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.
Two different hires that often live in one firm. An architect or engineer produces the stamped, to-scale drawing set that plan review requires. A designer decides how the room feels and how service flows through it. Get the first wrong and you do not open; get the second wrong and you fight your own floor plan every night for a decade.
What to ask before you hire
Take this into the call. No vendor gets to edit this list.
- Will you produce the stamped drawing set my health district requires? Cuyahoga County wants two identical sets at 11"×17"; Cleveland wants four for an alteration and six for new construction. The building department is a separate submission again — Ohio requires construction documents to bear the seal of a registered design professional, typically in three complete sets.
- Have you taken a project through plan review with this specific health district before? Local practice varies between districts.
- Does the set cover what reviewers actually check — direct vs indirect plumbing on every fixture, hot water heater capacity, grease interceptor location and capacity, three-compartment sink with drain boards, and handwashing sinks throughout including restrooms?
- Who calculates occupancy load? It drives restroom counts and exiting, and it is a common source of late, expensive surprises.
- How are you handling ADA — accessible restrooms, aisle clearance, and the proportion of accessible table heights? Fix this on the drawing, not after inspection.
- Will you coordinate directly with my equipment dealer on the equipment schedule, so the drawings and the actual equipment match?
- Is your fee a percentage of construction cost, a flat fee, or hourly — and what does it include if the reviewer requires revisions?
- Do you handle the building department submission as well as the health department set?
- If I want design help beyond code compliance, is that you or a separate designer — and who is accountable if they disagree?
Listings
Listed alphabetically. Order is never sold or influenced by sponsorship.
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Dimit Architects
Lakewood architecture firm practising since 2004 across hospitality, commercial, historic renovation, mixed-use, and urban design. Restaurant work includes Melt Bar and Grilled in Cleveland Heights and Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar.
Services: Architecture · Restaurant and hospitality design · Historic renovation · Interiors · Mixed-use and urban design
Serves: Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit counties
The deepest restaurant portfolio among our design listings, with recognisable Cleveland projects rather than one-off storefronts — useful if you want to walk into a finished room and judge the work yourself. Hospitality is a core part of the practice rather than an occasional sector. Street address omitted deliberately: published sources give two different numbers on Detroit Avenue, so confirm the office location when you call.
Lakewood, OH
216-221-9021Verified Aug 8, 2026 · number checked against 3 sources
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HRI Commercial Food Service
Commercial kitchen design paired with equipment supply, installation, and service — custom layouts, 3D renderings, foodservice plans, equipment procurement, and project management. Serves Greater Cleveland from an Erie, Pennsylvania office.
Services: Commercial kitchen design · 3D renderings and foodservice plans · Equipment procurement · Installation · Repair and maintenance
Serves: Cuyahoga, Lake, Summit, Medina, Portage counties
Read this one carefully. HRI states plainly that its design documents are for conceptual and layout purposes only and are NOT suitable for permits or health inspections — you will still need stamped construction documents from a licensed architect or engineer. That is honest of them, and it means this is a kitchen layout and equipment partner, not your plan review submission. Also note the office is in Erie, PA rather than Cleveland; confirm what on-site presence looks like during a build.
2630 Cherry St, Erie, PA 16508
814-453-4747Verified Aug 8, 2026 · number checked against 3 sources
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K2M Design — Cleveland
Architecture and engineering firm with a Cleveland office in Ohio City, staffed with architects, engineers, interior designers, and project leaders. Works across sectors including hospitality, and offers architecture, MEP engineering, and interior design under one roof.
Services: Architecture · MEP engineering · Interior design · Facility engineering
Serves: Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit counties
Having architecture and MEP engineering in the same firm matters for a kitchen, where the mechanical and plumbing design is most of the problem — hood and make-up air balance, interceptor sizing, hot water capacity. Their hospitality work is one sector among many, so ask how many commercial kitchens they have taken through health department plan review specifically. Interior design contact: Kelli Schaffran.
3121 Bridge Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113
Verified Aug 8, 2026
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Sojourn Architects
Cleveland architecture firm working across residential, multi-family, mixed-use, retail, and restaurants. Restaurant work shown includes a gourmet donut storefront in Ohio City.
Services: Architecture · Restaurant and retail design · Mixed-use and multi-family
Serves: Cuyahoga County
A smaller local practice — likely a better fit for a storefront, cafe, or counter-service concept than a large kitchen build. One restaurant project is published, so ask what else they have done and whether they have taken a food operation through plan review with your health district.
4302 John Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113
216-396-4395Verified Aug 8, 2026 · number checked against 1 source
Related guides
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What it costs to open a restaurant in Cleveland
The permit and licensing fees you can actually verify, agency by agency, plus an honest account of the costs that dwarf them and the one that costs most of all.
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Where things go in a commercial kitchen, and why
What the code actually dictates about equipment placement, what it leaves to you, and the adjacencies that quietly cost money later — including why the reach-in should not live next to the fryer.
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How to get a food service license in Cuyahoga County
Which agency licenses you (it depends on your address), what plan review costs and how long it takes, how risk levels are assigned, and the order the inspections have to happen in.
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Occupancy limits and how many restrooms you need
How Ohio calculates the number of people your dining room may legally hold, how that number decides your restroom count, and why a bar needs almost twice the fixtures of a restaurant the same size.
Listings are free and unpaid. We verify contact details before publishing and re-check periodically, but businesses change — if something here is wrong, tell us. Inclusion is not an endorsement, and this site does not accept commissions or referral fees from listed vendors. Dean Supply publishes this site and appears in the directory on the same terms as everyone else.