So You Want to Start a Restaurant...

So you want to start a restaurant? Well, nobody needs to tell you what a massive undertaking that is. You’ll be dealing with all sorts of permits, inspections and coming-up-to-code headaches in no time. But if your idea is good, it’ll all be well worth the trouble.

Just to get you started, here are some of the absolutely essential pieces of restaurant equipment you’re going to need.

First make sure you have a stainless steel sinks for food preparation, dish washing and employee hand washing. And make sure they’re well-placed in your restaurant. Remember: Germs and bacteria are not your friends, and stainless steel sinks are not their friends!

You’ve got to have a commercial ice maker. No restaurant can survive without one, especially during the hot months. What are you going to do – send an employee down to the corner convenience store to get ice every time you run out? Not likely, right?

Of course, you’ll also need commercial Refrigeration: That pretty much goes without saying, but keep in mind that you’ll need more than one kind.

We’re talking reach-in commercial freezers, reach-in commercial refrigerators, walk-in coolers and walk in freezers here. Some perishables need to be stored in bulk, and some need to be handy-on-the-spot for servers and cooks.

Unless you’re opening an Amish restaurant, you’ll need a commercial dishwasher. It doesn’t matter if your restaurant is the size of your childhood bedroom – those dishes and pots are going to pile up fast, and doing them by hand will eventually reduce somebody to tears (maybe you).

Oh yeah – since you’re in the business of cooking, you’ll need a convection oven, I highly recommend a Blodgett convection oven. You may want to also include a griddle and maybe a deep fryer too (how else are you going to make French fries?). 

Good luck, and bon appetit!