Restaurant Maintenance Checklist

Walk the line with the sous chef. Check the six-burner pilots, sauté handles, salamander coils, fryer baskets, and reach-in handles for cracks, looseness, or heat damage. Note any unit running outside its normal sound or smell — frequent early signal of a compressor or motor about to fail.

Filter once daily minimum; replace oil based on the fry station's logged use, not by calendar. Dark, smoking, or foaming oil is a food-quality and fire-risk problem — change it immediately rather than topping off.

Verify temperature at three points across each surface using a calibrated infrared thermometer. Hot/cold spots greater than 25°F variance indicate a failing burner or a warped plate — flag for service before the next service shift.

Confirm the hood pulls smoke from a paper-towel test at each station. Verify the Ansul suppression-system tag is current (semi-annual inspection required by NFPA 96). A failed pull test means the kitchen runs without code-compliant ventilation — close that station until repaired.

Capture every issue noted during the line walk — unit, symptom, severity, last service date. This list drives the work-order step and feeds the monthly capex conversation.

Read the back-wall thermometer (not the digital readout near the door, which reads warm). Record the value. Cold-holding requires 41°F or below per FDA Food Code; a reading at 42-45°F means the unit is drifting and needs service before product is at risk.

Target 0°F or below. Heavy frost on the evaporator coil or product is a defrost-cycle or door-gasket issue — note it in the issues log.

Pull-forward dated containers; confirm prep cooks are date-labeling using the day-dot system. Anything past use-by gets pulled now, not at the next prep shift. Cross-contamination risk: raw proteins on the bottom shelf, ready-to-eat above.

A torn gasket on a low-boy is the most common reason a reach-in can't hold 41°F — and the cheapest fix. Run a dollar-bill test: close the door on a bill; if it pulls out without resistance, replace the gasket.

Cross-check today's logged values against code: cooler ≤41°F, freezer ≤0°F. Any unit out of range triggers the next step — move product to a known-good unit and call the refrigeration tech before any TCS food is at risk.

Class K extinguishers (kitchen, for grease fires) need an annual third-party inspection tag. Confirm the tag is dated within 12 months and the pin and seal are intact. ABC extinguishers in the dining room and dry-storage areas need the same check.

Press-and-hold each unit; replace 9V batteries on hardwired-with-backup detectors annually regardless of whether they chirp. Detectors near the line collect grease and need replacement on a 5-year cycle.

Hit each test button — emergency lights must illuminate for 90 minutes per NFPA 101. A burned-out exit sign is a Day-of citation in most health and fire inspections.

Health permit, occupancy certificate, liquor license, food-handler manager certs, OSHA 300A summary (Feb 1 – April 30), and any state-required allergen-aware notice. Expired liquor license = immediate ABC suspension.

Use a fresh test strip. Quat ammonia: 200-400 ppm. Chlorine: 50-100 ppm. Out-of-range concentration is the most common health-inspection citation in this category — adjust the dispenser and re-strip before signing off.

The 25% rule: when grease + solids exceed one-quarter of the trap depth, schedule a pump. Many municipalities require a hauler manifest on file — store the last invoice with the maintenance binder.

High-temp machines: wash 150°F+, final rinse 180°F (use a max-registering thermometer or thermolabel). Low-temp chemical-sanitizer machines: 120°F wash with 50-100 ppm chlorine in the final rinse. A failing booster heater is the usual cause of low rinse readings.

Pull the baffle filters; soak in degreaser and run through the dish machine. Saturated filters drop pull volume and raise the fire-load above the line. Confirm the last hood-cleaning vendor service was within 6 months (NFPA 96 schedule for moderate-volume kitchens).

Drain the bin, scrub with manufacturer-approved sanitizer (often nickel-safe to protect the evaporator plate), rinse, run a clean cycle. Pink slime on the deflector is biofilm — a common Yelp-complaint and inspection finding.

Backflush the espresso group heads with detergent; descale the boiler per the manufacturer's interval. Run beer-line cleaner through the draft system — sour or off-flavor pours almost always trace to lines past their cleaning window (every two weeks is the industry baseline).

Check exterior bait stations and interior glue boards. Sign the pest-control vendor's logbook (Orkin, Ecolab, or local) at every visit — health inspectors ask to see it. Any rodent activity inside the building is a critical violation; escalate to the vendor immediately.