Directory

Vendor directory

The services every kitchen eventually needs, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything. Listings are free, unpaid, and cannot be bought — here is how they work.

Browse by category

• Hood & exhaust cleaning

  Kitchen exhaust cleaning to NFPA 96 standard — the service your fire inspector and your insurer both ask about.

  3 listings · 6 questions to ask

• Equipment service & repair

  Refrigeration, cooking equipment, and warewashing repair — including who actually answers the phone at 6am.

  3 listings · 6 questions to ask

• Commercial & restaurant plumbing

  Drain cleaning, hydro jetting, grease interceptor work, water heaters, and gas lines — for kitchens where a backed-up floor drain closes you.

  4 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Cooking oil & grease services

  Fresh oil supply, used cooking oil collection, and grease trap/interceptor pumping — plus the manifests you need to keep on file.

  1 listing · 7 questions to ask

• Doors, docks & loading equipment

  Overhead and rolling doors, security grilles, dock equipment, and the fire doors that carry an annual inspection requirement.

  1 listing · 7 questions to ask

• Pest control

  Commercial pest management on a service schedule, with the logs your inspector will ask to see.

  3 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Insurance & risk

  General liability, property, liquor liability, and workers’ comp — plus the certificates other people will demand from you.

  1 listing · 7 questions to ask

• Waste, recycling & composting

  Trash and recycling hauling plus food waste composting — the line item nobody reviews and everybody overpays for.

  6 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Kitchen deep cleaning & janitorial

  Scheduled deep cleaning of the things a closing shift never gets to — under and behind the line, walk-in floors, drains, and the front of house.

  2 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Knife & blade sharpening

  Sharpening and slicer service for commercial kitchens — by route and exchange, or by drop-off.

  5 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Linen, uniform & mat service

  Tablecloths, napkins, aprons, towels, chef coats and floor mats on a route schedule.

  4 listings · 6 questions to ask

• Commissary & shared kitchens

  Licensed production space for food trucks, carts, caterers, and packaged-food makers who need a base of operation.

  2 listings · 6 questions to ask

• POS, payments & reservations

  Point-of-sale systems, payment processing, and reservation platforms — with attention to what happens when the system goes down mid-service.

  3 listings · 8 questions to ask

• General contractors — restaurant build-out

  Builders who have done commercial kitchens before — hoods, make-up air, grease interceptors, and the inspection sequence.

  4 listings · 9 questions to ask

• Architects, engineers & restaurant designers

  The people who produce the stamped drawings your health district and building department require — and the ones who make the room work.

  4 listings · 9 questions to ask

• Capital & financing

  Lenders who will actually fund a food business — SBA microlenders, CDFIs, and equipment financing — including options for operators banks turn down.

  3 listings · 9 questions to ask

• Restaurant real estate & brokers

  Agents and brokers who work restaurant space specifically — second-generation kitchens, liquor-permit sites, and lease negotiation.

  4 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Restaurant supply & equipment dealers

  Smallwares, disposables, and equipment — local will-call counters, national catalogs, and cash-and-carry warehouses.

  5 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Restaurant furniture & seating

  Tables, chairs, booths, bar stools, and patio furniture built for commercial use — plus the lead times that decide your opening date.

  7 questions to ask · listings in progress

• Used & refurbished equipment

  Dealers who sell used, refurbished, and liquidated commercial kitchen equipment — and who will buy yours.

  5 listings · 15 questions to ask

• Food distributors

  Broadline houses, produce specialists, protein and seafood, and niche suppliers delivering to Northeast Ohio kitchens.

  11 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Fire protection & suppression

  Kitchen hood suppression systems, extinguishers, and the semi-annual inspections your fire inspector will ask for.

  1 listing · 7 questions to ask

• Snow removal, salt & ice melt

  Plowing, salting and the bagged de-icer you keep by the door — the winter contract that decides whether your entrance is safe at 6am.

  3 listings · 10 questions to ask

• Signage & exterior lighting

  Sign design, permitting, fabrication, installation, and service — plus the parking lot and building lighting nobody thinks about until it fails.

  1 listing · 7 questions to ask

• Hiring & workforce programs

  Training programs, wage-reimbursement funding, and community partners who place candidates — the alternative to paying for job board listings.

  9 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Associations & operator groups

  Trade associations and independent-operator groups — collective marketing, advocacy, group buying, and the other operators who have already solved your problem.

  3 listings · 6 questions to ask

• Draft systems & beer line cleaning

  Installation, balancing, repair and the every-fourteen-days line cleaning Ohio requires of every permit holder pouring draft.

  3 listings · 9 questions to ask

• Beer, wine & beverage distributors

  The wholesalers who supply licensed premises — and the reason you mostly do not get to choose between them.

  5 listings · 7 questions to ask

• Event & catering rental

  China, glassware, flatware, chafers, linen, tables, chairs and tents — rented by the event rather than owned, which is how most catering actually gets equipped.

  6 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Liquor licensing attorneys

  Lawyers who handle Ohio liquor permits — new applications, transfers, renewals, objections, and citations before the Liquor Control Commission.

  5 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Building & property inspection

  Property condition assessments, thermal imaging, and sewer camera work — the due diligence you do before signing, not the health inspection.

  3 listings · 8 questions to ask

• Food safety & health code consultants

  Plan review help, HACCP plans, ServSafe training, and mock health inspections — the health department side, not the building.

  2 listings · 6 questions to ask

Know a vendor who belongs here?

We are building this directory out category by category, and we verify every listing before it goes up. If you run a business that serves kitchens here, or you have a vendor you would recommend to another operator, send it to us. There is no charge and no upsell.