Average cost to rent a kitchen?

There are a couple places here in Hampton Roads that rent commercial kitchen space by the hour. One of them is $50/hour minimum 3 consecutive hours.

There are a few limited cases that I know of where a catering business rents out their kitchen to another caterer for $800/month. Basically 2 catering businesses that share a commercial kitchen, one being the landlord the other the renter.

I would google commercial kitchens for rent for your area to see what the market has dictated and go from there. Also check with your local health inspector to see about laws of renting a commercial kitchen/grocery and how health inspections convey. I know for this area of Virginia it was a headache before food trucks became popular, but since the food truck business has started to take hold the laws are a lot more clear.

I have no experience for what is a "going rate" however based on my catering business and the size you will have with the kitchen I'd throw out there that I think $800 a month is a fair price. If the Southern Pride (comes with the kitchen if I understand correct) is a large cooker maybe even $1000 per month is a fair price.

You can always try a local church or VFW. I'm a member of a VFW and my local Health Department allows me to use the VFW's commercial kitchen, since its fully inspected and approved, so long as I have a letter from them saying I use it and proof of their kitchen being up to date with inspections.. I'd check with your local HD to make sure they are ok with that too but if they are then maybe a local church or VFW would rent the space to you. You win plus the money to rent it will at least go towards a good cause. I'm even throwing a fundraiser BBQ for my VFW in the summer as a thank you.

Bulldog316 said:

You can always try a local church or VFW. I'm a member of a VFW and my local Health Department allows me to use the VFW's commercial kitchen, since its fully inspected and approved, so long as I have a letter from them saying I use it and proof of their kitchen being up to date with inspections.. I'd check with your local HD to make sure they are ok with that too but if they are then maybe a local church or VFW would rent the space to you. You win plus the money to rent it will at least go towards a good cause. I'm even throwing a fundraiser BBQ for my VFW in the summer as a thank you.

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Hello,

I've just started up my own BBQ catering company in North Carolina and in my town there are no commercial kitchens, not even any in my county. So I'm looking to approach my local VFW and local USO. I'm a USMC veteran so at least I have that going for me, but can you kind of give me a few pointers for approaching these guys to inquire about using their kitchen? I'm feeling very awkward trying to figure out the correct course of action to try and better my odds at them accepting my request. What kind of deal did you make with them in terms of compensation?

Thank you for your time and I'd appreciate any insight you could provide.

Kitchen rental

Honestly, I'm a member of the VFW and I'm involved with them anyway for both fundraisers and volunteering so they don't really ask any rent from me. They just ask I throw them a few bucks for the use of utilities. It also helps they don't serve food there regularly so I'm not in their way. I'm sure if you approach them or a church they would welcome you plus they could use some extra money, however much you agree on. Every VFW that we know of in our area is struggling anymore so new members and money helps. Good luck

Well, you could always contact a real estate agent and ask what restaurants are renting for per square in that area. That might give you a ballpark to start in, then discuss whether the equipment comes with it or at an additional cost. I'd also make sure there is a clear understanding about upkeep and repairs if the space and equipment and who's responsible for what.