Design & documentation · Nationwide
Restaurant and Food-Service Design and Permitting
Food-service planning starts with the menu and operating model. True North coordinates the building, equipment and review package for restaurants, beverage businesses and specialized food-production settings.
For property owners, operators, developers and their project teams throughout the United States. Start with your actual use, location and the records you have.
Request a project reviewWhat the scope can include
Select the work and handoff your project needs. The agreement identifies the included deliverables and responsibilities.
Restaurants and beverage operations
Coordinate kitchens, dining, service counters, storage, restrooms and customer circulation for restaurants, cafes, bars, bakeries and similar businesses. Identify occupancy, fire, accessibility and separate operational approvals.
Production, shared and mobile food settings
Define who uses the premises and which preparation, packaging, storage or distribution activities occur. Shared kitchens, commissaries, catering, food-production spaces and mobile-unit support need a scope tied to their actual operations.
Kitchen equipment and connected systems
Reconcile appliance schedules, hoods and make-up air, suppression, power, gas, water, drainage, grease and refrigeration. Coordinate health-review information with the building drawings and utility requirements.
Prepare for the assignment
You can start with incomplete records. Tell us what is available and what still needs to be established.
Information to bring
Menu and process description, seating and operating model, equipment cut sheets, site/floor plans, utility records and landlord or health-review correspondence.
The agreed handoff
A coordinated food-service plan package and responsibility/approval register connecting equipment, building systems and operational review.
Decisions, fees and timing
Scope and dependencies determine the proposal. No universal price or approval date is assumed.
Confirm the basis and responsibility
Review the available records, intended endpoint and authority to use the information. Assign missing inputs, technical decisions and the parties who can authorize changes.
Coordinate and review the work
Prepare the included documents from agreed inputs, resolve interfaces with responsible specialists and track revisions. Record external decisions and conditions separately from work prepared for review.
Account for project-specific dependencies
Equipment changes, exhaust routing, utility capacity, retained systems, health-review requirements and specialty design.
Deliver the defined milestone
Provide the controlling documents and remaining-action record. Identify what is accepted, what still requires a decision and what belongs to a separately contracted next stage.
Food-service formats and operating inputs
Use the actual menu, preparation steps and service format to define the drawings. Existing bakery and commissary coordination remains part of this scope; the distinctions below identify which systems and approvals need attention.
Coffee shops and bakeries
A coffee shop needs equipment, water treatment, ice, refrigeration, washing and any food-preparation work documented. A bakery’s ovens, production volume, mixing, storage and cooling can change power, gas and exhaust needs. Identify what is prepared on site versus supplied ready-made; coordinate the equipment layout with the mechanical and plumbing specialists and the reviewing health authority.
Ghost kitchens and commissaries
A ghost kitchen serves delivery or pickup without assuming a dining-room program. A commissary kitchen may serve several operators or mobile units and needs each user’s preparation, storage, washing and servicing arrangement defined. Provide menus, operator responsibilities, schedules and equipment lists so shared utilities, grease handling, exhaust and health-review records correspond to the real operation.
Food-truck parks
A food-truck park combines mobile-unit operations with a site: parking, circulation, accessible customer areas, electrical connections, water, wastewater, refuse and any shared seating or structures. Supply the site survey, unit/service arrangement and operating plan. Coordinate land use, civil and utility work with the relevant health, fire and building reviews rather than treating the trucks’ individual records as approval for the whole property.
Before you begin
Common questions
Can a restaurant be designed from seating count alone?
No. Cooking methods, menu, preparation and storage determine major equipment and system needs. Share those decisions early to avoid incompatible layouts.
Is the building permit the only approval needed to open?
The applicable building, fire, health and operating approvals must be identified for the actual business and location. One approval does not establish that every requirement is satisfied.
Your next step
A project in mind?
Let’s give it direction.
Start with what you know. We’ll help define the path ahead.