Ice: The Hard, Cold Facts for Startup Restaurateurs

If you owned a restaurant a few hundred years ago, you might have laughed if someone told you that, in the future, ice would be produced automatically and continuously by devices that fit in the corner of your kitchen.

The possibilities would boggle your mind -- cold drinks whenever you wanted, and a convenient way to keep foods cool and fresh on demand. Even 100 years ago ice was still distributed to restaurants by horse-drawn wagons to eager customers, and often cost more than the meats and dairy products it refrigerated.

As a modern restaurateur, you think about ice more than the average person; however, even you probably take the stuff for granted, as long as there is an abundant supply waiting each time one of your staff lifts the bin cover. Face it, unlike our predecessors, we've been spoiled by modern restaurant icemakers, which are well-engineered, well-made, and produce all forms and sizes of glorious, frozen H2O day in, day out.

You need to understand your restaurant's needs, in terms of ice production, storage capacity, maintenance, and what to do if your ice machine goes on strike. Ice is one of the most important items in any restaurant or bar operation, and something you don't want to run short of. -- Kurt Allanson

Ice machines are the modern-day "workhorses" of any restaurant. But like so many other decisions in the restaurant startup phase, there's a lot more to choosing an ice machine than meets the eye.

Behind those stainless steel panels and bins are a variety of technology, features and functions. You need to understand your restaurant's needs, in terms of ice production, storage capacity, maintenance, and what to do if your ice machine goes on strike. Ice is one of the most important items in any restaurant or bar operation, and something you don't want to run short of.