Starting a restaurant easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Equipment, space, menu design, and marketing are all big-ticket items that add up quick. Throw in staff and inventory and your funding may start to look flimsy. While these factors may seem nonnegotiable, businesses before you have made it by on much less money than normal and still seen success. Read on to find out how you too could start a restaurant with a barely-there budget.

Smoothie bars are all the rage and have been for a few decades. They are a convenient way to get a cool drink and a serving of fruit and veggies. Popular places to have one is near a health club or in malls or on the beach. There are several different types of equipment you’ll need to start up your smoothie bar. This is a guide along with some recommendations to help you get started.

During the hot summer months, everything tends to run a little slower. To help your ice machine run more efficiently, so you can keep cool,Ice-O-Matic has some helpful tips for maximum ice machine productivity.

Health inspections for commercial dining venues are a fact of owning such a business, and thank goodness for them, because we’d never want to eat out if there weren’t any guidelines. The experience can, however, be unnerving to the point of downright terror if you allow it to be. There are some common sense ideas in preparing for a health inspection that can make it less painful and more successful.

It’s easy to see why restaurant furniture designers have moved away from upholstering their booths in cloth to upholstering them in vinyl. Modern vinyl fabric, which honestly is barely recognizable as a plastic anymore, duplicates the skin-like plushness of leather while costing restaurateurs much less to own. And since vinyl repels water, most of the spills absorbed by cloth upholstery simply rolls off these seats. However as you’ve probably found out for yourself, vinyl is less than 100% impenetrable to stains. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best cleaning techniques to undo vinyl’s most common blemishes, including solutions for ink, blood, scuffs, gum, rips, rain, the sun, & crumbs.

Maybe it’s because you’re swamped. Or maybe you’re just lazy. Regardless the reason, that thing you’re doing… it’s disgusting. Anyone who works in the service industry has skipped some important sanitation procedure before—it’s only when you start making a habit of uncleanliness that your restaurant begins to suffer. So be honest with yourself, are you guilty of these ten sanitation no-no’s?

Food-based allergies have symptoms ranging from barely noticeable to imminent threat of death.   Research suggests that approximately 15 million Americans have food allergies.  A 2015 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that food allergies in children increased by about 50% between 1997 and 2011.  The most common allergen for children is cow’s milk, while the most common allergen for adults is shell fish.   Peanuts aren’t the most common allergen for any segment of the population, but they are frequently the most violent.  Some are so allergic to peanuts they can’t be in the same room with a peanut butter cookie.   Food allergies are increasing in all segments of the population.   It’s not clear whether allergies or reliable diagnosis is on the rise, but one thing is certain.  The health threat can’t be ignored.  Food service is feeling the impact strongly.

What is an Air Curtain?

From the office lobby to shipping and receiving, and from our front doors to yours, better environments use Berner! Since 1956 Berner International has been dedicated to maintaining comfortable environments and saving energy with Berner commercial, architectural, and industrial air curtains and doors. Berner air curtains and doors effectively prevent heating or air conditioning from escaping through open doors; while providing substantial energy savings, personal comfort, and insect control. Air Curtains and doors employ a controlled stream of air aimed across an opening to create an air seal. This seal separates different environments while allowing a smooth, unhindered flow of traffic and unobstructed view through the opening. Berner Air Curtains also help stop the infiltration of flying insects. For 60 years Berner has offered unmatched quality, performance, and dependability; saving energy and creating healthy, comfortable environments!

Spring is here, and summer will be upon us soon, so many of us have begun to plan camping trips, cookouts and picnics. These family and group favorites bring bonding and happy memories, but also present us with a heightened challenge of food safety.

If you are in the market for a new refrigerator or freezer, with all the features, options, brands, and manufacturers these days, your search can turn into an overwhelming mess pretty quickly. Luckily, we are here to help. In this blog we will compare three different refrigeration manufacturers and their equipment to ensure when you are choosing your next piece of refrigeration equipment, you are well-informed to make a good decision and choose the correct fridge or freezer to fit your needs.

It’s important to know what those certifications tell you about your purchases, so we’ve listed our most common ones. The next time you’re shopping on our site, you’ll have a better understanding of the quality of products you’re considering.

Kitchen Knives come in many different varieties and it can be overwhelming trying to find what kind of knife you need.

Although food trucks have been a long-standing part of American culture, the popularity of these mobile eateries has come to an all time high within the last few years, and for good reason. Motivated entrepreneurs can start a mobile food business for a fraction of the cost to open a brick and mortar restaurant and yields several advantages over the traditional foodservice method by allowing owners to bring the food to their customers and requiring less employees to operate.

Shop JES Restaurant Equipment's Food Truck Category Here.

Often times our customers are confused about the difference between a manual and thermostatic griddles.  The difference is quite simple actually so we'll explain it in a manner that most anyone can relate to…

A phenomenon has emerged in the brewery world that has caused a chaotic stir among those wanting to make their own beer. Home brewing has not only grown into a popular activity in residential kitchens but it has also gained a reputation in commercial kitchens as well. Making your own brew is a very inexpensive product that will easily rival anything else you could buy in the store.

Are all dishwashers the same?

Compartment sinks are not only convenient in the foodservice industry but are also mandatory in many cases. Most health and sanitation standards require restaurants to have a sink with three or more compartments to manually clean utensils and smaller equipment pieces. But washing smallwares by hand is not as simple as running some soap and water over them. Washing restaurant utensils and equipment is subject to standards just like washing your hands. This three-step process is kinda like the “stop, drop and roll” of warewashing:

Shopping for commercial foodservice equipment can be overwhelming. There are a variety of factors to consider such as brand, performance and warranty terms. However one factor that should be a no-brainer is whether or not the equipment is ENERGY STAR® certified.

Food has always been deeply embedded in cultures across the globe. It has even been a part of festive traditions and ceremonies for thousands of years. One of the most prevalent food traditions in the United States, namely right here in the South, is sitting down to a meal which includes black-eyed peas and collared greens on New Year’s Day. For a long time, this has been a sign of good fortune as we roll into the new year.

Whether it’s your first Thanksgiving or you’re a Turkey Day pro, these cooking and baking tools are essential to get you through the holidays. We always remember to get the food, but making sure you have the correct equipment and kitchen utensils can make or break your holiday. You’ll need all of the basics plus a few special tools to cook turkey, gravy, and your favorite side dishes.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means it’s time for you to decide how to prepare your turkey. Some of you may stick to tradition by baking it while others will fry it; however, you may want to try smoking it.

Cutting boards come in many varieties but the two basic ones are wood and plastic. Care and maintenance for each one depends on the material used. Wood cutting board requires coating the board in mineral oil which acts as a sealant to prevent bacteria from forming. Avoid submerging in water, store in a dry place, brush it clean, and avoid bleach. A plastic cutting board has to have warm soapy water to clean it and should avoid the dishwasher. There are four steps to caring for a wooden cutting board.

Many restaurants use deep fat fryers, griddles and other large restaurant appliances for commercial use in their kitchen. If any of these appliances are used, then they will need a ventilation system with an exhaust hood to filter out the smoke and particle emissions. A standard ventilation unit is one method of ventilation control; however, if you are a restaurant owner, you may want to consider a ventless ventilation system.

Check out our new Infographic with 7 amazing superfoods that can help to live longer, be more productive, and feel great!  If you like it please share by using the buttons to the left, or you can post it on your own site with the code below.

The recent destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy has served as an unfortunate reminder of how devastating natural disasters can be to restaurants and other small businesses. Even the most prepared of businesses may not be able to predict how a storm or other event will affect their business, and many New England restaurants and other small companies are struggling to get business back to normal now that the worst of the storm is over. However, a natural disaster does not have to spell immediate doom for companies that have sustained significant storm damage.

Over the years, wine tasting has become a fairly standard practice among those looking to expand their cultural and technical understanding of alcoholic beverages. But with the relatively recent rise to prevalence of smaller batch craft beers, combined with our modern ease of importing foreign goods, beer tasting is beginning to become a popular pass time for both seasoned aficionados and new beer drinkers alike.

In 2009, Cambro announced their new line of healthcare products. Cambro Healthcare has a drive to become the best provider of healthcare meal delivery systems in the world. Many of their products appeal to the most elite of money-saving shoppers.

If motor oil is the lifeblood of your car, fryer oil is the lifeblood of your fryer. Fryers must have oil to operate and that’s why oil must be managed to increase the longevity of your fryer. Oil degradation often occurs from essentially three things: hydrolysis, oxidation, and polymerization. Hydrolysis is caused by moisture getting into your oil and the effect is the breakdown of your oil and poor coloring. Oxidation is the cause of air or oxygen accelerated by light, trace metals. This causes harmful compounds such as peroxides, volatile compounds/ toxins like aldhydes, ketones, alcholos, hydrocarbons, etc. Polymerization results in solid build-up, greasy food, bad tasting food, and foaming and smoking of the oil. Polymerization of your oil happens when other triglycerides and improper oil keeps from flowing evenly.

The holiday season is swiftly approaching and chances are most of us will be frying turkey, chicken, ham, etc. Most use deep-fryers in order to fry a certain quantity of food in one instance. Deep-frying is very time-saving for a large group of people, and its cooking methods often retain a certain amount of flavor and juices in foods products.

Pouring wine at the table has long been considered the purview of high class and expensive restaurants. While you do need a bit of knowledge and a fairly well-stocked wine selection to justify performing the wine serving ritual, bringing the wine pouring routine out to the table will help to add a bit of interactivity and a touch of class to any restaurant. Here is a quick run-down of the process for anyone interested in serving wine at their customers’ tables.

Although manufacturer warranties have made the world of expensive consumer purchases a much safer place to shop, they can sometimes be tricky things. Many warranties come with sets of extenuating circumstances that can render them invalid if the product is used in the wrong way or in the wrong location. Restaurant equipment often includes several of these special-case details, so it is important to read through the warranty sheets on your new equipment before replacing any old machines.

Recently, one of our customers posted a very congenial comment about our customer service on our Facebook page. She bought a rolling pin, that she had a hard time locating elsewhere, from us and we advised her on how to care for it. I realized that this would be practical information to share with others who may not know how to properly care for a wooden rolling pin.

The weather is getting cooler, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop grilling. With our Star GX14IS model two-sided grill, you can continue your grilling indoors with this electric grill model. This model is perfect for restaurants with confined spaces. It is ideal for grilling tortillas, sandwiches, burritos, steaks, chicken, fish and small steaks.

Today a Bar-B-Que restaurant owner stopped by our showroom to have several of his knives sharpened on one of our M2100 Chef’s Commercial Diamond Hone Knife Sharpeners. A question arose from his visit. Which are better? Electric or manual knife sharpeners?

The leaves are turning and autumn is in full swing. Harvest festivals are here and with that comes caramel apples, cotton candy, funnel cakes and the like. Now you can bring the taste of fall to your home or business with a few of our concession products.

We noticed that a bizarrely large number of customers have called in recently asking us how to install new water filters in their ice machines—we’re talking like a sudden six-fold increase in filtration-related questions here—and we couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the universe is trying to tell us something. Now, the J.E.S. New Employee Corporate HR Handbook has a short section in it that warns employees against “needless attribution of unexplained phenomena [to] serendipity,” and then goes on to discourage “reading too much into, or explicitly trusting and/or believing in, so-called ‘Signs from the Universe,’ ” but, just this one time, we’ve chosen to ignore company policy and listen to our guts and take the time to draw up a diagram for y’all to use. We hope it helps!

A good set of kitchen knives is arguably the most important tool in any chef’s arsenal. No matter what is being cooked or prepared, it is inevitable that there will be some sort of cutting or chopping involved at some point, and those who have spent any time in a kitchen know how important it is to maintain the blades on your knives. Dull knives will not cut effectively and can be tiresome or even hazardous to use in situations that require precise and careful cuts. Keeping your knives sharp is a necessary routine for any amateur, professional, or home chef, but it is critical to your knives’ longevity that they be sharpened properly. Although they are used for all sorts of heavy-duty tasks in the kitchen, knives are actually fairly delicate implements, and improper or overzealous sharpening of a blade can be more detrimental than the wear from any period of use. Many restaurants and commercial kitchens regularly outsource their knife sharpening to a professional third party, but taking measures to keep your blades sharp on your own is an easily achievable way to avoid having to constantly send your knives away to be restored.

With deer season in full swing now hunters from all around have been beating down our doors looking for meat processing equipment and we have just what they need.  One of the most sought after items is the meat grinder, and for obvious reasons.  A good meat grinder is the essential tool for making sausage and ground meat for burgers.  In my opinion one of the best deals going right now is the 1HP meat grinder from Vollrath.  This little grinder has a big output, at roughly 264-lbs per hour the 40743 will make quick work of the biggest jobs, and for a limited time you can pick this grinder up for $575.00 and we’ll pay the freight.

Slip-resistant floor mats are a must in any commercial kitchen. Often called anti-fatigue mats, these mats offer a cushioned surface for your employees to stand on that is specifically designed to minimize the hazard of slipping, even when completely wet. Non-slip mats are often made of heavy rubber, so the idea of washing them every day can be a daunting and cumbersome proposition, but it is important to keep your mats clean and in shape to avoid any potential health and safety hazards. With proper care and a routine cleaning schedule, your floor mats should last you a long time.

Salad spinners are a great way to clean and dry your lettuce in one container. Because these appliances use centrifugal force, they are a much more efficient and effective way to prepare leafy greens.  Rather than using a bowl of water and paper towels, which can leave your leaves still wet, a salad spinner gets rid of dirt and excess water. A salad spinner consists of three main parts. The outer bowl, the inner bowl, and the lid with the handle. The outer bowl is what collects the water and dirt from the lettuce. The inner bowl is where the greens go, and the lid keeps water from splashing out and the built in handle moves the inner bowl to clean the lettuce.

Previously, we discussed convection and conduction methods of heat transfer. Radiant heat is emitted in waves, not direct contact. Waves from the heat source heat whatever object it hits. This is why a fire warms you without you having to touch the flames directly. In ovens, about fifty percent of the cooking is done via radiant heat. Some is through convection with moving hot air, and some through the heat of the pan or surface which is conduction . If a pan is darker, it will absorb the radiant heat a lot more quickly, whereas a lighter or shinier pan will reflect the heat waves.

Previously we talked about convection heating . This is heating by movement of air or a liquid around something. All ovens use this method of heat transference and specialty convection ovens use it as well, as the name would imply, only they use it more efficiently than say, residential ovens.

There are three different types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiant. Each type of heat cooks differently, so this month, take a weekly look at how food reacts when exposed to different types of heat.

Hosting a wine tasting in your bar is likely going to be a much more intimate and personal experience than the more open “convention center” feel of larger, exhibitor-style tastings. Bar tastings allow a unique opportunity for conversation and community building, but it can sometimes be challenging to balance a bit of “wine professionalism” into the pre-existing atmosphere of your bar. In part one of this post , we discussed how to select your wine order. While your wine is ultimately the main attraction at your event, the presentation and surroundings can make or break a good wine selection. Here are a few things to consider when organizing the layout of your tasting.

Hosting a wine tasting at your bar or restaurant can often seem like an intimidating and daunting task, particularly if you are not an expert in all things wine-related. With thousands of years of history and countless wine companies and brands to investigate, even thinking about tapping into the wine industry can seem like an overwhelmingly complex endeavor. But while putting together a good wine tasting does take a bit of time and planning, it can actually be much more manageable than many people may think.

Let’s get right to it. Here are some tips for a better, safer, and easier food slicer experience. The type of food slicer you have should be based on the frequency at which you use it. Light duty slicers are made for use only a few hours or less a day. If you don’t use it very much at all, a manual slicer would be better economically than an electric slicer. If you use it several hours a day, and you might use it for cheeses, a medium duty slicer would be your best option because it will withstand the use. Whether you choose manual or electric for medium duty is  up to you and your preference. Now, if you are going to be using your slicer constantly throughout the day, you will definitely want a heavy duty slicer that can easily withstand constant use and slicing cheese. Be sure that your blade is stainless steel and don’t forget to get a blade sharpener, otherwise, you won’t be able to cut anything after a while.

While refrigeration temperatures are an important part of running a food and beverage business, bar beverage chilling is rarely ever addressed. While this may not be very important to a restaurant with a full dinner menu it is something a small bar-focused establishment might want to consider. All alcoholic beverages are not created equal and therefore should not always be stored at a single temperature setting. Separate refrigeration units should have their temperatures set based on whatever type of beverage is being stored in them.

Time to save money again!!  Do you own a restaurant?  One thing that you have in your store is an exhaust hood or two. In the summer time down south it gets hot and humid and sometimes cooling your building can seem impossible. Maybe all that cool air is being sucked out with the hot air from your cooking equipment through the exhaust hood.  Here is a test to see if this is happening in your restaurant.  With all of your exhaust hoods running, make up air included, go to the front of the building open the entrance doors and take note of what you feel.  Did you feel a rush of air come past you, or did you feel resistance when opening the door?  If you did then you have negative pressure in the building and all of your high cost AIR CONDITIONING is being sucked up through the exhaust hood.  Do you want to fix this situation?  If so there are companies that will balance test the building and bring this situation under control.

Commercial ice makers have snot too…

Water snot? Say what! Ok that sounds great but the cold; not so, hard facts are that if you own a commercial ice machine you will develop cold-water algae. The algae will build up on corners and on top of water distribution tubes, drains, drip lines and even in the water sumps. The algae are clear, slick and disgusting organisms that most people don’t want to think about, but they are there.

There are very few foodservice companies that have built as many top brands as Manitowoc Foodservice. With brands like Frymaster, Lincoln, Merrychef, and Manitowoc Ice, Manitowoc is known for great brands and quality products. In 2011 Manitowoc added Cleveland Range to their list of brands. Since they acquired Cleveland Range little has changed until recently. In 2014 Manitowoc dropped the "Range" from Cleveland Ranges name and now they are simply Cleveland and branded the Cleveland Range Combi ovens and steamers as Convotherm. In 2015 they removed the Cleveland Combi ovens from their product list and birthed the brand Convotherm.

We are currently overstocked on these Update Intl. TD-1114L Paper Towel Dispensers and have them priced to move.  This manual paper towel dispenser is a great fit for any bathroom, break-room or food prep area where easy access to paper towels is needed.  Get one (or two) today, they are sure to go fast at this incredible price.  Visit our website today and let J.E.S. be the one stop shop for all your commercial restaurant equipment and restaurant supplies.

Quality of water has always been an important factor in the success of any foodservice operation. Between cooking, serving beverages to customers, washing dishes, making ice, and a variety of other tasks, restaurants need to use the cleanest, purest water available to ensure the health and safety of their customers. In 1974, the Environmental Protection Agency passed the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to reinforce this idea. The SDWA moves to keep the concentration of chemical and mineral contaminants below the accepted “safe for consumption” values in all sources of public drinking water.

Over the past several decades, small-batch, independently produced beer (sometimes called “craft” beer) has become a major market segment in the beverage industry. Although once controlled almost completely by several big-name “mega-breweries,” the North American beer market is now rife with small but influential breweries, each with their own variety of ales, lagers, and stouts. With new beer being released and new breweries opening every day, offering customers a variety of unique and interesting craft beers has become a highly profitable business venture for many bars and restaurants.

It has always been a mystery to me why people will spend thousands of dollars on  commercial refrigeration like a reach-in refrigerator, reach-in freezer, walk-in cooler or walk-in freezer and never perform preventive maintenance. You would never buy a car and not change the oil would you?  Preventive maintenance is not the cure all but just like changing your oil in the car it is important; preventive maintenance helps the equipment you worked so hard for last longer.  At J.E.S we not only sell commercial restaurant equipment we also have a service department that is cable of providing PM & repair on all major brands of restaurant equipment as well as commercial HVAC.  My guys cover the up state of South Carolina & when it’s the middle of July and 95°+ the service department phone is ringing off the hook with calls from restaurants and other commercial facilities with refrigeration problems a lot of which could have been prevented.  The key to helping your profit dollars go further is to limit repairs, not just ignore the cause of damage… NEGLECT!   Here are a few simple items that I would suggest

When talking about kitchen knives , “hardness” is a term that often gets thrown around without stopping to explain what it actually means. Although the term sounds straightforward, it’s not quite as simple as it seems, which often leads to confusion on the consumer’s end when hardness values are listed in a knife’s specifications. Although many cooking enthusiasts (especially home chefs) can select a suitable, quality knife without extensive personal knowledge of the engineering behind the blade, understanding what hardness really means and how it applies to your kitchenware will help make future shopping more accessible.

The Magic Inside A Glass Of Coke
In 2006 Coca-Cola ran a commercial that imagined the inside of a vending machine as a magical, motorized ecosystem where small creatures prep each bottle of Coke before it’s eventually dispensed. Dust bunnies slobber condensate on the bottle; an industrial fan shreds snowmen into ice flakes, which then blow and stick onto the bottle’s glass; a climactic parade with brass band playing, fireworks exploding, and confetti swaying downwards marches the Coke along a miniature Main Street before sliding it ceremoniously down the vending chute.