Dinner is Served! Necessary Serving Equipment for Your Restaurant

It is clear that back-of-house preparation, cooking, and storing equipment is crucial to keep a restaurant up and running smoothly. Similarly, front-of-house serving equipment is equally as important to run a successful restaurant. Commercial serving equipment includes pieces such as serving spoons, serving trays, and serving bowls, each consisting of a variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and purposes.

Serving Spoons

There is a wide selection of serving spoons found in commercial restaurants, including solid serving spoons, perforated serving spoons, and slotted serving spoons. Each of these spoons can be found in different shapes and sizes and can come in different materials, such as plastic or stainless steel. In addition, each type of spoon serves a different purpose:

Solid serving spoons are used to serve dishes that are dry and do not need to be drained or filtered. In other words, everything that you scoop up with the spoon should be appropriate to be put on the plate.

Perforated serving spoons are used to drain any excess liquids from the meal before plating it. The excess juice, syrup, or water filters through the holes on the spoon so that only the necessary contents are put onto the plate.

Slotted serving spoons are similar to perforated serving spoons, in that they are used to drain excess liquids from the meal before plating it. The difference between perforated serving spoons and slotted serving spoons is that the holes/slots in the spoon are different. While perforated serving spoons have small holes to drain excess juice, syrup, or water, slotted serving spoons have large slots to drain thicker liquids like sauces.

Serving Trays

Serving trays also come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. There are both round and rectangular serving trays, as well as small and large serving trays. In addition, there are many different materials that serving trays are made out of, including stainless steel, porcelain, wood, faux stone, and plastic. Your choice of material should be based upon the appearance that you are looking for, as well as the durability that you need. There are also mirror trays which highly appeal to customers, and divided trays available for serving a mixture of foods, such as fruits and vegetables, bread and dip, or cheese and crackers.

Serving Bowls

Similar to serving spoons and trays, serving bowls are offered in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials as well. There are several different types of serving bowls, including soup bowls, fruit bowls, salad bowls, pasta bowls, and casserole dishes. These are available in metal, plastic, ceramic, glass, and wood, similar to serving trays. Different serving bowls are used to serve different dishes: hot or cold, large or small, wet or dry.

Whether you are looking to serve a hot specialty casserole, a fruity punch, or simple display of olives, cheese, and crackers, there is always appropriate serving equipment available to you and your restaurant. Just be sure to gather the specifics of what you are looking for in terms of shape, size, material, and purpose prior to beginning your search for the proper equipment.