Everything operators ask before signing a restaurant build-out contract.

A typical restaurant build-out runs 6–11 months end-to-end: 8–14 weeks of preconstruction and design, 4–10 weeks of permitting (longer where health-department review queues are deep), 12–22 weeks of construction, and 2–3 weeks of inspections, equipment commissioning, and soft-open. QSR and fast-casual prototypes land at the low end; full-service and chef-driven concepts at the high end.

2026 benchmarks: QSR $325–$525/SF, fast-casual $375–$625/SF, full-service casual $425–$725/SF, upscale and chef-driven $550–$900+/SF. Ghost kitchens and commissaries run $275–$450/SF. Kitchen MEP — hood, make-up air, gas, grease, refrigeration — is the single largest cost driver in every category.

Yes. Every jurisdiction requires sealed architectural and MEP drawings for a commercial restaurant permit. On design-build delivery we contract the architect and engineers under one agreement so the owner has a single accountable party. On design-bid-build, the owner contracts the architect separately and the GC bids the completed drawings.

It is the most important decision in the project. Kitchen layout drives equipment count, hood length, make-up air sizing, gas line capacity, plumbing rough-in, refrigeration loads, and ultimately throughput per labor hour. Layout changes after permit cost 5–15× what they cost during schematic design — lock the kitchen at SD, not at CDs.

At minimum: a building permit (architectural, structural, MEP), a separate health-department plan review and permit, a fire / fire-suppression permit for the Type-I hood and Ansul system, an ABC / liquor permit if serving alcohol, and a sign permit. Some jurisdictions add grease-interceptor permits, food-handler certification, and zoning use permits.

Health-department plan review runs in parallel with building permit review, but it is a separate queue with its own review cycles. Most western-U.S. jurisdictions run 3–8 weeks for first review and 2–4 weeks per resubmittal. Restaurants that submit health and building together — and pre-meet with the plan reviewer — typically save 3–6 weeks vs. sequential submission.

ADA applies to the dining room (accessible path of travel, accessible seating at fixed tables, accessible bar where service is provided), restrooms (clear floor space, transfer space, grab bars, accessible fixtures), entries (compliant thresholds and door hardware), and parking. In leased spaces, ADA upgrades sometimes extend into the path of travel from the public way — this is a common cost surprise on older centers.

A Type-I hood is required over any cooking equipment that produces grease-laden vapor — fryers, griddles, charbroilers, ranges. Hood sizing is driven by equipment lineup, and make-up air must be engineered to match exhaust within code-mandated tolerances. Grease interceptors (under-sink or in-ground) are sized by drainage fixture unit and jurisdiction — most western AHJs require an in-ground interceptor for full-service kitchens.

Yes. The majority of restaurant build-outs we deliver are in occupied centers or mixed-use buildings. We coordinate hours-of-work restrictions, dust and noise controls, fire-watch during hot work, after-hours delivery windows, and landlord-mandated trade insurance — all written into the project execution plan before mobilization.

For occupied-restaurant remodels we use phased construction: temporary kitchen, partitioned dining sections, and night-shift work for noisy or hot-work scopes. Phasing adds 8–15% to construction cost but can preserve 60–90% of revenue during the project. The cost-of-construction vs. cost-of-closure trade-off is the first conversation we have with the operator.

Quarry tile with epoxy grout remains the durability standard. Urethane cement (industrial topping) is preferred where chemical exposure or thermal shock is severe — it costs more but lasts longer and is faster to install. Sheet vinyl with heat-welded seams is acceptable for lower-volume back-of-house. FOH flooring varies by concept — sealed concrete, LVT, porcelain, and engineered hardwood are all common.

Plumbing: high-temperature dishwashing, grease waste, separate hand-sinks at every station, mop sinks, ice makers, and pre-rinse spray. Electrical: dedicated equipment circuits, GFCI in wet zones, high amperage for ovens and dishwashers, emergency-stop tie-ins for hoods. HVAC: engineered make-up air balanced to hood exhaust, separate FOH comfort cooling, sometimes dedicated bar / private-room zoning. None of these are standard office-TI scope.

Look for recent restaurant experience in your category (QSR ≠ full-service ≠ ghost kitchen), named kitchen-MEP expertise on the project team, documented hood / make-up air / grease coordination process, health-department fluency in your AHJ, long-lead equipment procurement at DD, GMP delivery with open-book buyout, and a documented opening-date track record on prior restaurant projects.

Design-build wins on most restaurant projects because kitchen MEP coordination is integrated from the start, long-lead equipment is released earlier, and GMP is committed before mobilization. Design-bid-build can make sense when the brand has a long-standing prototype architect and the GC scope is well-defined. We deliver both — but recommend design-build on net-new builds and major remodels.

The recurring surprises: utility upgrades (gas service capacity, electrical service, water main), grease interceptor installation in older centers, ADA path-of-travel scope, health-department-driven finish upgrades (FRP, coving, washable ceilings), fire-suppression system tie-ins to existing landlord systems, long-lead equipment escalation if not procured at DD, and landlord-required trade insurance riders.

Share the site, the prototype or concept brief, the equipment list (even draft), the target opening date, and the lease status. On that information we produce a class-3 estimate range within 3–5 business days, and a class-2 GMP-grade number once we have SD-level architectural and kitchen drawings.

Final inspections are sequenced: building (architectural / structural / MEP final), fire (hood, suppression, alarms), health (kitchen finishes, equipment installation, hand sinks, dish sanitation), and CO / TCO issuance. We coordinate the inspection calendar against the soft-open date and walk each inspector — health-department in particular — on site before formal inspection to surface anything that needs adjustment.

Yes. We staff the site through soft-open with a punch team and project superintendent so any equipment or finish issues are resolved within hours, not days. Brand launch support — signage, exterior cleanup, parking-lot striping — is closed out before grand-opening day.

One-year general warranty on workmanship from the date of substantial completion. Manufacturer warranties on equipment (typically 1–5 years), roofing (10–25 years), HVAC equipment (5–10 years), and structural / waterproofing systems pass through with the closeout package. We coordinate warranty claims for the first year.

We hand over an operations & maintenance binder covering hood cleaning schedules, grease-interceptor pump intervals, HVAC filter changes, refrigeration coil cleaning, fire-suppression annual inspection, and finish-care guidance. We also stay on call for warranty work and minor remodels — most of our restaurant clients are repeat operators across multiple sites.