Walk-in fridges and cold rooms for restaurant kitchens
A kitchen walk-in is sized for the busiest delivery day, not the quietest: for most restaurants that means 4 to 12 m² of chilled space with shelving on two or three sides, a door wide enough for a trolley and a zone or a second room for raw meat. In a hot kitchen the condensing unit goes outside or in a plant area so the room is not fighting the ovens, and a sliding door saves space where a hinged one would block a passage. Rooms are modular, so they fit under extraction ducts and around pillars. See our cold rooms page for how a room is built and what it costs.
Freezer rooms and blast chillers for kitchens
A walk-in freezer room at -18 to -22 °C replaces a line of chest freezers and is easier to stock-rotate and clean. Kitchens that batch cook need a blast chiller too: UK food safety guidance asks for cooked food to be chilled from +70 °C to +3 °C within 90 minutes, which an ordinary fridge cannot do without warming everything else in it. A blast chiller or blast chiller-freezer sits beside the pass or the prep area and does it in one cycle.
Takeaways, fast food and kebab shops
Takeaways need front-of-house display as much as back-of-house storage: upright glass kebab and meat display fridges at 0 to +4 °C, drinks chillers, refrigerated prep counters, a servery counter, and a walk-in fridge and freezer behind the kitchen. We fit out the shop and the refrigeration together, plan the work so you open on time and service the equipment afterwards. See our shop fitting page for how a fit out runs.
Cafes, coffee shops and sandwich bars
Cafes sell from their fridges, so the display matters: a cake display fridge at +2 to +4 °C with good lighting and humidity control so cream cakes do not dry out, a grab-and-go multideck for sandwiches, salads and drinks, and an under-counter fridge for milk at the coffee machine. Our cake display fridge guide covers sizes and types, and our bakeries and patisseries page covers patisserie displays.
Hotels and caterers
Hotels and event caterers run several kitchens from a central store, so they need larger walk-in fridges and freezer rooms, blast chillers for batch production, and refrigeration that is maintained because breakfast still happens when a fridge fails. We design the cold rooms around the production kitchen, banqueting and bars, install in phases around service, and cover everything with a maintenance contract.
Repairs and maintenance for restaurants
When a walk-in fails on a Friday night, the 24/7 emergency line is answered and we tell you when an engineer can be with you. Many common faults, such as a failed fan, a controller or a blocked drain, can be fixed on the first visit. Restaurants on a maintenance contract get priority response and planned visits, which is usually what stops the Friday night failure in the first place.
Compliance for restaurants and caterers
- Chilled food must be kept at 8 °C or below by law in England; walk-in fridges are set to 0 to +4 °C.
- Temperatures are recorded for your HACCP plan, by hand or automatically from the controller.
- Raw meat is stored below or apart from ready-to-eat food, with separate shelving or a separate room.
- Cooked food is chilled to +3 °C within 90 minutes before it goes into storage.
Why restaurants and caterers choose Alaska Cold
- Rooms sized for your deliveries and your menu, built to fit the kitchen you have.
- Installation planned around service, often overnight or on a closed day.
- One number for installation, repairs and maintenance, answered 24 hours a day.
Opening a restaurant, replacing a tired walk-in or fitting out a takeaway? Request a free quote and we will arrange a survey.