How many square feet is your kitchen area

[Ruby]

We are looking to open a business in our little town and would like to sell snowcones in the summer and coffee/espresso drinks year around. In addition we would like to sell some dressed up premade desserts (slices of cheesecake with sauce added, slices of pound cake with fresh strawberries and whipcream added) and sell some par-baked items like muffins and cookies.

Can anyone give me some estimates on how big of a kitchen we will need? One of the buildings that is needing the LEAST amount of work and seems to be in one of the better spots also has less space than the other buildings and we are trying to figure out how much space we need to dedicate to the kitchen area.

 

[John P]

Our kitchen is in cubic feet. We live in a three-dimensional world.

But for two-dimensional purposes, it is 8x16 or 128 sq. ft.
We have 3 compartment sink. Double fridge (no freezer) Prep table, ice machine, storage rack, drying rack, hand-sink, mop sink, and a small space for laundry.

 

[Ruby]

Thanks John. . . we are looking at a few different options for a building, one place seems TOO big, but the others seem a touch too small.

 

[John P]

It's better to figure a way to make too small work than to pay for unneeded space.

 

[EXPOcoffee]

my experience says: "meters dont make good coffee" and i had 10 years in this business in France and Spain. the product and the personal are important elements. Less space , more money on good product. save your money to put in personal

 

[prairieguy]

I agree with EXPOcoffee, a personal experience and a great product will keep them coming back. You also need to decide what type of kitchen you will need for cooking/prep purposes. I designed and built my wife's in a 12x16 space, full kitchen, 4 grinders, coffee maker, espresso machine, fridge and stove. It works pretty good but a little more storage would be welcome.

 

[martimoney]

I don't run a coffee business, but I am an administrator of an elementary school and I couldn't agree more with the personnel comment. Do your homework if you plan to hire staff and make sure they understand customer service is the one thing you will not compromise on. Best of luck with your business start up.