One of the banquets was for about forty people, which (as you can see) is about the maximum number of people that the old restaurant can hold. The new restaurant will be able to hold about 45-50 people in the lower sections, in a much more comfortable environment, without having tables uncomfortably close to each other. For a banquet, we will probably be able to accommodate as many as 65 people in the lower seating areas. We are going to use the two lower sections as general dining room seating which is always open to the public. The larger of the two sections will be tables only, and the smaller of the two sections will have a couple of couches, coffee tables, and a few regular dining tables, so that it can be used as an informal area for people who are having casual coffee in the afternoon, or drinks before dinner in the evening.
In addition, the new restaurant has a special raised section in the back which can comfortably accommodate 20-25 people or more. This section will not normally be open to the public on a constant basis, but will always be available for large groups (15 or more people) who want to reserve it for special occasions. We'll probably offer permanent happy hour pricing to large groups in this upper area, so I can envision it being used frequently in the evenings by groups wanting to have corporate dinners, or for special family oriented events, and also by groups of students at Mount Allison who want to have residence floor dinners and gatherings like that.
I would also like to try to have a projector and screen available for this special room, both for corporate events that involve presentations, and also so commerce and other faculty groups at the university can schedule meetings in the afternoons for classes or presentations. We will have some heavy theatre drapes on the main side of this section so that it can be turned into a more private area at the discretion of the diners using it. We can even use this section occasionally as a stage for performances of live music, so we can occasionally feature local jazz musicians, or students doing coffee-house or acoustic performance events.
