For most people who ran a restaurant before, they usually have an idea of what exact equipment they want for their respective kitchens. But for a lot of people who are about to open one for the first time, the things to consider are surprisingly more than you think. Here are a few things to consider before you’re buying your next piece of restaurant equipment.

1. Consider the electrical requirements for restaurant equipment.

When you’re doing your research on what grill or what oven you want, they’ll (almost) always have electrical specs. The voltage, the amperage, and the phases are cited so that potential restaurant owners can have an idea of what will work in their kitchen and what won’t.

This is also the reason why you don’t see your friends putting commercial appliances in their home kitchens. Typically, commercial kitchen equipment are physically larger and have different electrical (and gas) requirements. Now some households might be able to house a professional kitchen, but for most people, it’s about settling to Kenmores and Whirlpools.

While our sales representatives and technicians know the electrical requirements for the restaurant equipment, consider calling an electrician if you don’t know how much electricity your restaurant can handle.

2. Maintain Constant Care.

Whether it’s keeping that stainless steel-finish shiny, or keeping tab of your frying oil, it’s crucial to making sure that your kitchen equipment is clean and accessible. This may sound like asking a lot from your cooks or employees. But if it means spending a few hours a day or spending a weekend cleaning it, then it will beat having citations from your health inspector.

Don’t believe us? This is what happens when you neglect your restaurant’s kitchen. Fortunately, One Fat Frog will recondition the equipment (after purchase) so it’ll be ready to go from day one. Remember, nobody’s immune from a dirty kitchen.

3. Find the Middle Ground.

It might be all too easy for you to either go the cheapest for restaurant equipment or go the most expensive. But in truth, neither’s the answer.

If you go for a small restaurant but yet have people coming in -and-out (in the good way) all the time, then you need equipment that meets the demands. But if you run a formal dining place, then you need equipment that’ll preferably give you finer control (ie. digital controls).

To tell the truth, this does apply to pretty much everything else in life (example: Probably not a good idea to get a economy hatchback when you have a family of five), but when you’re talking about a long-time investment like restaurants, this especially applies to restaurant equipment.