TL;DR: Restaurant equipment costs break down into six buckets: cooking line, refrigeration, HVAC and hood systems, POS and tech hardware, FF&E, and smallwares. Full kitchen equipment packages run $75,000 to $150,000 for full-service concepts, with hood systems adding $18,000 to $55,000 more. New equipment costs more upfront but used gear can cut costs by up to 50 percent. The real question isn’t the price tag, it’s whether each dollar grows revenue or protects it.
Restaurant equipment costs are the line item first-time owners get wrong most often. They budget for the espresso machine and the flat-top, then forget the hood system that has to sit above it, the walk-in that has to keep food safe, and the POS hardware that has to ring the sale. For a full-service concept, kitchen equipment alone runs $75,000 to $150,000, and that’s before refrigeration, ventilation, furniture, or a single pot.
This guide walks through where the equipment budget actually goes, category by category, with real cost ranges for each. It covers when new equipment makes sense versus used or leased, how the IRS lets you write off equipment purchases faster than almost any other restaurant expense, and the mental model that keeps owners from overspending on the wrong things. By the end, you should be able to build an equipment budget that matches your concept instead of guessing at a number and hoping it holds.
How Much Should You Budget for Restaurant Equipment?
A full-service restaurant build typically needs $150,000 to $250,000 in total equipment spend, covering the cooking line, refrigeration, hood system, POS hardware, furniture, and smallwares. Fast-casual and quick-service concepts often open for $75,000 to $125,000, since the menu and the line behind it are simpler.
That range moves a lot based on two things: how complex your menu is and how much of the space was already built out for foodservice. A “second-generation” space that used to house another restaurant can cut thousands off the total because the hood, grease trap, and gas lines already exist. A bare shell means paying for all of it from scratch. Total restaurant equipment spend commonly makes up 20 to 40 percent of the full build-out budget, separate from rent, construction, and design fees.
Before you sign a lease, get quotes on the cooking line and hood system specifically. Those two categories swing the total more than anything else, and they’re the ones landlords and general contractors underestimate when they hand you a “typical” build-out number.
Where the Equipment Budget Actually Goes
Equipment spend isn’t one number. It’s six separate categories, and each one has its own cost drivers and its own reason it can’t be skipped.
Cooking line equipment (ranges, griddles, fryers, convection ovens) is the heart of the kitchen. Small kitchens typically spend $15,000 to $30,000 here, while larger, multi-station lines run $40,000 to $80,000. This is the equipment that turns raw ingredients into finished plates, so under sizing it caps how many covers you can push through a rush.
Refrigeration (walk-in cooler and freezer, reach-ins, undercounter units) typically runs $12,000 to $25,000 for a small kitchen and $35,000 to $70,000 for a larger one. A standard walk-in alone runs $5,000 to $40,000 depending on size and whether it’s a quick-ship or custom unit, with the refrigeration system itself making up roughly a third to 40 percent of that number. Skimp here and you’re capping your own inventory capacity, which caps your daily volume no matter how good the cooking line is.
HVAC and hood systems are the category owners plan for last and pay for the most. A complete commercial hood system, including the exhaust hood, ductwork, and makeup air unit, typically runs $18,000 to $35,000 for a standard setup and can climb to $55,000 to $95,000 or more for a complex, multi-station build, and professional installation adds $950 to $1,200 per linear foot for a basic setup, more for a full turnkey job. Health departments and fire marshals will not sign off without it, so this isn’t optional no matter how tight the budget gets.
POS and tech hardware covers terminals, kitchen display screens, card readers, and network gear. A single-terminal setup runs $800 to $1,500, while a full multi-terminal system with kitchen displays can run $4,000 to $12,000 or more. We’ve written about how the right POS setup changes service speed, and the hardware choice you make here also decides how clean your sales data feeds into your books later.
FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment: tables, chairs, bar stools, light fixtures, signage) varies more than any other category because it’s where concept and design taste show up most. Most restaurants invest $10,000 to $50,000 or more in furniture alone, depending on seat count and finish level.
Smallwares (pots, pans, utensils, glassware, flatware, prep containers) feels minor item by item but adds up fast. Most concepts budget $3,000 to $6,000 just for opening smallwares, plus an ongoing replacement line for breakage and wear.
New, Used, or Leased: Which Equipment Fits Your Budget?
Used restaurant equipment typically sells for 40 to 70 percent below retail, and leasing spreads cost over time instead of hitting cash flow at open. The right choice depends on how hard the piece works, how fast it becomes obsolete, and whether you can absorb a repair bill without a warranty.
Buying used matters most on equipment that doesn’t change much year to year: work tables, shelving, basic ranges. Buying used here frees up cash for the categories where new really matters.
Leasing keeps upfront costs low and often bundles maintenance into the payment, which is useful for equipment that turns over fast or that a growing concept might outgrow, like POS terminals or espresso machines tied to a specific brand relationship. The tradeoff is real: total lease payments usually add up to more than a cash purchase over the equipment’s life, and you’re locked into payments for the full term even if the concept doesn’t survive that long.
Our general rule with clients: buy used or lease equipment that breaks down often or gets replaced every few years. Buy new for anything with a long service life and a real warranty gap risk, like your primary refrigeration and cooking line, where downtime costs you sales every hour it sits broken.
Equipment Purchases and Your Taxes
Restaurant equipment isn’t a normal expense. It’s a fixed asset that gets capitalized on your balance sheet and then depreciated, and current tax law lets most of it get written off immediately instead of spread over years.
Section 179 lets you deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment in the year you place it in service, up to $2,560,000 for 2026, with the deduction phasing out dollar-for-dollar once purchases pass $4,090,000, and 100 percent bonus depreciation is permanent again for equipment placed in service after January 19, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, covering ovens, fryers, walk-ins, and POS hardware. That combination can turn a $50,000 equipment purchase into a $50,000 deduction in year one instead of spreading it over five to seven years.
This only works if your books actually separate equipment from operating expenses and code it correctly from day one. If your chart of accounts lumps a walk-in cooler in with monthly supplies, your P&L gets harder to read and you risk missing the deduction entirely or having to amend a return later. This is exactly the kind of setup work that belongs in restaurant accounting, not something to leave until tax season.
Revenue-Generating Spend vs. Protective Spend
Not every equipment dollar earns its keep the same way, and treating the whole budget as one flat line item is how owners end up overspending on the wrong things.
Two categories drive revenue directly. The cooking line turns a limited menu into a full-day one, and specialty equipment (espresso machines, draft systems, high-volume fryers) is often the busiest gear in the building during peak hours. Under sizing either one throttles how much you can actually sell, no matter how strong demand is.
Everything else, refrigeration, dish and sanitation, installation, protects the revenue those categories generate without producing a sale on its own. Skimp on refrigeration and you get spoilage. Skimp on installation and a walk-in that doesn’t hold temperature on day one. Skimp on dish and sanitation and the health department doesn’t let you open at all.
Before approving any equipment line item, ask whether it grows revenue capacity, protects revenue you already have, or is purely cosmetic. Budget in that order, and the categories that don’t add sales or protect them are the first place to look for savings.
What’s the Biggest Mistake Restaurants Make on Equipment Budgets?
The most common mistake is treating equipment as a single number instead of six separate decisions, which leads owners to overspend on visible, aesthetic equipment while underfunding the categories that actually pass inspection or drive volume.
A shiny custom hood cover or a designer ice machine doesn’t move average check or table turns. Meanwhile, an undersized walk-in or a hood system installed to code minimums will cost more in spoilage, downtime, or a failed health inspection than the savings ever justified. Cosmetic upgrades belong last on the list, funded only after revenue-generating and protective equipment is covered.
Where FORCS Fits In
Getting the equipment budget right the first time matters more than it looks, because a miscoded fixed asset or an underbuilt refrigeration line shows up as a problem months after the ribbon-cutting, not during planning. Three things to take from this: separate your six equipment categories before you shop, run new versus used versus leased math on each one individually instead of the budget as a whole, and code every purchase correctly from day one so you don’t leave Section 179 and bonus depreciation on the table.
If you’re planning a build-out or renovation and want a second set of eyes on the equipment budget before you commit, that’s exactly the kind of pre-opening work we help with in restaurant consulting. Book a consultation and we’ll walk through your category breakdown together.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a new restaurant budget for equipment overall? Full-service concepts typically need $150,000 to $250,000 in total equipment spend, while fast-casual concepts can open for $80,000 to $130,000. The range depends heavily on menu complexity and whether the space already has a hood, grease trap, and gas lines from a prior tenant.
Is it better to buy new or used restaurant equipment? It depends on the category. Used equipment works well for items that don’t change much year to year, like work tables and shelving, and can cut costs 30 to 50 percent. New makes more sense for primary refrigeration and the cooking line, where downtime directly costs you sales.
Can restaurant equipment be fully written off in the first year? Yes, in most cases. Section 179 and 100 percent bonus depreciation currently let restaurants deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment, including ovens, fryers, walk-ins, and POS hardware, in the year it’s placed in service, instead of spreading the deduction over several years.
What’s the biggest equipment cost owners underestimate? The hood and HVAC system. A complete system with installation can run well past $50,000 once ductwork and makeup air units are included, and it’s easy to overlook because it’s not visible on the sales floor the way the cooking line or bar setup is.
Should equipment be treated as a single line item in the budget? No. Equipment covers six distinct categories with different cost drivers, and treating it as one number leads to overspending on cosmetic upgrades while underfunding the refrigeration, ventilation, and sanitation equipment that protects revenue and passes inspection.
