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.

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!

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

It has been said that smells trigger memories more than any of our senses. Maybe a cologne reminds you of your grandfather, or a hair spray reminds you of your aunt, or a specific fabric softener reminds you of a previous relationship. The power of smell cannot be under estimated.

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.

Do you feel like it’s time to buy a new commercial sink but you aren’t sure what type to purchase? First, you should understand why you are buying it. The cost of the sink is usually in direct comparison to the job for which it is used. If you are purchasing one for the mud room of your home, then a sink that is not NSF approved will work fine; however, if you are in an industrial environment or a restaurant, then a NSF approved sink is imperative.

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:

Wine glasses are a topic of moderate controversy among various beverage connoisseurs. One wine drinker may insist that the shape of your wine glass matters a great deal, while another might feel that it doesn’t make a significant difference. Some avid wine enthusiasts would argue – perhaps pedantically – that each type of wine tastes better when served in a very specific type of glass matched to the qualities of the wine in question, but most home budgets can’t afford to keep over two dozen different types of wine glasses at the ready, and that’s not to mention the cabinet space that that would require. However, there are some generally accepted rules about what sorts of glasses to use in most everyday wine situations, and having a few different styles on hand should keep you well covered to properly serve just about any type of wine.

Hoshizaki is a leading manufacturer in commercial ice makers and refrigeration units across the globe. Now Hoshizaki has introduced a new line of Hoshizaki Commercial Series Refrigeration units. These new line of refrigeration and freezer units are top of the line in commercial refrigeration.

With the holidays just around the corner, many people have already begun to make arrangements for this year’s holiday dinner. We’ve recently discussed how to choose wines for a wine tasting , but it’s time to revisit the subject from a different angle as families and catering companies gear up to make their holiday dinner beverage selections.

Libbey Inc . has been a leader in glass tableware and is the second largest glass tableware manufacturer in the world. They maintain almost 2,000 stock-keeping units . They have decorative glasses for all occasions like the COUNTY FAIR drinking jar . This 16-ounce glass gives a bit of rural charm with its “mason jar” shape. One that will make a perfect gift for the holiday season.

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.

Nowadays owning a restaurant is more or less a constant bout with your competitors for attention. There is an incessant flow of information piling up on consumers in almost every media outlet imaginable. Smaller restaurant owners have to fight the Goliaths of the restaurant world today to catch their consumers’ eye. So, as a restaurant owner how are you going to get your company name as a frontrunner in the restaurant industry?

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.

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.

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?

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.

Stocking glassware for your bar or restaurant can often be a daunting proposition. With so many different types and styles of glassware , it is only natural to wonder if you are buying the “right” glassware to properly compliment your drink menu. Although the “rules” concerning what drinks go into what sort of glass are mostly arbitrary (reasonable customers will forgive you for not always having exactly the correct glass for every occasion), having a variety of different glasses in which to serve your various drinks will help add interest and flair to your beverage offerings. The types of glasses that you need, however, will ultimately depend on what sort of drinks that you are going to be putting into them. Here is a quick overview of the “necessary” glasses for different kinds of beverages.

Over the years, keg sizes have become a somewhat confusing topic for those looking to purchase their own direct draw serving equipment and kegerators for their bar, restaurant, or residence.  After centuries of use in the preparation and storage of alcoholic beverages, the essentially arbitrary sizing system of barrels and kegs has become a bit cumbersome, and the exact meaning of “keg” during a conversation varies depending on the interpretation of the person with which you are speaking. Although keg sizes are not officially standardized from one location to the next, there are generally accepted regional standards that will help make selecting appropriately-sized kegs a simple endeavor.

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.

A Blessing in Disguise

Last winter, during an overcast and subfreezing afternoon, a neon sign hanging inside Sports Break Grill & Bar threw a fluke spark, and within a few minutes, half the barroom was overrun with flames.

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.

There are plenty of tips and tricks for bartenders all around the internet, but most of them boil down to one thing: efficiency. If you can be fast and not use a lot of energy, then you’re going to be able to get a lot more done during a busy night. There are a few ways to improve your efficiency through your supplies, your memory, and your actions.

It is common knowledge that if consumers are able to recognize your product, they are more likely to buy it. The problem is in making your brand more appealing than others. By associating your product with positive thoughts and a positive buying experience, you are able to stand out among competitors. Exposure and frequency of your brand creates a positive association between the customer and the product. Consumers are more likely to buy what they can see and pick up with little effort. If your food or beverage is on display where they can easily see and access it, they will be more likely to make the purchase.

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.

If your restaurant’s front doors open over a busy downtown sidewalk, you own a plot of property that is appropriate for advertising’s most populist canvas,  the A-frame sidewalk chalkboard . Come on—how can you not love these chalkboards? They’re an irresistible, unconventional, customizable pedestrian flytrap. And I assure you, there are at least three aspiring painters or poets or typographers working for you already who would kill to play with a stub of chalk every morning before lunch. Sure, chalkboard signs are analogue—old media—but so what? Neil Young put it best on Rust Never Sleeps: “…It’s old, but it’s good…”

We all know that wine has to be stored carefully, but we might not all know why.  Oxidation, or the exposure to oxygen in the air, is the sworn enemy of a good wine because wine, just like the fruit it’s made from, turns bad with extended exposure to oxygen.  The color and aroma can begin to change within a few hours of opening the bottle, and a bottle of wine which isn’t preserved is generally considered unfit to be served after three days.

In an effort to raise a healthier generation of kids the Let’s Move Campaign is pushing for schools to offer healthier food options to their students. One recommendation set forth was to upgrade the cafeteria equipment to support the provision of healthier foods, for example, by swapping out deep fryers for salad bars.

Choosing the right dishwasher for your restaurant or establishment can seem pretty overwhelming, especially when your current dishwasher just kicked the bucket and your employees are threatening to riot from being forced to manually wash all the dishes in the restaurant. But the more you know about commercial dishwashers the easier it is to decide on the right machine to get your business back on track.

From  salad/sandwich prep tables to  bottle coolers , True Manufacturing has the commercial refrigeration you’re looking for.  True has been an industry leader in commercial refrigeration for 65 years and to this day they continue to go above and beyond in the areas of quality, design, availability and performance.

The Stow-Away portable bar PB5-24IB-BK and the PB5-BK are ideally styled for serving at wedding receptions, outside bars, and other special events. These portable bars are great for storing drink items and other smaller products on the go. Some specific features of the portable bars are the heavy gauge, aluminum exterior surface and the PB5-24IB-BK comes equipped with a stainless steel ice bin with a drain and petcock valve that holds about 95lbs of ice. There are

Cinco De Mayo means pinatas, sombreros, and all those thirsty customers storming the bars for margaritas. This blend of tequila and sweet and tangy elements is truly a customer favorite in the alcoholic beverage industry all year around and any bartender should be familiar with it’s creation. Of course we all know the definition of “perfect” is subject to variation based on personal preference, but when it comes to making margaritas there are some guidelines.

Summer is fast approaching and those of you in the food service business know what that means; ice, ice, baby! It’s time for cold drinks, chilled food and snow cones. So it’s safe to say that many of you will be looking to invest in an ice machine relatively soon. But different uses of ice calls for different types of ice, and the ice manufacturing industry has come a long way from the original cube that was the standard shape so many years ago. When buying an ice machine one of the most important things is determining what kind of ice is best suited for your business or establishment’s demands. Here’s the low down on the different types of ice available today:

About a week ago Vivian walked by my desk and handed me a brochure for a new product, the Flash AdBoard.  What is the Flash AdBoard you may ask… well I’m here to give you the 411 on these very cool & very affordable illuminated rewritable signboards.  This powerful eye catching marketing tool lights up your message like neon using the latest in LED technology.  LED’s (light emitting diode) have a very low energy consumption (3 watts per hour) and will last 100,000 hours (10 years) making this board greener than conventional lighted signs, and less costly operate and maintain.

If you are wanting to buy a juicer, you may think that the process of going out and purchasing one would be very simple; however, there are several types of juicers on the market that you may not be aware existed. The type of juicer all depends on the type of products you plan on juicing and more importantly the thickness of the juice you plan on making.

We’ve discussed wine pairing in previous posts, but sometimes a more handy, visual guide can be very useful when making those quick dinner decisions. Here is a comprehensive chart of wine pairing advice, courtesy of winefolly.com.

One of the most important pieces of equipment in a restaurant is the sink. Commercial sinks come in all shapes and sizes for different purposes, be it food prep, ware washing, and of course, washing your hands. But the most common and useful sink in the industry is the 3 compartment sink. Many food service operations are required to have these sinks to rinse, wash and sanitize utensils, tableware and equipment in the event that their automatic ware washer malfunctions. We recognize the value of the compartment sink’s role in the kitchen so we’ve compiled a list of our top three 3 compartment sinks and reasons why we love them.

The weather is getting warmer and that means it’s time for purchasing a commercial walk-in cooler or commercial walk-in freezer for your restaurant. If you are just starting a restaurant and you are confused about what type of commercial walk-in cooler or commercial walk-in freezer to buy, then perhaps I can be of some assistance.

One of the more recent focuses in food safety is the potential contamination of restaurant ice. An independent study in Chicago showed that on average 1 out of every 5 restaurant’s and bar’s ice contains more bacteria than toilet water. Needless to say this resulted in a pretty big public concern from 2007 to 2008. In the food service industry ice is used for two key reasons: keeping food cold and to serve in beverages, both of which will be consumed by the customer. So here’s a few points to help you prevent contamination and to give you one less thing to worry about when that next health inspection comes around.

You must’ve heard that 75% of taste actually comes from the way a thing smells. So tell me this: why would any reasonable person keep good beer confined inside the bottle? Release it! Let it breathe! Whenever beer is poured into a glass, its bubbles get dislodged and float to the surface, tugging those delicious beery aromas along with them. But as you’re soon to find out, choosing a beer glass is more complicated than just opening the cupboard and grabbing whichever one’s in front. Scroll through this infographic and you’ll learn which glass your beer needs—nay—deserves.

Are you starting a new restaurant, convenience store, cafeteria, bar, or any other business that requires ice? Is your current commercial ice machine becoming a money pit due to excessive service calls and replacement parts? Are you looking to replace that old commercial ice machine with a newer more energy efficient model? Here are some thing to consider when buying a new commercial ice machine: what will I be using the ice for, what type of ice do I need, and how much ice do I need?

With the recent rise in interest of superfoods and fruit-based diet plans, smoothies have become more popular than ever. Once a risky business model at best, dedicated smoothie shops are now opening—and thriving—all over the country. With relatively straightforward lists of ingredients and lots of cross-over between menu offerings, running a smoothie shop requires little overhead and can bring in steady profits, if properly equipped. If you’re thinking about starting up a juice or smoothie shop of your own, here are a few of the necessary items to keep your operation running without a hitch.

This year’s NAFEM show in Orlando, Florida has officially begun, with exciting news from Hoshizaki about the newest additions to their ever-expanding lines of high-quality commercial ice machines. This year, Hoshizaki is launching a new square cube ice machine, bringing their already versatile family of ice styles up to 5 different types of crystal clear, commercial grade ice.

It’s an ugly topic, but if we want beautiful dining experiences, we have to address it.  A common cause of food borne illness is cross-contamination, which requires effort to combat.   Cross-contamination is the spreading of pathogens from one surface to another, whether from foods, containers, hands, or the very air breathed by a sick employee.  We’re at war with cross-contamination, and confront it on every side.  Unfortunately, our enemy is everything within and about your restaurant environment.

We’ve just updated our learning center with a guide on choosing glassware for your bar or restaurant. If you’ve ever wondered what assortment of glassware you might need for the sorts of drinks that you want to serve at your new bar, or if you need to reconsider your glassware stock to better match the changing preferences of your existing customer base, this detailed guide will help you make the decision without over purchasing.

At Structural Concepts their motto is “one part passion, two parts science” and its not just marketing hype.  Passion and science are the keywords that drive their company everyday.  Established in 1972 Structural Concepts is the leading innovator of temperature controlled food and floral display cases for the grocery and food-service markets.

When shopping for a blender for your home kitchen, it is often tempting to simply run out and choose from the selection at your local department store. While most inexpensive home blenders will likely get the job done under most circumstances, those who use their blender on a regular basis – or for more intensive jobs like chopping hard vegetables or making smoothies – may want to consider upgrading to a more heavy-duty model.