Restaurant and Kitchen Cleaning After Close

Grease travels farther than most owners think. It rises off the fryer as vapor, slips past the filters, and lands on the wall above the cook line, the shelf above the prep bench, the ceiling by the range and the top of every cooler, where it holds dust until the surface turns brown and tacky. The order of the work follows the order it collects. Behind the line comes first: the wall, the tile and the baseboard under it. Then the equipment itself, legs, casters, the sides nobody looks at, and the six inch slot between two units that has not been opened since delivery day. Floors come last. Quarry tile is unforgiving because the grout sits below the tile face and holds whatever lands in it, so it takes a degreaser, a deck brush worked into the joint, and then a real rinse. Skipping that rinse is exactly why a floor still grips a shoe on Friday night. All of it happens once the doors are locked, or in the hours before the first truck backs in.

Drains and the back door are where inspections get lost. Floor drains get opened, baskets pulled and washed, and the trough around them cleared instead of mopped over. The dish area takes the machine, the racks, the pit and the wall behind the sprayer, which absorbs more water than anybody plans for. Out back, the steps, the entry and the dumpster pad get washed down, because that is the smell your neighbors call about and the trail that walks straight back into your kitchen. Now the honest part. We clean the hood exterior, the surrounds, the filter housing and the wall and ceiling above the line. The interior duct run and the exhaust fan are certified hood and duct work and belong to the contractor who holds that certification. Two things tend to follow a deep clean: the wall along the cook line has taken enough heat that it wants coating rather than washing, and the back stoop the hand truck keeps chewing up needs a mason.

What the program covers

• Walls, tile and the baseboard along the cook line, to the ceiling
• Quarry tile scrubbed and the grout brought back with a brush
• Equipment legs, casters and the tight slot beside each unit
• Floor drains opened, baskets pulled, troughs cleared out
• Dish area, racks, the pit and the wall behind the sprayer
• Dining room floors, booth bases and the vents overhead
• Back entry, the steps and the dumpster pad washed down
• Hood exterior and surrounds, with the duct left to your vendor