Kitchens

[SHEP]

I am in the planning stages of relocating my bar. The place I have now is only 900 sq. ft, and I do not have a kitchen. I don't want to build a large building, since everyone likes the small, intimate neighborhood bar atmosphere. I'm looking at approx. 1500 sq. ft. plus room for a kitchen. I DO NOT want to be in the restaurant business, but I do want to serve food. Sandwiches, wings, pizza, fries, etc.

How much space do I need to allocate to the kitchen, and what equipment should I consider?
I was thinking:
1. deep fryer
2. 24" grill
3. convection oven
4. small pizza oven
5. triple basin sink
5. fridge/freezer

What am I missing?

[Daryl]

How much space do I need to allocate to the kitchen, and what equipment should I consider?
I was thinking:
1. deep fryer
2. 24" grill
3. convection oven
4. small pizza oven
5. triple basin sink
5. fridge/freezer

What am I missing?

How about a dish washing area (maybe your three compartment sink),a mop sink a hand sink? You may also want to plan for storage area for dry goods and servers area. Would you have an ice machine in the kitchen?

[owneroper]

hand sink for sure, prep sink and grease trap (I was forced to) sandwich block, microwave, Fire/ansel system, storage for food supplies with all that you may as well be in the restaurant business. There was a post or a couple that dealt with dealing in food without all the kitchen equipment. It gave a bunch of suggestions on what to sell in pre packaged food and get around all the equipment. When you get into preparing food vs heating food the health dept gets alot deeper in your business. My kitchen was here but for what little we make and the amount of money and work involved I wouldnt build another.
We have lunch specials, breakfast and wings etc at night. Because of the way the bar is setup the bartender can cook a burger and still see the bar and she does on nightshift. We dont sell enough food to pay a cook for afternoon or evenings and as far as I am concerned we dont make enough overall to even bother but its here and I will deal with it but I hate it.

[BARTENDER 54]

Shep,
If you are building...then build for where you want your food business to get to, and NOT for what you think you can get by with now....It's always better to have too much, rather than not enough.
I built mine with just a hair over 900 sq/ft....but out of that you can take out a 16x10 walk-in cooler/freezer. And we're still stumbling over each other when it gets busy w/3 cooks. I'm looking to aquire the building next door, knock a whole in the wall and slide the walk-ins next door, just to make a workable space.
OH, and when I bought the bar it had a small kit. but I didn't want to do food, so when the Health Dept. said I couldn't open it "as is" it sure as hell didn't hurt my feelings..and for a year and half, it worked..BUT, small town USA you have to have something else to get by than just booze so I added on...AND FOR THE RECORD...I STILL HATE DEALING WITH FOOD..(or mostly the help)..IT'S A MAJOR PAIN IN THE RECTAL AREA... But one does what one has to do!!!!!!

Now to your question...
If it was me...I would go with 2 fryers, you don't have to use them both all the time but when you get busy you will pat yourself on the back for having a #2
At least 1 microwave...I've got 3...they are GE Mod.# Wes138sm2ss...they are not "commercial", they look like they are, and I just replaced the first 2 I bought after 6 1/2 years..of pretty heavy use..at $125. ea. @ Wally World
Beats the hell out of $650./comm. unit.
3 bay sink and/or dish washer.
A must ...a hand washing sink
Need a serving counter w/ lamps
The bigger the freezer the better...I started with 3 large chest freezers in my store room and 1 upright in the kitchen for portioned up food... and a 2 sliding door cooler.
I'm glad those days are gone.
A prep table or area
And don't forget to have plenty of room for garbage cans
and there is dry storage
and the HOOD and SUPPRESSION SYSTEM
AND, AND, AND

Best of luck,
Rick

Did I mention it's a pain in the ass????

And don't forget the little dinger bell, so the sever knows the stuff is done !!!!

[bruce]

Bartender54 you are so right on so much. Two toasters to handle long, thick bread for sandwich's. Soup warmer that will handle at least 2 gallon at a time. Meatslicer, cuber, steam table, range top burners, and a good alto sham oven. Put your walkin where you can use it for both bar and food. And remember that more people eat than drink. It is a pain, but there is a lot of satisfaction also. Bruce

[walawdog]

Wait....Shep, you need to create your menu first, and then get your equipment to be able to make those items. Some items, already mentioned, you will need in any kitchen (refrigeration, sinks, mop sinks, storage, etc). All the rest of the equipment should be based on what you intend to make.

[Michael Black]

"Wait....Shep, you need to create your menu first, and then get your equipment to be able to make those items. Some items, already mentioned, you will need in any kitchen (refrigeration, sinks, mop sinks, storage, etc). All the rest of the equipment should be based on what you intend to make."

Exactly correct. Create the menu FIRST, then figure the equipment.Understand what you have to prepare, not the other way around. Do think of expansion possibly down the road which you should also do going into a bar,club,or lounge. You can get away with an extremely small kitchen if just doing nuked foods, hot dogs, or paninis. You can also have grills behind the bar which can be labor efficient if you don't expect that much business. You can also do a tremendous amount in just a 250 sq foot space with just 1-3 people if you are limited on space. Tight, but it can be very cost-efficient with counter service to the wait staff. That scenario would assume you have some basement for walk-in storage and maybe the mop sink. 500-750 square feet and you can have a decent size, full line with steam table and area for wait staff to walk in.Anything greater than 1000 sq feet is probably getting too large for a bar. Once again, this assumes walk-ins in the basement- you will have to add that space in the kitchen if not feasible. Personally, I hate kitchens in the basement for many reasons- sanitation, strain on the staff, build out and HVAC problems,etc..There are some huge kitchens in restaurants thanks to the chef's planning who always want large spaces for every toy. Search the threads for past discussions. you can also do a bunch w/o gas or a hood, using electric
like induction ranges,convection ovens,impinger conveyor, autofry ventless fryers,etc..