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Also, steal the utensils from your college dorm and use them for 30 years.

Lol, can't say we've never "accidentally" taken a knife or condiment cup from a restaurant...

Storage.. food staff store is great to purchase there too. And you can usually buy a replacement lid and or lots in interchangeable

What is considered a restaurant supply store?

A store that restaurants use to supply themselves. Brick and mortar stores in some areas.

You don't say :p

I was looking for, idk, "Walmart" or "sam's club" lol

Restaurant Depot for example.

Others are correct. I go to Google Maps and search for "restaurant supply store" and you should see them. The pictures should show a functional store, not one with nice displays, it's all sorts of stuff packed into these places usually. Lots of selection, no frills or looks.

In the UK, I can highly recommend Nisbets - there's always a range of pricing but I've never bought anything bad there, and it's almost always far more practically designed than consumer-grade equipment.

No restaurant buys from Walmart unless they want to go bust in three months

Where I live there’s a Maxwell but I think that’s limited to the Midwest/tundra region.

Diner Depot

Knives, never had good ones huh? Kitchen supply stores will never compete with the good knives aside from on price.

Wusthof classic or ikon, JAH, Chicago ect. Some stamped blade for cutting against the grill top at chipotle is not a comparison. Professional vs novice. It is like saying a Oster mixer is the same as a professional 5 plus KitchenAid.

This is true except for the knives part. They generally sell the knives that will be communal and abused - not the ones meant for finesse.

There was a period a couple years back where every restaurant in my area had K-Mart (Australian equivalent of Walmart) bowls and plates.

Restaurant depot needs a tax or tax free id

I also get my knives from a restaurant supply store. To be exact an Asian restaurant supply store in China Town. They sharpen well and are cheap to replace.

Here you go: Restaurant Depot.

We bought some a chef knife from Restaurant Depot, a restaurant supply store, loved it, and we have bought multiples now, are eventually replacing most of our knives with the same brand, because they’re workhorses that come out of the package sharp, stay sharp, are comfortable in the hand, even when doing a lot of knife work, and are easy AF to clean.

Some of our favorite cooking utensils have come from the Asian Supermarket in our town.

Our day-to-day non-stick cookware is from Chef's, Analon-quality pans at a Farbrware price and about 3X thicker bottoms.

None of that rise-up in the middle crap.

We visited China a few years back, and one of the breakfast buffet places had all Ikea dishes (cups, saucers, etc). Maybe the Ikea stuff is made in China, I don't know, but I found it ironic.

Good knives require maintenance, and none of the brands you've reccomended are really all that good lol. They're great for spending a pretty penny on a knife that's no better than a mercer genesis forged for almost 5x the price. This LPT is talking about grocery store knives that are 29.95 and underperform compared to a dexter.

We get our pans and sheets pans from one. They hold up great against abuse and our great grand kids will probably end up with them. Prices are also awesome. I'm not paying for a name or a fancy function. I need an even heating hunk of metal to cook my food on and a 200 piece set of forks.

As for everyone arguing about knives, I have a 15$ set from Walmart that my bf sharpens for me that I use for work. He has the fancy name brand knives that he sharpens and uses at home. Take care of em and you're good.

Gordon Food Service in the midwest has great stuff for reasonable price. I have 2 baking pans that are 20+ years old and still doing regular duty and looking nice.

They sell whippits in large quantity for cheap. In case you need a lot of “whip cream”

Our local one welcomes the public but at full retail. Restaurants get different pricing levels depending on how much they spend and are tax-free.

I have bought a lot of my household stuff there.

All of cups are stolen pints or pings the bartenders gave me from bars. I have like 15 of them. They're all I use now

I got a pro-grade stainless immersion mixer from Webstaurant for about $60. And I’ve bought bulk food and spices from food service companies.

The year I was in a dorm, a good number of us had taken plates and utensils and kept them in our rooms for microwaving things or if we ordered food.

Your social security number is your tax ID when you are a personal business...

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>K-Mart (Australian equivalent of Walmart)

Fun fact, K Mart also started in the US (assuming it's the same K Mart and not a store with the same name.)

They used to be as plentiful as Wal Marts where I grew up, but in the early 2000s they died out, now there's only a handful left in the world.

Usually they have a on time guest pass at Cust service

I have that exact Mercer knife and it beat my boyfriend's Wusthof in an onion and tomato slicing showdown.

We've bought pans, a tortilla press, knives, spices and dish towels from the restaurant store near us. The value and savings are great.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Those huge boxes of cling wrap are amazing!

Only in order to make an account with them. Otherwise you can bring your ID to the service desk, they have you sign a waver & you get a one-time pass.

It really does vary locally- around me absolutely none of them will sell to individuals. It’s a sales tax thing, they just don’t want to mess with it at all for the small percentage of business individuals represent.

In the US, webstaurantstore.com is a good one. I've gone on there several times for glasses, plates, etc.

Well I am buying one and will see how it is. My bet is "not all that good lol" I believe I paid about 120 for my 6" and 180 for my 10" wusthof classics locally so this 8" falls in the middle and also about half the price not 5x.

A $40 knife is half the price of a $120 or a $180 knife? Try that again lol. Comparatively they're all German stainless steel which is very meh IMO, but I care about edge retention and value per dollar. I wouldn't even mention a German mega brand, or a marketed knife company for that matter. That goes for Shuns, Miyabi, Zwilling, Wusthof, etc.

Out of curiosity, did you just do in and they asked or did you ask?

I have used a shun as well and felt it was pretty good. One item I dislike about the mercer is it is made in Taiwan so QC could be an issue.

Asked me “which account are you on?” - also they don’t accept cash - B2B purchase orders only. I mean I could register and get a business license and then set up an account but it doesn’t seem worth the cost and effort.

No, not worth any of that. But you notice a different one, try there. If I'm in a new city, even for the day, I'll look up stores for my hobbies. That's how I've found some of them.

Depending on where you are its not hard to register a sole proprietorship ($25 I think where I live for name registration) and sometimes it can be free if you use your name and just set up a business account with the store

Pattersons is another option in the UK, though they have fewer stores.

Nisbets can be useful, but do shop around. While always practical, they can have features that no home user really needs (a range of precisely sized ladles, for instance, useful for portioning ) and it's often cheaper elsewhere, especially when there's not much practical difference in terms of quality (ladles, for instance...)

As a professional chef, I approve this message.

Tiny Asian restaurant suppliers, where stuff is piled everywhere you can see, and you can barely ever find a price tag. They will forever be your best friends

Edit: Kitchen Hut, is my goto, here in Ottawa canada

Is it really one-time or can I go do it again later?

Knives are 100% worth spending time learning about and finding some that fit your hand, abuse, and lifestyle.

Just Google Restaurant Supply Store in blank city. They are sometimes general wholesalers, there are chains, mom and pops. They usually all have the same stuff but you can see differences. There is one where I live that's been in continuous operations since like the 40s that has slightly better pricing etc

Oh no i got a nakiri with a wood handle of some sort. I wouldn't buy an actual cleaver cause i have no need for one and neither does anyone in my house. It's a nice all around knife and i have about a year with it i think. Haven't replace it because it has yet to chip or become very dull but i hone it on a stone on the occasion. But when I do replace it, it'll be less than a McDonald's meal in price.

You can go again, they just give you a pass only good for the one time on the day you came in. You just have to go through the same process every time.

Most professional kitchen supply stores are setup to sell at vaguely competitive pricing to restaurants and rob blind anyone else who walks in the door. I use one, because I am a business I get a discount of between 20 and 60% on whatever the sticker price is. If you walk in you usually don't. There are some items with low price points but that does not mean they are good value, just that they are exceptionally cheap to make. They have cheap knives but they are terrible. If you want decent quality cheap knives go on Amazon and look for the Tuo brand. $25 knives that are rock solid and will out perform and out live the cheap stamped crap at the low end in stores. They do have a decent range of items and if you can't wait for Amazon to deliver then they can save your ass, but there is usually a hefty premium. I buy bulky items like bus tubs and items where a warranty is useful and I can get a hefty discount (stuff like large braising pots and immersion blenders).

For sure, if you want an interesting walk around or can't wait for shipping then they are great. Just be aware their "affordable" stuff is generally terrible quality and virtually everything is marked up with the intention of it being discounted to larger spenders. I'm sure there are exceptions but do your homework!

This. I have 20 year old knives and I expect them to outlast me.

Depends on the area, the giant ones here (Southern California) don’t sell to individuals.

I was trying to buy 250 forks and they wouldn’t do it. It doesn’t make any sense why.

As a server, I have no issue with this, it’s less bussing for me 😂 I sometimes even joke with my tables and tell them to take the utensils if they like them

At least near me, there are a bunch, but nothing I'd recognize as a national brand. I'd think just googling for "restaurant supply near me" would be fruitful. But check first - some of them near me, at least, do verify that you're a real business.

Also worth checking - there's a "grocery store" that sells just monstrously big packages of everything, and also carries kitchen tools. I'm a bit mystified about what their clientele really is, though. I'd figure the only reason a real restaurant would ever send an employee out to a bricks-and-mortar store on the clock was a phenomenal failure to order their weekly trucked shipment. (But neither have I ever run a restaurant kitchen, so what do I know.)

Depends on the kind of supply store. A wholesale one that doesn’t charge sales tax on food will require an account, but a supply store that doesn’t actually sell wholesale (tax free) food might not require an account.

I work in a commercial commissary, and we use those Dexter knives. They’re great.

www.webstaurant.com

You're welcome

The real life pro tips are always in the comments

Restaurant Depot requires you to have a membership and a restaurant. They scan your tag at checkout.

Interesting as I just googled for this in my area and all are commercial only and / or make appt for consultation

Businesses pay sales tax on supplies unless they will further resale the items.

Microwave ovens too. The commercial ones last forever.

Don’t forget if you run out of tp in your dorm the library always has some. I love the library for various reasons but this one saved me a lot of $ that one semester. 🤣

You've already made up your mind. Don't bother.

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I had a six place dinner set from the dorms and my roommate made off with them goddamn it.

I say this too all my friends and kids just starting out in life. the only things that don't last forever are the non stick pans but they do last along time.

Rose’s, in Portland, OR. East side.

The real lpt always in the comments

The shipping cost absolutely sucks though.

Let me just pop on in real quick to my local restaurant surplus shop......

Toronto?

These are my favorite items from supply stores. I have two dozen containers ranging from 1qt-12qts. They all stack and pack perfectly, all lids are interchangeable and they have measurements marked on the sides.

Uniform sizes and stackability keep my fridge tidy and I can fit a ton of stuff in it. Makes prepping for big parties much more organized.

I went to one once for stock pots. For the same price as one there I got 4 different sized ones on Amazon.

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If you want to do things legit, you can take the 5 minutes to set up a business online and use that TAX ID # to register for a membership at your local restaurant supply store.

What you really want is to be listed as an employee at a bar and issued a card, so you can get a case of 12x 1 liter bottles of liquor for 80 bucks with that liquor license.

Unless I'm throwing a party, I can't eat/shuck 50 lbs of oysters no matter how cheap they are lol.

Have you checked since Covid? Restaurant Depot started selling to the public in early 2020 and AFAIK haven't stopped

I think for most people those types of knives are fine, but I agree that if someone is really into the art of cooking then investing in some bougie knives is definitely worth it-- they're absolutely a level up! My old man use to work for a knife dealer (idk how else to describe it; he imported knives from Japan for private sale to chefs) so we got gifted some meals at higher-end local restaurants, and based on that experience idk a single chef who doesn't have their own bag of personal $$$ knives lmao

Some of my favourite kitchen stuff came from commercial kitchen stores!

I worked in a restaurant in Knoxville, TN. We would have to get "emergency veggies" about once every two months, to hold till the truck got in the next day. There was an Asian grocery store about three blocks away that was a life saver. Seemed like every 4-6 months, someone would half to make a 30 minute drive to the Gorden's food service store, as something unexpectedly ran out or something broke.

My wife introduced me to restaurant supply stores. Back in North Carolina they had no problem selling to us individuals. We use cutting mats instead of cutting boards in our home. The ones we found at the restaurant supply store have lasted longer than the ones we had purchased from Walmart.

If you live anywhere considered a city, there will likely be a restaurant supply store. They may or may not sell to you if you don't have a restaurant, but there will almost certainly be one around somewhere.

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When someone says something like "you've never tried a good knife?" I expect that to be followed by mentioning a blacksmith like Takeda, not a feckin Wusthof 😭

And ya, most people don't need what I just defined as an exceptionally good knife-- there's a not insignificant amount of effort needed to maintain them that I wouldn't even do if my dad hadn't made it into a permanent habit for me at a young age lmao I personally think most knives can be good knives if you know how to and keep up with sharpening them!

Webstaurant is a restaurant supply website if you don't have a supply store near you.

Yep. Chicago China Town has one and it's exactly as described. Great people very nice and great prices.

Chicago

Don't forget whether you run out of TP or not, if you steal a roll from Krispy Kreme your butt will smell like a scratch N sniff glazed donut cuz their paper gets permeated with the smell.

Book pages don't wipe as well as tp, IMO.

I just ordered pizza screens from them a while back. Prices are amazing.

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It depends where you're shipping to, and if you only order when you're getting a lot of things at once, it's still often worth it, even with shipping. I'd also avoid anything there which ships common carrier.

I steal napkins everywhere I work. I need a yellow and indigo napkin for a rainbow, and I have a 5 napkin gradient from white to black.

I really want a wine red one, though. My red is more just like normal red.

LPT: Shop for groceries at a grocery store. They have groceries, and you'll get the groceries you need.

The shipping cost goes up the more you order from them.

smart and final or cash and carry have small restaurant supply selections. Better quality than grocery’s stores for like mixing bowls, tongs, ladles, knives are pretty cheap but passable

The one near me stopped late 2020.

Yeah they hone with a stone???

Keep in mind this is not always true.

Yes, restaurants get good equipment for a good price, but almost every restaurant (at least where I live) has a business account with these places where the more you buy, the cheaper the price.

We get good quality for good price because restaurants buy a lot of equipment, when were buying knives, we don't usually just buy 1, we buy 3, or 4, same with mixing bowls and cambros and things like that.

Source: I manage a restaurant.

Oh booo

Or at restaurant equipment bankruptcy sales.

Yeah I never could figure out if the two companies were officially related.

That depends on what you're shipping and how you group it. Importantly, if you're shipping a knife vs. shipping a knife, some toilet paper, some paper towels, a bunch of sponges, and some assorted bulk food, the total amount that shipping is higher for the larger group of stuff is often way less than the amount you're saving cumulatively on all of it. Obviously, be smart and price compare, and take shipping prices into account, but I've been able to get pretty good deals on certain items fairly consistently

My mum bought glasses from a supply store. A case at a time. One of her six children broke a glass, we got a new one out of the box. The plates she bought from a fancy department store because they had a lifetime warranty, even against breakage.

This is absolutely true, but for non-perishable items, even normal consumers can sometimes want to buy in bulk. I routinely get paper goods from restaurant supply stores, for example, because I have the space to stock up and store them, and because I'd rather stock up on a ton of paper goods every once in a blue moon than buy in more normal amounts and be caught unaware when something happens and I run out because I went through more paper towels than I was expecting. Also, groups of friends can definitely go in for single bulk purchases at these sorts of places, and if you're just starting out and know a lot of other young people in a similar situation, a small buying group for something like basic kitchen gear, plates, and silverware can work out really well.

I've got a rather sizable collection of kitchen knives including a bunch of high end Japanese knives but my Dexter Russel brisket knife is sharper than everything else

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Probably not worth it as an individual but their prime cuts all the shipping costs. I use it for my cafe

Rock on, Chicago.

Before I left Applebees I grabbed a bunch of ramekin cups. Great for dipping at home.

Sorry, but I absolutely hate that name.

I have 8 plastic dining hall cups that have been trucking in my cabinet for 11 years, I'm not even the one who stole them

Some chains are open to the public, like Standard Restaurant Supply.

Others, like Restaurant Depot require you to register with a business license.

The former will always say they’re open the public. And nobody cares whether you work in the industry or not.

> A wholesale one that doesn’t charge sales tax on food will require an account

Where do you live that you pay sales tax on food ingredients?

In most of the US you only pay sales tax in grocery stores on tools or prepared foods.

Totally agree with this for most things. I wouldn’t say that the knives are the same quality though. I know that folks recommend the dexter (russel) chefs knife as a best value, and don’t want to say it isn’t a perfectly adequate knife. For me, steel matters and you won’t be getting a great knife at these prices. You WILL get a knife that is good enough, it will cut things and be suitable for most needs. It won’t stay sharp for as long, but you can also pick up a cheap pull-through sharpener and not feel guilty about using it.

Love a restaurant supply store.

Pro tip: if restaurant supply stores don’t sell to the public in your area, you can usually find a supply store in your Chinatown area that has great prices and will sell to the public.

Rock over London.

Arby's! We have the meats!

Ironically they bought Sears which was doing really well thanks to craftsmen and their appliances.

Then used it to hide debt and sold off the craftsman label.

Only to bury Sears and Kmart at the same time.

Sears was the best department store you bastards!!!!

All our saucepans, baking sheets, rocks glasses, ramekins, and a bunch of other stuff comes from our neighborhood restaurant supply store. Oh, and the biggest pizza paddle they had made a great charcuterie board once we cut down the handle.

No, its a Suba. Suba is better for working with this quantity.

Can confirm! I have several cooking utensils that have lasted over 20 years and I got them from a restaurant supply warehouse. Worth every penny!

I just picked up my first cleaver at an Asian market for $20 and am in love. Next step is researching how to care for it properly.

I go online to a restaurant supply company and buy all my kitchen supplies. My partner was amazed at what the prices were. I don’t work in the industry anymore (due to health reasons), but when I worked at my parent’s restaurant, my dad introduced me to them. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

I think he'd know.

>it can be free if you sue your name

Jeez, it always comes back to litigation, doesn't it?

Lol, I mean use, fixed now

I bet he wishes it was a Nakiri.

I use these kiwi knifes as beaters which I get from a Asian market for dirt cheap. It’s shocking how long they hold a edge.

Oh man you can buy bulk herbs and spices!!

Louisiana charges sales tax on food. Freaked me out the first time because I didn't have enough money. I said you charge tax on food??!? The lady looked at me like I had three heads.

Do you mind sharing the name?

Never heard of Restaurant Depot before my old boss gave me his membership card to shop for some stuff. Good lord. I felt like a kid in a candy factory.

Ya they don't give a shit if you work in a restaurant, they sell to anyone.

Well generally the best upkeep for a cleaver is recommended to reap the souls of the innocent. Your in luck though! Death, having noticed the marked increase of horrific crime, has changed cleaver requirements from two people per year, not including childeren, to only one person per year. Alternatively if you have a heart he will also accept individual limbs at a one per quarter year rate.

Oh yes. The commercial grade stainless oven trays and dishes are so much better than the cheap non stock crap that’s likely giving us can set as soon as it gets a slight scratch.

LPT: don’t buy any kitchen supplies from supermarkets. Cheap stuff.

This. Restaurants are end users of the equipment, and thus need to pay sales/use tax for any merchandise.

In the Houston area? Go to JK’s restaurant supply, or budget restaurant supply. Or Ace if you can spend a few extra bucks.

They need a phone number to connect an existing account. Meaning, give the the phone number to a mexican restaurant near by and they will have all their info. LPT any store that requires a phone number will also have(area code)867-5309 as an account under Jenny.

When my brother was opening his restaurant, he wanted a Wolf brand stove and oven. Our salesman talked him down to a similar set that is generally used in schools and prisons that cost about half of what Wolf did. We got more equipment for the money and similar quality. Hobart mixer? Nope, another institutional brand with the same results.

I've gone back for personal home items like ramekins and Japanese soup spoons, and I've been considering replacing all of my mismatched silverware with a nice restaurant pattern that is similar to and far less expensive than what I'd get online, at Bed Bath & Beyond, or a department store. I could get 12 forks for about $6, but that was a couple years ago; still looking it up at an online restaurant supply store shows under $8.

Anything a restaurant isn't reselling should be taxed. Sales tax is paid by the end user. The supplier might "knock off tax", but that's just a discount that's equal to the total tax (not getting into the math, though it's not hard).

I also inherited my fathers Norton Tri-Stone sharpener, so I can bring any knife back from the dead.

Thank you thank you. Really good prices.

Varies locally, like they said

Locally to me, VAT is paid on everything that is not zero-rated, and then claimed back at the end of the fiscal year, the same time VAT is due, so the VAT bill is collected VAT minus claimed VAT

Well not in Germany for example. When you are a business you can buy the stuff you need to run it without paying sales taxes.

Like a carpenter who buys a hammer to make things a restaurant buys a knife to cook things.

We didn't get utensils, they were an optional extra, at £200/unit

Nisbets are also one of the few places that will sell you a case of cream chargers no questions asked, and suggest an excellent dispenser to go with them

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If they didn't want us to take those, they'd bring out disposable plastic cups to put the sauces in when we asked for containers to bring home our food along with the clam shells. They GAVE THEM to us.

The Grim Cleaver

Yeah, as a teeny business, I can't afford $99/month.

Still baffles me why Americans a) don't just include the tax on the sticker price so you know how much money your need, and b) for some reason some of them feel the need to defend this bizarre practice??

Yeah, we do this differently here in Europe usually. Unfortunately this means we can't buy things as easily at wholesalers and businesses focused on B2B.

i agree with this comment, but i would say, knives are worth the investment, buy good knives that will last a long time as long as you care for them

pot and pans etc, totally get them at kitchen supply places

I've been to that one. Kitchen stuff piled everywhere haha. Prices looked good too

Have any online names?

Sales tax can can vary based on the consumer (e.g., purchasing on behalf of self vs. on behalf of a non-profit), and regions change sales tax seemingly at whim for stuff like paying for a new local stadium. There are more than 10,000 different little sales tax regions in the United States.

Easier to compute at the register than redo a zillion price stickers.

It’s also just the way it’s done. There’s inefficient things in every country in the world. It’s just how it is and it would take too much of an effort to change things for countless shops and stores.

Cool. I didn't come up with it.

Also they tend to stock stuff with durable, non-fussy finishes like stainless steel and enamel (and some cast iron). Nobody in a restaurant has time to baby the Teflon coating or make sure plastics and silicone don't get too hot (unless you're talking about really fancy desserts, but that's a whole different shop). Restaurants want stuff that'll go from stovetop to oven to dishwasher several thousand times, and they don't have time or money for anything else.

My grandmother honed on her stone kitchen steps. When she passed away her knives were sharp, old, half the size my father remembered.

The top step was worn almost to nothing.

Kiwi Knifes for the win!

Super sharp, $5 knives that you can treat like trash and throw away after 10 years of use. Like, they have wooden handles with 2 copper pins to hold the blade in, they don't even try to make them ergonomic.

But they come in a bunch of sizes and are a great, cheap knife to start with.

Get your dishes there too. Basically unbreakable

That’s not honing though. That’s sharpening. A honing rod is metal and reshapes the blade edge to make it sharp again by aligning the point. Stones sharpen the blade by removing metal.