How to lease a turnkey commercial kitchen without buying a restaurant
Vacant rentals with fully intact commercial kitchens are almost nonexistent, making it difficult for growing food businesses to move past shared church kitchens without the cost and hassle of building from scratch. The main alternative is buying out an entire existing restaurant business simply to acquire its kitchen equipment. Other options like ghost kitchens force operators to take on front space they do not need.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1buying out an existing restaurant business just for the kitchen equipment
- 2renting ghost kitchens or local commissary kitchens
- 3sharing space with churches, sports clubs, or other restaurants during off-hours
- 4building out a commercial kitchen from scratch
- 5Checking local city or county small business development offices for commercial space listings
- 6Searching online commercial real estate directories like LoopNet
- 7Driving around target neighborhoods looking for empty storefronts with lease signs
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I run a nonprofit that teaches cooking classes, and we've been trying to lease a turnkey commercial kitchen rather than build one out ourselves, mostly because of the cost and hassle of building from scratch.”source ↗
“So far, our only real option seems to be buying out an existing restaurant's space. The problem is that we'd only use the kitchen equipment, and understandably, most owners want to sell the entire business.”source ↗
“We’re currently using a church’s kitchen but we’ve grown too big to share space”source ↗
“There are ghost kitchens you can rent if there is one around you. You will definitely use the front even if you dont need it.”source ↗
“There aren’t any vacant spots with a full kitchen still intact. Unfortunately, we’ve grown too big to share space.”source ↗
“I’m trying to find out how I go about looking for spaces for rent or lease if I were to start up a food business in my area”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Why can't I rent a house instead of a commercial space?
- 4How do I know if a commercial lease is normal?
- 2What commercial restaurant equipment is safe to buy used?
- 2Where do I even start when opening a small business?
- 4How to find a 3PL for cold storage and custom labeling
- 2Reliable 36-inch gas range with knobs under $4000