A Korean BBQ restaurant has two kitchens in one: the dining room, where guests grill at tabletop grills under ventilation, and the back kitchen, which preps and portions meat, cooks rice and stews, and holds a dozen or more banchan side dishes cold. The back of house list is meat prep and cold storage, rice cookers, stock pot and wok burners, prep tables, and code-compliant sinks.
Shop the equipment in this article: rice cookers and warmers, slicers and meat equipment, stock pot ranges and refrigerated prep tables. Freight is included on every order.
Tabletop grills and ventilation
Tabletop grills are specialty equipment, usually built into the tables with gas or electric hookups and downdraft or overhead extraction. They have to be planned with your mechanical engineer, fire marshal and health department, because each grill counts as cooking equipment under the ventilation rules. See which kitchen equipment needs a hood. Choose the grill system first, because it decides your table layout, gas lines and exhaust.
Meat prep and cold storage
- A meat slicer for thin-cut brisket, pork belly and bulgogi. See how to clean a meat slicer safely.
- Reach-in refrigerators and freezers, or a walk-in, for whole cuts, marinating meat and portioned trays. Keep raw meat below ready-to-eat food. Browse reach-in refrigerators.
- Stainless work tables and color coded cutting boards for raw meat.
- Food storage containers for marinating. See the food storage container guide.
Banchan and cold holding
- Refrigerated prep tables with rail pans hold banchan at 41 F or below for fast plating. Browse refrigerated prep tables.
- Extra reach-in space for kimchi and fermented sides. Fermenting foods have strong odors, so keep them covered.
- See cold holding at 41 F.
Rice, stews and soups
- Commercial rice cookers and warmers sized for your peak hour. Browse rice cookers and warmers.
- Stock pot ranges for broths and stews like doenjang jjigae. Browse stock pot ranges.
- A gas range or wok burners for stir-fried dishes. Browse commercial gas ranges.
Sinks and dish
- Hand sinks in the kitchen and near service stations.
- A prep sink for produce and a separate area for thawing and rinsing meat.
- A 3 compartment sink, and a dish machine for the large volume of small banchan plates.
- Grill grates and plates need soaking. Plan a large pot sink or soak tank.
Common mistakes
- Choosing tables before the grill and ventilation system.
- Too little cold storage for banchan and marinating meat.
- Underestimating dish volume. Korean BBQ uses many small plates per table.
What to buy
Once your grill system is chosen, build the back kitchen around a slicer, plenty of reach-in refrigeration, rice cookers, a stock pot range, stainless work tables and your sinks. Freight is included to the 48 contiguous states and DC.