can i rent a kitchen

[Decca]

As stated in another post i'm keen to have a go at fast food. Lot of outlay and a hell of a lot of work i know, but i'm worried i could spend 1000's and people not like my menu, yes i can do surveys and tasting days etc.... but its still a big gamble so it got me thinking about renting a kitchen for 3 months and trying a delivery only style try out, so rent kitchen, get myself a website (you can rent these and pay a monthly, and they are all singing and dancing including order online included) get on hungry house and just eat, get a shed load of flyers out and see what happens, yes i'll lose a fair bit if it doesn't work but it would be...... whats the phrase......... damage limitation. and if its a roaring success and can open a restaurant and work from there.
So the question is, can i rent a kitchen? where do i look if i can and how do i search for such places. guessing i can't and i'm also guessing i couldn't do it from home. any advice would be great especially if someone has done this themselves.
Tough question so i won't hold my breath on this one but worth a shot.

 

[StevensOnln1]

Are there any pubs in your area that aren't using their kitchens? Try approaching them.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Or restaurants/cafes etc who only open in evening. Look at offering to rent outside of hours...

 

[Decca]

i thought of asking a pub but was worried about them liking the idea and menu and rolling with it themselves, cafe might be good as they shut at 5pm and then i could rent it off them for the night time comfort food market. Thanks guys.

 

[Sacha]

Bare in mind that JustEat & HungryHouse costs quite a bit as downpayment, over £1000 for each although you can pay in instalments as they will just keep all card payments until the amount is covered.

One option the others haven't mentioned is renting a mobile catering unit/trailer.

 

[Mitch3473]

Bare in mind that JustEat & HungryHouse costs quite a bit as downpayment, over £1000 for each although you can pay in instalments as they will just keep all card payments until the amount is covered.

One option the others haven't mentioned is renting a mobile catering unit/trailer.

Or....go one stage further, buy one. If It goes pear shaped you can sell and get your money back. If goes well you have yourself a kitchen

 

[Decca]

cheers sacha, wonder what the law is on a catering trailer in my side garden but not selling from it?

 

[ethical PR]

You could try a pop up restaurant and/or trialling your food at some local farmers market. We have a pop up restaurant space where I live with four different outlets - French, upmarket burgers, pizza and amazing Italian ice cream at the moment they seem to stay for 3-6 months.

Home deliveries would just add to costs and hassle and will mean you need to do more marketing.

 

[Decca]

But thats the point, farmers markets are an impulse, on the day buy, you see it, smell it and so buy it. i want to see if there is a market for my takeaway food on a regular basis, using new marketing techniques to encourage, persuade customers to keep buying. something our local takeaways dont do, even dominoes dont email me, follow me or remarket to me, i get a few emails from pizza hut but they are pretty much the same encouraging deals that they have on there website, nothing personal to me. i think they are all missing a trick, ive got some great food, i just need to see if there is a market for it or if they (the public) are to far gone (brainwashed) into choosing brands or cheap rubbish.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Some local restaurants have a different set of operators at lunch and evening meals. One young woman who rented a restaurant to prepare outside catering managed to feed the Queen on a visit to Cornwall so it works for some.

 

[Sacha]

cheers sacha, wonder what the law is on a catering trailer in my side garden but not selling from it?

You could plonk a trailer in your side garden for as long as you want and make improvements to it - new stainless steel cladding and what have you. Once it's looking how you want get the license to sell from a fixed location from your local council or find private land and get the landlords permission to sell food on his land. Then you'd need to get inspected by Environmental Health Office, liability insurance and that's it you could start selling with delivery from the trailer if you wanted.

Delivery isn't easy though, if you get 4 orders at the same time you need 2 drivers or there will be complaints for long delivery. Cheap, reliable, hardworking, fast drivers aren't that easy to come by. Also any problems and you the driver to go back to the house which could delay your next delivery and will also cost you extra because drivers want payment per delivery as well as a standard nightly amount. Driver gets lost and all the food is ruined. Someone calls up and has a problem you won't be able to get back to them and make them happy for an hour at least, it's not like going off to the table outside the kitchen and apologising. Also food just simply doesn't taste or look the same after 20 minutes sitting in a bag so it won't be as nice as fresh.

 

[Abbyfox123]

I am looking for a kitchen to rent also but of a morning have u had any luck yet?