A commercial kitchen floor plan lays the kitchen out in the order food moves: receiving, dry and cold storage, prep, cooking, cooling, packing, and out the door, with dirty dishes coming back to the warewashing sink without crossing the table where cooked food is portioned. Raw meat gets its own prep space apart from ready-to-eat food. Every zone where people handle food gets a hand sink within easy reach, and chemicals live apart from food and never above it. Before you build, convert or remodel, the health department reviews plans and specifications: under the FDA Food Code that means the menu, the volumes you expect, the layout with plumbing and electrical schematics, the finishes, and an equipment list with makes, models, sizes and capacities, plus your written procedures. The plan reviewer checks details a floor plan has to show: coved floor-to-wall joints, no carpet where food is handled, and lighting, at least 50 foot-candles where food is prepared, 20 at sinks and restrooms, 10 in walk-ins and dry storage. In the example below, a meal prep business lays out a 1,100-square-foot kitchen and fixes two items before opening. Below are the zones, the rules, the example, and a free worksheet.
The short version
- Lay the kitchen out in the order food moves: in, store, prep, cook, cool, pack, out.
- Dirty dishes come back to the sink without crossing ready-to-eat prep.
- Raw meat prep apart from ready-to-eat prep.
- A hand sink within easy reach of every prep area, warewashing and the restroom.
- Chemicals apart from food and never above it.
- Plan review wants the menu, volumes, layout, schematics, finishes and the equipment list.
- Light: 50 foot-candles at prep surfaces, 20 at sinks, 10 in storage.
- TaroStack tracks what's on the shelves and what each batch used. More below.
The zones
| Zone | What happens | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Deliveries checked and dated | Near the door, away from prep |
| Dry storage | Shelved ingredients and packaging | Off the floor; chemicals elsewhere |
| Walk-in and freezers | Cold storage | Cooked above raw |
| Raw prep | Raw meat and poultry handled | Its own table and sink access |
| Ready-to-eat prep | Cooked food portioned | Away from raw prep and dirty dishes |
| Cooking line | Under the hood | Hood, fire suppression, clearances |
| Cooling | Blast chiller or ice baths | Close to the line and the walk-in |
| Packing | Lids, labels, cases | Hand sink; labels kept here |
| Warewashing | Three-compartment sink or dishwasher | Drainboards; dirty and clean sides |
| Staff | Lockers, break area, restroom | Away from food |
The sinks in detail are in commercial kitchen sink requirements.
The rules
| Rule | Food Code 2022 |
|---|---|
| When plans are due | Before building, converting a structure, or a remodel the health department says needs review (8-201.11) |
| What plans include | Menu; expected volumes; layout, mechanical schematics, materials and finishes; equipment types, makers, models, locations, sizes and capacities; standard procedures (8-201.12) |
| Hand sinks | Convenient to food preparation, dispensing and warewashing; at toilet rooms (5-204.11) |
| Floors | Floor and wall junctures coved; no carpet in prep, warewashing, walk-ins or restrooms (6-201.13, 6-201.14) |
| Lighting | 50 foot-candles where food is prepared or knives and slicers used; 20 at hand sinks, warewashing and restrooms; 10 in walk-ins and dry storage (6-303.11) |
| Staff belongings | Lockers or other storage in a designated area away from food (6-305.11, 6-403.11) |
| Chemicals | Separated by space or partition, not above food, equipment or packaging (7-201.11) |
All from the FDA Food Code 2022, as your state adopts it; the building, plumbing and fire codes add their own rules for hoods, grease interceptors and exits. The rest of what a kitchen needs is in commercial kitchen requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a meal prep business moving out of the home kitchen
Ben Lomond Meal Co., the made-up meal prep business in North Ogden, Utah, I use in these examples, outgrew its home kitchen permit, which doesn't allow sales through gyms, and leased a 1,100-square-foot former café. Its layout:
| Zone | Square feet |
|---|---|
| Receiving and dry storage | 120 |
| Walk-in cooler | 64 |
| Freezer | 20 |
| Raw prep | 90 |
| Ready-to-eat prep and portioning | 160 |
| Cooking line, under the hood | 150 |
| Cooling | 30 |
| Packing and labeling | 110 |
| Warewashing | 80 |
| Mop sink and chemicals | 30 |
| Lockers and break area | 50 |
| Restroom | 50 |
| Office | 40 |
| Aisles | 106 |
| Total | 1,100 |
Plan review came back with two fixes. The packing table had no hand sink nearby, and packers handle the containers after portioning, so one went in beside it. And the portioning table, under the café's old lights, measured 35 foot-candles against the 50 required; two fixtures were added. Both cost less on paper than after the walls closed. Why the home kitchen permit stopped working is in meal prep business license.
Get the template
Download the commercial kitchen floor plan worksheet. Two sheets: the zones, with what happens in each and its square feet, and the share of the space filling in; and the plan review checks, each with its Food Code rule, where a "no" shows Fix in red. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A floor plan puts the walk-in and the dry store in the right places. What's on their shelves, which chicken is oldest, and which batch of bowls used which lot is a different job, every day.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps track of what's on the shelves and what each batch used.
Counts on a phone. Stock in the walk-in, the freezers and the dry store is counted on a phone, with or without signal, and each difference shows what it's worth before you post it.
Lots, oldest first. Each delivery is received with its lot and date, and the oldest is used first; what's thrown out goes off as an adjustment with its reason.
Batches and recipes. Each Saturday's cook is a batch from its recipe, recording the chicken and rice lots it used, so if a supplier recalls a lot, one recall report shows which bowls and which gyms got them.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What's on hand | Look | Counted stock |
| Oldest chicken first | Read the cases | Lots, oldest first |
| Which bowls used a lot | Not recorded | Lots on the batch |
| Which gyms got them | Invoices | One recall report |
Counts, lots, recipes, batches and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.