Commercial Kitchen Equipment Planning
Menu-driven equipment lists sized to covers and throughput, with utility loads and service clearances documented for each station.
Consulting Division
Commercial kitchen equipment planning and buildout consulting
The most expensive kitchen mistakes are made on paper. We work through menu-driven equipment planning, station layout and utility requirements early, so your buildout does not end with an oversized fryer battery, an undersized walk-in, or an inspection failure the week before opening.
Overview
Why this work matters
The most expensive kitchen mistakes are made on paper, months before anyone turns on a burner. Equipment picked from a catalog rather than a menu. Stations located where utilities are not. A hood sized for the original plan and never revised after the equipment changed. Lead times discovered after the opening date is advertised.
Our consulting division starts from the menu, cover counts and dayparts, then sizes equipment to throughput. Every station is reviewed for workflow, utility load, service clearance and hood requirement, and the results are documented position by position so contractors are building from the same information you are.
You receive an equipment schedule with sizing rationale and alternates, a procurement plan sequenced against the construction calendar, and an energy and health-code review before anything is ordered. Through buildout we coordinate trades, review submittals, run the pre-opening punch list, and hand off cleanly into installation and maintenance — the same team stays with the kitchen after it opens.
The same review works for existing kitchens. When throughput is capped, labor is high or equipment keeps failing, a station-by-station assessment usually finds the constraint is layout and sizing rather than staff.
What this division covers
Restaurant Buildout Consulting
Support through the buildout timeline: equipment schedules, delivery sequencing, trade coordination and pre-opening punch lists.
Kitchen Layout & Workflow Design Support
Station-by-station flow review — receiving, prep, cook line, expo and dish — to cut steps, congestion and cross-traffic.
Procurement Assistance & Vendor Coordination
Spec review, lead-time planning and vendor coordination so equipment arrives when the site is actually ready for it.
Energy Efficiency Consulting
Reviewing refrigeration, cooking and ventilation choices for operating cost, ENERGY STAR options and hood and make-up air efficiency.
Health Code Compliance Equipment Guidance
Guidance on NSF-listed equipment, handwashing and warewashing requirements, holding temperatures and finish materials before inspection.
What you get
Documented work, start to finish
- Equipment schedule tied to your menu and cover counts
- Utility and clearance requirements documented per station
- Lead times planned against the construction schedule
- One team from planning through installation and maintenance
How it runs
Our consulting process
- 01
Menu & volume review
We start with the menu, cover counts and dayparts — equipment sizing follows throughput, not catalog defaults.
- 02
Layout & utilities
Station-by-station flow review with utility loads, service clearances and hood requirements documented per position.
- 03
Spec & procurement plan
Equipment schedule with alternates, lead times and a delivery sequence mapped to the construction calendar.
- 04
Buildout support
Trade coordination, submittal review, pre-opening punch list and handoff into installation and maintenance.
Scope
What's included
- Menu-driven equipment schedule with sizing rationale
- Utility load and clearance documentation per station
- Workflow review across receiving, prep, cook, expo and dish
- Lead-time and procurement sequencing plan
- Energy efficiency and health code compliance review
Signals
When operators call us for this
- You're building or remodeling and the equipment list is still a guess
- The floor plan puts stations where utilities aren't
- Lead times are threatening your opening date
- You want the energy and code implications reviewed before ordering
Equipment focus
The equipment this division touches
Every category below is handled in-house by technicians who work on it weekly, across all major commercial foodservice brands regardless of who originally supplied it.
Menu-driven equipment sizing
Cook line capacity derived from peak-hour covers and menu mix, with recovery times and holding capacity accounted for rather than a catalog default.
Workflow & station layout
Receiving, dry and cold storage, prep, cook, expo and dish reviewed as one path, with travel distance and cross-traffic measured instead of estimated.
Utilities & ventilation
Gas, electrical, water and drain loads documented per position, with hood capture and make-up air matched to the final equipment schedule.
Procurement & phasing
Lead times, alternates and delivery sequencing mapped to the construction calendar so a single long-lead item does not move the opening.
Costly mistakes
What we see go wrong most often
These are the patterns behind the majority of the avoidable failures we get called out to. None of them are exotic — they are all decisions made to save time or money that cost multiples of both later.
Finalizing the layout before the menu
A layout locked in before the menu is settled forces the menu to fit the room. It should be the other way around.
Value-engineering the hood
Undersized ventilation is difficult and expensive to fix after the ceiling closes, and it makes the line miserable to work for the life of the kitchen.
Treating lead times as a purchasing detail
Lead times are schedule inputs. Discovering a sixteen-week item at week ten is what pushes openings.
Who we work with
Operations we support
Restaurants & bars
Independent kitchens and multi-unit groups that need the line back up before the next service.
Hotels & catering
Banquet kitchens, room service lines and event catering with unpredictable peak loads.
Schools & universities
Cafeteria and commissary equipment maintained on academic calendars and inspection cycles.
Healthcare & senior living
Regulated kitchens where temperature documentation and uptime are non-negotiable.
Grocery & convenience
Deli cases, prep coolers, ice and hot-hold equipment kept in spec across store footprints.
Food trucks & ghost kitchens
Compact builds where every inch of cold storage and every burner has to earn its place.
Brands we work on
Brand-agnostic, regardless of who supplied it
- True
- Turbo Air
- Manitowoc
- Hoshizaki
- Scotsman
- Vulcan
- Frymaster
- Pitco
- Rational
- Hobart
- Garland
- Traulsen
- Duke
- Bunn
- CMA
- Henny Penny
- EPA Section 608 certified refrigeration technicians
- Licensed gas and electrical trade coordination
- NSF-listed equipment and shelving specifications
- Manufacturer warranty filing on your behalf
- Fully insured crews with COI on request
Local delivery
Consulting Services in our Texas markets
Questions
Consulting Services FAQ
Other service divisions
Installation Services
Set, connected, started up and verified — walk-ins, ice machines, cooking lines and hood systems installed by crews who commission equipment every week.
Maintenance Services
Scheduled visits, documented per asset, plus emergency coverage for the nights when something still goes down mid-service.
Storage Solutions
Layouts, shelving and refrigerated capacity planned around how your kitchen actually receives, rotates and pulls product.
Site directory
Consulting elsewhere on the site
Other divisions, the Texas markets we cover, and city pages for this division.
Service divisions
- Installation Services
Set, connected, started up and verified — walk-ins, ice machines, cooking lines and hood systems installed by crews who commission equipment every week.
- Maintenance Services
Scheduled visits, documented per asset, plus emergency coverage for the nights when something still goes down mid-service.
- Storage Solutions
Layouts, shelving and refrigerated capacity planned around how your kitchen actually receives, rotates and pulls product.
- Consulting Services (current page)
Equipment planning, layout and workflow support, procurement coordination and compliance guidance before a single unit is ordered.
- All commercial kitchen services