Resources

The Cost of Building A restaurant

While each client has their own unique story and circumstances, when it comes to budgeting, there's a pattern in the financial hiccups many encounter along the way.

5 Budget Traps in Restaurant Construction & How to Avoid Them

Discover the top 5 reasons why Vancouver restaurant construction projects go over budget and learn expert tips to keep your dream build on track. Essential reading for aspiring restaurateurs.

A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO PICKING THE RIGHT KITchEN FLOOR

From durability to slip-resistance, aesthetics and of course, adherence to local health codes, there’s a lot to consider when choosing the right floor for your restaurant.

In this article, we will go over some different options for the finished surface of your kitchen floor and some of the pros and cons from our experience.

Ductless Kitchen Ventilation Systems

This article will explain the differences between ducted and ductless kitchen ventilation systems.

The SHocking Cost of Electrical Upgrades

Most common Restaurant Mistakes: pART v

This article will explain why it is essential to make sure your rental unit can supply enough power to run your restaurant BEFORE signing a lease agreement.

wHEN TO hIRE a cONTRACTOR?

Most common Restaurant Mistakes: pART iv

Business owners often plan to find and hire services only when their respective roles are required. While it seems logical and possibly even cost-saving only to hire professional services as needed, we have found that this common mistake will increase project costs and time more often than not.

Most Common Mistakes When Opening Your Restaurant

Part III: Zoning

A common mistake in our industry is restaurant owners not checking a property’s zoning before signing a lease agreement. Being overeager to sign off on a space with a great location or price could cost a lot of additional time and effort if the unit’s current zoning doesn’t match how the restaurant owner intends to use it.

Most Common Mistakes When Opening Your Restaurant

Part II: Get a contract that works for you, not one that works against you.

When we receive a call from potential clients looking to build a restaurant, the same question is often asked: “so, how much will this cost?” While cost is a significant factor in any project, the rush to settle on an exact monetary amount often leads to what we believe is one of our industry’s worst practices: the fixed-price contract.

Building a Restaurant Brewery in Vancouver: Parallel 49

An in-depth look at the construction and building upgrade for Parallel 49's restaurant brewery. This article details key design challenges from working in an older industrial building as well as creating a unique restaurant look for a just as unique brand of beer.

Most Common Mistakes When Opening Your Restaurant

Part I: Make Sure You Have Enough Money

This article is the start of a new series on the most common mistakes we see from entrepreneurs who are launching a restaurant business. This post will focus on what may be the most widespread mistake of all: under-budgeting for a restaurant build.

What to Know About Grease Interceptors in Vancouver

In this post, we will talk about another element of your restaurant or food service location that is critically important, the ability to install a correctly sized grease interceptor. A grease interceptor is also known as a “grease trap.” It is a device that separates fats and oils from wastewater.

Project FEATURE:
Q SHI Q Japanese Grill

In this post, we will be discussing our work on a Vancouver restaurant called Q Shi Q. This project involved custom metalwork and woodwork. The finished restaurant featured many functional art pieces with materials and styles coordinated to create a one-of-a-kind ambiance.

Project in Progress:
Strata Multi-Family Residential Window Retrofit

We are currently performing a window retrofit project in Richmond, British Columbia. Over the next year, we will be replacing approximately 1,000 low-efficiency aluminum windows from the 1980s with highly efficient vinyl windows. All of the residents will be able to remain at home during the project.

Kitchen Exaust Systems
in Vancouver

In this article, we will be focusing on kitchen exhaust systems. The requirements for these systems vary from one geographic area to the next. In Vancouver, they are particularly stringent.

Ghost Kitchen Construction in Vancouver

In this post, we are going to introduce you to the ghost kitchen concept. We will then tell you how we can help you construct or renovate a space to serve as a ghost kitchen for your business.

Project in Progress:
Food Production Facility

One exciting food industrial construction project we are working on now is a production facility for Tempea, a company that produces and delivers fresh, unpasteurized tempeh soy products.

Building a Restaurant
in vancouver

HOW TO BUILD A RESTAURANT SERIES: PART 1

Are you looking to open a restaurant in the Vancouver area? Or are you a designer or other professional looking to work on a project to build or renovate a restaurant? We noticed that there isn’t yet a comprehensive guide to how to build a restaurant in the Vancouver area. So, we put together a blog series to provide professionals in our community with the answers they need.

Selecting the Right Location and Assembling Your Team

HOW TO BUILD A RESTAURANT SERIES: PART 2

If you are planning to build a restaurant in the Vancouver area, one of the first steps you need to take is to choose a location and a team. In this post, we will offer you some recommendations and perspective based on our experience building more than 50 restaurants and entertainment venues throughout the Lower Mainland.

Building Permits and Realistic Expectations

HOW TO BUILD A RESTAURANT SERIES: PART 3

In Parts 1 and 2 of our series on building a restaurant in Vancouver, we talked about how to choose your team and the best location for your venue. In this segment, we will discuss what you need to know concerning building permits and expectations.

Contract Administration and Construction

HOW TO BUILD A RESTAURANT SERIES: PART 4

You might be wondering why so many residential contractors have a challenging time adapting to the commercial space. The answer in part has to do with scale, but not in the way you might think. Building a restaurant in downtown Vancouver in a heritage building can be more complex than building a multi-family residential project outside of the city.