Tell me about buying faucets for a restaurant-style kitchen.

August 31, 2007 11:24 AM

Tell me about buying faucets for a restaurant-style kitchen.

I live in a co-op. We've got a restaurant-style kitchen, and the faucet for the dishwashing station is old and crappy. We'd like to buy a new one — ideally with an overhead sprayer nozzle for washing pots and pans, which we don't currently have.

What do we need to know before we start shopping? How do we know what brands we should trust? (Is there an equivalent to Consumer Reports for restaurant supplies, for instance?) And how much — gulp — will we need to spend for a reliable one?

posted by nebulawindphone to food & drink (9 answers total)

What is the make and model?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:32 AM on August 31, 2007

Is your co-op kitchen inspected or approved by any larger body, like a co-op board or local food safety inspectors? (My college co-ops in Michigan with "restaurant kitchens" had to be inspected and meet the same standards as commercial kitchens.) If you have the same system, the inspectors or their agency might be able to point you towards guidelines for acceptable fixtures for your kitchen and local vendors for the fixtures.
posted by holyrood at 11:46 AM on August 31, 2007

What is the make and model?

Of the faucet that's on there now? It's an Elkay Hi-Arc LK4324.

But really, we'd like to shop around, and we're hoping to get something better than what's on there now. It's been leaky and unreliable, and it's a pain in the ass washing our big pots and pans with the tiny little sprayer that's on it.

Is your co-op kitchen inspected or approved by any larger body, like a co-op board or local food safety inspectors?

We are, but I don't know the details — I just moved in recently, and there hasn't been an inspection since I've been here. I'll ask around.

(Which co-op in MI were you in?)
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:57 AM on August 31, 2007

Maybe this one?
posted by iviken at 12:49 PM on August 31, 2007

I think these are what you're looking for. Boy are they expensive! What I'd do is print out that page and take it to a plumbing supply house, and say, I want this, at less than half the price. Or browse here. The installation itself should be a snap if you're handy, or a hundred buck and a half-hour of work by a plumber if you're not.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:50 PM on August 31, 2007

I am just going to add that faucets can get pretty expensive. I was surprised by how much seemingly plain and simple home faucets can cost. I'd imagine that restaurant faucets will cost even more.
posted by boreddusty at 1:03 PM on August 31, 2007

Damn those are expensive BitterOldPunk but on the other hand Kohler is a solid brand name and probably charge a premium for people who want a super high end kitchen (along the same lines as the SubZero fridges). I gotta think that your suggestion for a plumbing supply store will yield results that are probably more in line of what you see in most restaurants which probably won't be as stylish as the Kohler but will be just as functional for much cheaper.
posted by mmascolino at 1:30 PM on August 31, 2007

You might like Chicago Faucets (commercial line). The guy at the plumbing store told me that any of the spouts can be connected to any of the valves, and the same with handles. I've linked to their web site, but I hope you can find the faucets cheaper somewhere else.
posted by wryly at 1:38 PM on August 31, 2007

(Sorry, nebula, I wasn't a co-op member, more of a hanger-on at the lovely ICC houses in Ann Arbor.)
posted by holyrood at 4:08 PM on August 31, 2007