POE Switch: This really comes down to if you have past experience with Enterprise hardware vs consumer grade. Price, features, noise, energy consumption, usually drives that decision. In the Tier 1 realm its going to be Cisco, Juniper, HP, Lenovo, IBM, Aruba, Brocade, Dell / EMC, etc.
There are lots of Tier 2 companies that span Microtik, Ubiquiti, TrendNet, Netgear.
In the Tier 2 realm I like and use Ubiquiti Edge Switches which incorporates VLAN / Layer 3 routing others like the UniFi line from Ubiquiti as it offers ease use and integration with their own ecosystem.
Layer 3: A layer 2 switch is fine in a SMB environment like a restaurant / bar. A layer switch 3 provides Fast Switching using dedicated ASIC hardware chips to (forward) routing for Ethernet ports. A router uses software to perform the same (forwarding) or routing vs dedicated hardware. A router can route ethernet, serial, ISDN, and provides features not normally associated with a switch like NAT, IPSEC, Tunneling, Firewall, and services like VPN etc.
Surge Protective Device / TVSS: SPD's should always be installed and deployed in a tiered fashion. Type 1 SPD are installed at the service (meter) entrance. Type 2 SPD's are installed at the service (breaker) panel. Type 3 SPD's are known as Point of Use at the outlet such as surge outlets, surge bars, AVR, UPS. Type 4 SPD's are installed in line before the electrical load such as a washer, dryer, furnace, dishwasher, etc.
You may consider the following brands APC, Eaton, Ditek, CyberPower, Leviton, Siemens, Tripp Lite, Panamax, Hubel, etc.
Grounding: The cornerstone and success of any SPD / TVSS protection system hinges upon the electrical system having a low resistance earth ground below 25 ohms. Whatever the SPD / TVSS can not absorb (sacrifice itself) the rest will be shunted to earth ground via the buildings wiring. Any hardware that has a grounding point on the chassis needs to be grounded to the same single point earth ground.
In a typical business environment like a restaurant / bar installed in a closet as you suggest the only ground will come from the electrical outlet.
Power: All of the equipment should be powered by 20 amp dedicated circuit(s). When the electrician installs (2) four gang outlets in the service closet each should be on the opposite side of the single split phase electrical system. If one leg drops out the other will continue to operate fine. Regardless of that basic thing at hand a AVR UPS must be in service to protect the very expensive and important hardware from voltage sags (brown outs) and micro surge / spikes.
Dirty power is one of the five major contributors of short service life and erratic behavior and damage to electronics.
Cooling / Venting: Serious consideration about how to monitor and cool / vent the service closet needs to be planned and in place. As noted up above dirty power is one of the major killers besides - heat. The installation environment dictates what needs to be done so if its in the cold ass wine cellar that's not a huge issue.
The same isn't true if the service closet is on the same South Facing wall in AZ, CA, TX etc!
This is where reviewing the operating temperature of each device is critical to long term reliability. You won't see a tier 3 X brand show you real test of MTBF or have realistic operating ranges that make sense.
Energy: The client is going to have to pay two bills one for the initial outlay for the purchase. The other is 24.7.365 until the device finally dies so make sure the hardware is as efficient as possible.
Noise: Noise may not be an issue in your location but if it is you better read how many dB's that switch puts out. In a bar nobody cares because the music will always drown it out. In a quiet office environment where people are in a clerical data entry environment that may be hard to endure hearing a jet plane for 8 hours a day.
Lots of information, I'm going to read it carefully, thank you very much