The Restaurant Realty in 10 takes a direct approach to restaurant operations, facilities, real estate, and investments. Host, Michael Carro jumps to the meat of the issue in these 10-minute podcasts answering your restaurant and restaurant real estate questions by sharing his industry experience and interviewing experts on niche topics. Michael is a Restaurant Franchisee, Certified Commercial Investment Manager, founder of The Restaurant Realty Network, Restaurant landlord and tenant, and a Top Commercial Real Estate Broker. He is a lover of exceptional food and passionate about the Chefs behind the dishes.
On today's episode of The Restaurant Realty in 10 host, Michael Carro, is joined by a first-time guest Don Theiot with Kesco Kitchen Equipment & Supply Co.
Don walks us through the process of designing a restaurant kitchen.
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Michael Carro :
Welcome to The Restaurant Realty in 10. 10 minutes of uncensored straight talk for restaurant entrepreneurs twice weekly The Restaurant Realty in 10 dives into restaurant operations, facilities, real estate, and investments. Welcome to The Restaurant Realty and 10. This is your host Michael Carro with another podcast and today we're welcoming Don Theoit with Kesco Kitchen Equipment & Supply Co to discuss restaurant kitchen design going into a new space or a new building. So welcome to the program Don. Thank you for having me, Michael. So first of all, tell me a little bit about Kesco what you've done, how long you've been in business and I also understand this is a family affair.
Don Theoit :
It is a family affair. My wife and I started the business, started here in Pensacola in 1986. And our three sons are all involved in business now and have been for quite some time.
Michael Carro :
So and how many locations do you have?
Don Theoit :
We have four locations Mobile, Alabama, of course the Pensacola store here on East Main Street and the Mary Esther store that services the Destin market and then Panama City Beach store.
Michael Carro :
Alright, so three in Florida, one in Mobile. And so when somebody is ready to come in and start a new restaurant, they come in with a whole bunch of questions. They may have architect, they certainly have an idea of what they want to create. If they come to Kesco what's the first step in get ting their restaurant to become a reality?
Don Theoit :
There's lots of questions that have to be asked on our part as far as trying to help the customer to understand what he's about to encounter in his journey towards becoming a successful restaurant. First of all, we asked him, is there an existing building? Or is this new structure? Certainly, that's an easy question to answer. But we much prefer a new structure as opposed to an existing one. Because the parameters and the issues of new constructions is much easier than undertaking an existing building that happens to maybe dilapidated to a certain point where permitting is a real problem.
Michael Carro :
So if they're going into a new building, do you go visit the site or can you work off of a set of plans?
Unknown Speaker :
We were work off of a set of plans if there's one that exists. Normally, if it's a new building, the customer has already hired an architect.
Michael Carro :
And so when there's an architect involved, do you prefer the architect to design the kitchen and the floor plan? Or do you prefer to take full control of the kitchen design and the dining room design
Don Theoit :
As you said, we are much happier, and the customer eventually will be happier if we take full control of the kitchen design. Architectural people are great with selection of surfaces, floors, and ceilings and so on. And of course, engineering is always a challenge for an architect, but kitchen design is our forte. And the local architects, especially, prefer us to design the kitchen, because we know the steps involved in allowing the customer to do his part in designing the kitchen and explaining the menu to us and then proceeding to the next steps in the process.
Michael Carro :
So let's go back to the restaurant entrepreneur. So you mentioned you need to understand the menu. I presume that means You need to understand what equipment is required to produce the menu that the chef or the restaurant owner wants to produce for the customer.
Unknown Speaker :
That's exactly right, Michael. And that's the most important part of it, we must understand how the food flows through the building from the back loading dock when he receives his frozen foods or is room temperature foods all the way as it goes through storage preparation, cooking, plating, and how eventually the food comes back to the ware washing area to clean up and take care of the dishes and silverware.
Michael Carro :
Okay,
Don Theoit :
So we need to understand the entire flow of the food as it goes through the spaces. That's the most important issue.
Michael Carro :
So you brought up flatware and silverware and things of that nature. Of course, depending on the restaurant, they may do all disposables. And that might treat things a little bit differently. They may not have a full blown dishwashing area but certainly pan washing and pot washing and things of that nature. So based on that and based on the size, will that also determine hood size, how many fryers how big is the flat grill? Is it 12, 24, 36, 48 inches? I mean, are all of these factors and how you make the determination based on your conversations with the entrepreneur?
Unknown Speaker :
Absolutely. Michael, that's the most essential part of it all the objectives of the customer. What is he thinking that his annual or monthly volume will be? But most importantly, what is his menu? What foods will he be offering and at what volume does he think he'll be opening with? At that point in time we develop the kitchen layout. If he's doing Mexican food, well, of course, he needs a complete gamut of kitchen equipment fryers, griddles, broilers, ovens, and of course, all the food storage equipment, like walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-in refrigerators and freezers and of course, lots of ice capacity. So we discuss all of these things. Of course, we discuss the number of seats that he's expecting in that space to generate the volume that he was going to require for his return on investment.
Michael Carro :
So the entrepreneur met you, they shared their concept, you've got a real good idea. Now it's time to put blueprints on a page. So what's the next step to get something into the entrepreneurs hands for them to review and then ultimately be submitted to the municipality for permitting?
Unknown Speaker :
Absolutely. Like I mentioned before, the way the food flows through the space is the criteria. During that process, we understand what the customer's objectives are, we understand the size of these the building, we understand that there is a place in that building where the kitchen is supposed to be. So then we take those limitations and then we expand on that. Sometimes we have to redraw the kitchen layout five or six times
Michael Carro :
Sure
Don Theoit :
To make sure that the kitchen will produce his expected revenue and of course, produces menu. For instance, the fast food restaurants are a totally different set of parameters, as opposed to full service restaurants, which do require certain pieces of equipment that satisfy the Board of Health and they're requirements.
Michael Carro :
And theirs are all flowing, very importantly, towards the drive thru most fast food QSR restaurant groups have two lines, one side of the line is flowing to the drive-thru window and the other one is the front counter, at least the restaurants that we've been a part of. That's how we've focused them. And then the great thing is during slow times, then you drop down to one line that services both drive thru and front counter. At what point do you then put ink on a page for them to review? So you mentioned you can change it five or six times? How does it get changed? Is it somebody with experience just goes through it and says, You know, I think we can save one step or does a budget come in and say you know, what I thought I could afford but we need to cut, is that one of the changes that might come from is cutting down on the budget, maybe Value Engineering?
Unknown Speaker :
That's right Value Engineering is normally comes in at the end of the selection of the equipment and that's where we are pleased in every way to represent manufacturers that can offer different qualities of equipment and of course, different prices, that we offer to the customer. The selection of which all depends on some very specific criteria, especially his budget.
Michael Carro :
Okay. And so once that part's done, they've selected the equipment, the plans are approved by the entrepreneur, you then give those plans to the architect, they put it in their package, and then submit it to the municipality for final permitting and approval.
Unknown Speaker :
That's exactly how it happens. We give the specifications to the customer and the architect so that he can go for final approval from these different authorities. Especially the engineers who have to size the gas meter because of the bpu requirements on the cooking equipment and the electrical meter, which is sized by the AMP draw of the equipment that we're providing. So all of this equipment and their specifications are provided by us. And shown in the plans specifications.
Michael Carro :
What's the typical lead time for an equipment package if there's nothing super unique, like a pizza oven from Italy, so typical lead time of when somebody should contact you to place their order? How many weeks until all the equipment would arrive,
Don Theoit :
basically, we can do a fairly good job at finalizing the plans in around six weeks.
Michael Carro :
Okay, you said finalizing plans? And is that also including the lead time for getting the equipment into the warehouse?
Unknown Speaker :
No, that six weeks is the time that we initially start the negotiations and providing the plans and specifications for him. And by the time he gets his permit, and it gets all the rest of the things especially funding, normally a six weeks lead time before we start ordering equipment.
Michael Carro :
Okay, gotcha. Well, that's a new restaurant design process with Don Theiot from Kesco. Thank you, Don.
Don Theoit :
Thank you for having me, Michael.
Michael Carro :
That wraps up another The Restaurant Realty in 10. We look forward to your next visit. Thank you for listening to The Restaurant Realty in 10. If you're interested in restaurants, whether operations facilities, buying, leasing, or investment, The Restaurant Realty in 10 is for you. Please subscribe to this podcast and you can also visit TheRestaurantRealty.com for show notes, topics and additional information.
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