Good organization is the key to running a restaurant kitchen successfully. Things can get very hectic in the kitchen area especially during peak hours. You can’t keep your guests waiting too long for their food or they will not return. However, you can’t prepare meals in a timely fashion if your kitchen is unorganized.

Having adequate storage space in your kitchen is vital in keeping things organized. Include a variety of cabinets, drawers and shelves to ensure you have a place for everything. If you are limited on space, consider hanging pots and pans vertically overtop of the area where they are used most. This option is convenient and provides a lot of extra space.

In addition to having enough storage, the following tips for organizing your restaurant kitchen will help keep your business running smoothly.

Organizing Your Restaurant Kitchen Starts with a Good Floor Plan

Storing and preparing food quickly and safely starts with a good floor plan. You’ll need to follow a specific process to prepare the meals and each step should flow effortlessly into the next. You can accomplish this by creating a floor plan that has separate zones for each process involved in preparing the meals.

For example, you’ll have a zone for prepping, frying, grilling, baking and serving the food. This will help keep everything organized and flowing properly. It will keep the staff from running around the kitchen trying to find the items needed to prepare each dish. Here at J. Design Group, our experts will go over your particular needs and determine which layout would suit your restaurant the best to ensure your kitchen runs efficiently.

You must follow all safety rules and regulations from storing to preparing the meals to ensure the foods you serve are safe to eat. For this reason, the floor plan should place your freezer and refrigeration unit next to the kitchen area. Depending on the types of foods you serve, you may also need smaller refrigeration units in different areas of the kitchen. this way, you can keep the items you use the most within reaching distance. If these units are too far away, it encourages bad food handling habits.

Avoid Unnecessary Cooking Tools

Having the latest tools and gadgets may be impressive but it’s not always a good idea. Your kitchen should only be stocked with the cooking tools you really need to prepare the foods your restaurant serves. Having too many items that you don’t really need will make it difficult to stay organized, which in turn makes it harder to find the tools you need when you need them. Be sure to group items that serve similar functions together to make finding what you need easier and faster.

An unorganized kitchen will slow you down and result in chaos that can hurt sales and even damage your reputation. Allow us to help you create the perfect restaurant kitchen design for your business. We have years of experience designing commercial property and we’re here to help. Give us a call today to get started.