When constructing a new restaurant, the materials you choose will be some of the biggest decisions you’re going to have to make. Aesthetics, functionality, and most importantly, cleanliness should all be considered as you make your choice. Your restaurant needs to be easy to clean, and it needs to stay clean. Not every material is equal in this regard. Here are four material suggestions for the most important areas in your restaurant.
Counters: Stainless Steel
Tried and true, stainless steel counters are an industry standard for good reason. Not only are they easy to clean and sanitize, but they hold up to the abuse of a professional kitchen like nothing else and look good doing it. While they are one of the more expensive options, when you consider the amount of use you’ll get out of them over the years they’ll serve you, the investment is often worth it.
Kitchen Floors: Dairy Brick Flooring
Floors have a tendency to look dingy after a while, which can make it harder to tell when they actually need to be cleaned. This is not a problem with dairy brick flooring. So named because they are commonly used in dairy facilities, dairy bricks are an excellent choice for professional kitchens for many of the same reasons dairy farms use them. Because of how these bricks are made, they’re easy to clean, stain-resistant, and incredibly sturdy. Unlike many other kinds of brick, they’re non-porous, so they’re also resistant to bacterial growth, making them excellent for warm, humid areas that need to stay sanitary, like dairy facilities and your kitchen. Talk to a dairy brick company like Archway Brick and Tile about installing dairy brick in your restaurant’s kitchen.
Dining Floors: Laminate
While you could easily go with a brick or tile material for your dining room floors, laminate options offer the warmth of hardwood without the cost. Laminate floors are just as easy to clean as brick or tile would be and are surprisingly durable. Just be sure to get a laminate with a high abrasion coefficient, or AC rating, so it will be durable enough to withstand the heavy traffic and wear-and-tear of a restaurant.
Walls: Fiber-reinforced Plastic (FRP)
If you’ve got extra money to spend you can always make your walls stainless steel to match your counters. However, since walls don’t need to stand up to nearly the same amount of abuse that your counters or floors have to, a high-quality fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) is an excellent substitute. In addition to having the same sanitary characteristics as stainless steel, FRP walls are non-conductive and far cheaper to install than stainless steel walls.
Building a restaurant can be expensive, but when deciding the materials for a workspace that you’ll be using for years to come it’s important to invest in the areas that will make the biggest impact. By choosing the right materials for your counters, floors, and walls, you’ll be well on your way to having a cleaner, safer restaurant.
