing counter. The way I read any plan, zone by zone, is set out in how I read the 16 zones.
The kitchen and the fire
Fire belongs to the south-east, and so does the cooking line. The cook should face east while working, which in practice means the range runs along the east wall of the kitchen, towards its south-east corner.
- Burners, tandoor, pizza oven and fryers: the south-east of the kitchen, or the north-west if the south-east is taken.
- LPG bank and the main electrical panel: the south-east, placed where your fire officer also wants them.
- Wash area and dishwashers: the north or north-east side of the kitchen, well away from the burners.
- Dry store and cold room: the south-west or west, the heavy side of the premises.
- Drinking water and the RO unit: the north-east or north.
If the stove and the sink have to share one counter, I ask for a gap or a small partition between them. Fire and water side by side is the clash I find most often in tight commercial kitchens. The same thinking applies at home, and I go through it in kitchen Vastu for the stove, sink and fridge.
Cash counter and the owner’s seat
The billing counter handles the money every single day, so I give it real attention. Place it in the south-west or west part of the front area, with the person at the counter facing north or east. The cash drawer or safe should open towards the north. Keep the counter out of the north-east corner, and never put it under a staircase or a beam.
Two owners can run the same floor plan and feel it very differently. The south-west and the west both suit a billing counter, and when I have the owner’s birth chart, it helps me choose between the two.
If the owner has a small cabin, it goes in the south-west of the premises, the same rule I follow for an office cabin and team seating. Where the owner works from the floor, a fixed chair near the counter in the south-west, with a wall behind it, does the same job.
Seating, entrance and washrooms
Guests settle most easily in the north, east and west of the dining hall. I keep the south-west for private tables, a family section or the heaviest furniture rather than a busy walkway. A door on the north or east wall, away from the corners, is easiest to work with, but in malls and on high streets you rarely get to choose. Then I work on where the door sits along its wall, the colour of the threshold and how the first table is placed.
| Area | Best zone | Second choice | Keep it away from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking range, tandoor, fryers | South-east | North-west | North-east, centre |
| Cash counter (facing north or east) | South-west or west of the front area | South | North-east |
| Guest seating | North, east, west | North-west | A crowded south-west walkway |
| Washrooms | North-west or west | South | North-east, south-west, centre |
| Dry store, cold room | South-west | South or west | North-east |
| Water, RO, wash area | North-east or north | East | Next to the burners |
| Delivery pickup window | North-west | North or west | South-west |
Cloud kitchens in Bangalore
Bangalore has a large number of delivery-only kitchens, often in basements, back lanes and shared kitchen parks in areas like Koramangala, HSR Layout and Whitefield. There is no dining hall to plan, so the work is all about flow. The cooking line still goes in the south-east. The packing table sits next to it on the south or west side. The pickup window for riders works best in the north-west, the zone of movement, so orders leave quickly and riders don’t walk through the kitchen. Aggregator tablets and the order printer sit at the packing station, with the person there facing north or east.
Hotels, lodges and service apartments
A hotel adds rooms that people stay in for a night or a week. The north-west is the traditional zone for guests who come and go, so guest rooms placed there suit their purpose. The owner’s or manager’s room goes in the south-west. Reception works well in the north-east, north or east of the lobby, with the desk staff facing north or east.
Pools, fountains and water features belong in the north or north-east. Generators, boilers and laundry machines go in the south-east or north-west. In a building with several floors, I also check where the overhead tanks and the lift machine room sit, because they add weight on the roof and I want that weight on the south-west. Inside each room, the bed head points south or east wherever the room allows.
What comes before Vastu
Fire safety approval, food safety licensing, the mall’s fit-out rules and your lease all come first. I don’t suggest anything that breaks them. Vastu works inside the part of the space you are allowed to change, and for a rented outlet that usually means equipment placement, counter position, colours, lighting and seating, not walls.
Corrections that keep service running
- Move the billing counter and turn the cashier’s chair before touching anything else.
- Shift the dry stores and heavy racks to the south-west.
- Use warm reds and oranges near the cooking line, and keep the north-east of the dining hall pale and well lit.
- Keep gas cylinders, garbage bins and stacked crates out of the north-east.
- Set the pickup window or delivery bench in the north-west where the layout allows.
Most of these can be done in one night between two service days. More changes of this kind are in Vastu without breaking walls.
Reading the owner’s chart with the kitchen and the counter
A restaurant plan gives me fixed rules: fire in the south-east, the cash drawer opening north, guests in the north, east and west. The owner’s chart tells me which of those zones matters most this year. Venus, linked with the south-east, rules food, hospitality and pleasure. If an owner is entering Venus mahadasha and the cooking line sits in the north-east, I treat moving the burners as the first correction rather than one item on a long list.
The commercial Vastu session on its own covers the layout well. If you want your birth details and the premises studied side by side, with changes planned around your dasha, I do that as Astro-Vastu for restaurant owners.
Getting your restaurant or hotel checked
Restaurants, cloud kitchens and hotels come under my commercial Vastu consultation, priced on request once I know the area and the number of floors. Send me the floor plan with north marked, and the owner’s birth details if you want the chart read too. We go through it on a video call or at my studio in Begur, and you get my written plan within 48 hours. If your outlet is in the city and you want me on site, see Vastu consultation in Bangalore. To fix a time, book a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which direction should a restaurant face as per Vastu?
North, east and north-east facing outlets are the easiest to plan. A south or west facing restaurant can work well too; what matters more is where the door sits along that wall and how the kitchen and counter fall inside. I would not reject a good location only because of its facing.
Can Vastu increase restaurant sales?
I can’t promise a sales figure, and nobody honest can. Food, service, price and location decide most of it. What Vastu does is put the kitchen, counter and seating where they work well together, so staff and guests move easily. I treat it as one support for a business that is already doing the basics right.
Can you check a restaurant plan before we sign the lease?
Yes, and that is the best time. Send the plan and a few photos of the space. I tell you whether the kitchen can sit in the south-east, where the counter would go and what the door position means. Deciding before the fit-out is far cheaper than moving gas lines later.
Does Vastu apply to a food truck or a kiosk?
Yes, in a simple form. The cook faces east while working, the cash box opens towards the north, and the gas cylinder stays on the south-east side of the counter. For a truck that parks in different places, I go by the side of the counter you serve from most days.
Which colours suit a restaurant as per Vastu?
Warm reds, oranges and terracotta work near the kitchen and the counter. Earthy browns and yellows suit the south-west, and creams or soft greens suit the north and east of the dining hall. You can keep your brand colours; I only suggest where each one sits best.