Opening a restaurant can be exciting yet confusing, stressful, and overwhelming at the same time. Having a well-stocked restaurant before you open the doors for the first time is a top priority if you want opening night to succeed. Stocking the restaurant starts with having the right equipment ordered, delivered, in place, and operational before you ever open the doors. From a salad prep table to the sandwich prep table and from the refrigeration equipment to the ovens and freezers, there’s a lot to be done when it comes to equipping your restaurant the right way.

While you’re looking to improve your creativity when it comes to food in your restaurant, your creative thinking and new ideas should come after you have the equipment delivered. A great way to ensure that you have all the equipment you need to open is by making a list and then checking it off as the equipment is ordered. In this article, you’ll find a few of the pieces of equipment, from making sandwiches to salads, that you need to have before opening night.

Prep Tables

Use your creative thinking to determine which types of prep tables you need for your kitchen. Start with the 27 inch sandwich prep table and work your way up to the salad prep table as well. After all, you don’t want to be preparing salads and sandwiches on a table that you use to prep chicken dishes and pork, now do you. You will also need some commercial shelves to put your plates, bowls, and other pots and pans on as well, so you might as well go ahead and grab those.

Refrigeration Equipment

You’ve already got a plan in place for outfitting your commercial kitchen, but you don’t want to forget the refrigeration equipment. You can order your stainless steel refrigerator and freezer from a reputable appliance company with no problem. You want to make sure that it’s brand new and in excellent shape before you put it in your kitchen. Your refrigeration equipment is what stops your food from spoiling. Spoiled food will make your customers sick, and you’ll end up in court instead of in your kitchen if you’re not careful, so choose wisely.

Chef’s Knives

There is little worse in the kitchen than working with dull knives. While chef’s knives aren’t technically considered restaurant equipment, you can’t do without them. Make sure that you have at least one set of high-quality chef’s knives in your kitchen at all times. All of your knives should be sharp and high-quality, but your chef’s knives are the most important in your kitchen.

Cookware

You can’t have a restaurant if you don’t have pots and pans to cook in. It’s essential to use the best cookware in the business, which means high-quality non-stick pans for everything in your kitchen. If you don’t have high-quality non-stick pans, then you’re not going to be able to cook up to the standards that diners expect, and your business could go under before it even begins. Of course, you want nice plates, bowls, and utensils as well, but the cookware is the biggest thing and should be of the highest quality you can find at your supplier. Now that you have the right equipment in your commercial kitchen, it’s time to cook some creative dishes and wow those customers.

This is why it’s so important to have the right equipment in your restaurant before your grand opening. With this equipment in your kitchen, the night will go amazingly, and you’ll be well on your way to having a successful business that everyone will love.