Chef's Deal Coupon Codes & Promo Codes — Restaurant Equipment

Buying commercial kitchen equipment without expensive mistakes

Restaurant equipment is one of the few categories where the wrong purchase cannot be quietly returned. Four things to settle before you look at price:

• Utilities. Gas or electric, single or three phase, voltage and amperage. A three-phase fryer in a single-phase building is scrap metal. Get the spec sheet and give it to your electrician before ordering.
• Ventilation. Anything that fries, grills or chars needs a hood, and hood requirements are set by local code, not by the manufacturer.
• Physical access. Measure the door, the corridor and any turn. Walk-in and reach-in refrigeration is where deliveries most often fail at the threshold.
• NSF certification. Health inspectors look for it on anything that touches food. Check the listing states it.

New, scratch-and-dent, or used

Scratch-and-dent is usually the best value in this category — cosmetic damage on a full-warranty unit. Used equipment is cheaper still but the compressor is the part that fails and the part you cannot inspect. For refrigeration and anything with a motor, buy new or open-box; for stainless tables, shelving and sinks, used is fine.

Freight is a real cost

Most of this ships by freight, kerbside, on a pallet. Lift-gate service and inside delivery are extra and quoted separately, so a headline price can move a lot once delivery is added. Inspect the pallet before signing — freight damage claims are almost impossible once you have signed clean.

Discounts

Equipment retailers discount by category and by clearance rather than by sitewide code. Package deals on a full line are usually negotiated rather than listed, so for a full kitchen it is worth asking for a quote before checking out at list price.