The hard parts · The Landlord's Delivered Condition
What "Restaurant Ready" Actually Means
The lease describes what the landlord delivers. That description is where most restaurant budget surprises originate, and it is negotiable only before signing.
Before you sign. We will tell you what the landlord has actually delivered and what it will cost to make it a restaurant.
Pre-lease
We will walk the space before you sign it
Rent clock
Every week of delay is a week of paying for a closed room
Grease
Routing checked before design, not discovered at permit
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
The phrase means whatever the lease says it means
"Restaurant ready" and "vanilla shell" have no fixed definition. One landlord means a grease interceptor, gas, a roof curb and a heavy power supply. Another means four walls and a water meter. The difference between those two is an enormous amount of money and it is entirely in the wording.
The imbalance is one of information rather than good faith. A landlord knows exactly what their building provides because they own it. A tenant is reading a description, in a document written by the landlord's lawyer, about systems they cannot see. Verifying it physically is the only way to close that gap.
What to pin down in writing
- Electrical service size actually delivered to the unit.
- Gas service, and its capacity.
- Grease interceptor — provided, shared, or yours to install.
- Roof access and a permitted penetration for exhaust.
- HVAC — provided, existing and working, or tenant work.
- Who does the fire sprinkler modification for your layout.
The questions to put in writing
What size electrical service is delivered to the unit, in amps. Is gas available and at what capacity. Is there a grease interceptor, what size, and who maintains it. Is roof access and a penetration for exhaust permitted. Is HVAC provided, working, and whose responsibility is it.
Ask all of them in writing and keep the answers. They cost nothing to ask before signing, they are almost impossible to establish afterwards, and each one has been the subject of a dispute on somebody's restaurant project.
How we handle it
- 01Review the work letter with you before you sign.
- 02Walk the space and verify what is actually there.
- 03Price the gap between the work letter and a working restaurant.
- 04Give you that number while it is still a negotiating point.
Have somebody walk the space and read the work letter at the same time, before signing. Verifying what is physically present against what is promised takes an afternoon and it is the highest-return hour in the entire project.
Said plainly
Where we stop
After signing, every gap is your cost. We can price it accurately and we cannot move it back to the landlord, which is exactly why the walk happens before.
FAQ
Common questions
- What does "restaurant ready" mean?
- Only what the lease says. It has no fixed definition and the range is enormous.
- What should we pin down?
- Power, gas, grease interceptor, roof penetration, HVAC and sprinkler modification. In writing.
- When should we get advice?
- Before signing. Afterwards every gap is yours.
- Will you walk a space pre-lease?
- Yes. It is the most useful thing we do.
What we build
Full-Service Restaurant
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Quick Service & Fast Casual
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Bars & Nightlife
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Café & Bakery
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Ghost & Commissary Kitchens
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Food Hall Stalls
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.