Restaurant & food service build-outs · Tucson
Restaurant build-out contractor in Tucson.
Restaurants are not held up by framing. They are held up by hood sizing, under-slab plumbing, long-lead equipment and a health department review that should have started a month earlier. We build them backwards from those.
- General Commercial · ROC #321107
- General Residential · ROC #312052
- Roofing · ROC #312053 / CR-42
- Electrical · ROC #332556
Tell us about the concept
Suite size, what was there before, and what you plan to cook.
The three things that actually delay an opening
Health department plan review started too late. Long-lead equipment — hoods, walk-ins, custom millwork — ordered too late. Or an equipment schedule that changed after the plumbing and electrical rough-in was already in the ground.
None of those are construction problems. All three are sequence problems, and all three are avoidable if the person building it has opened a restaurant before.
What a food build-out covers
The kitchen
Cook line, prep, dish and storage laid out around the equipment schedule rather than the other way round. Equipment cut sheets drive the plumbing and electrical rough-in, so if that package lands late everything behind it moves.
Hood, suppression and make-up air
Exhaust hood, fire suppression, and the make-up air to replace what the hood pulls out. Undersized make-up air is one of the most common reasons a kitchen fails its first test and one of the most expensive to fix afterwards.
Grease, drains and water
Grease interceptor, floor sinks and floor drains, three-compartment and handwash sinks, mop sink, water heater sized for the fixture count. Most of this is under the slab, which is why it has to be right before anything is poured.
Washable finishes
Floors, walls and ceilings in the surfaces a health inspector will accept, coved where required, with the transitions detailed properly rather than caulked at the end.
Front of house
Service counter, seating, bar, millwork, lighting and the finish package that makes it your room. This is the part customers see and the part most often squeezed when the back of house runs over.
Restrooms and access
ADA restrooms, paths of travel, door hardware and clearances. A change of use to food service usually triggers accessibility upgrades that were not required of whatever was there before.
Food build-outs we've done
Chinese hot pot restaurant
First Avenue at Prince
Hot pot build-out, where the cooking happens at every table rather than on a single line. Ventilation and power carried out to the seating, gas and induction at each position, plus the back-of-house prep, plumbing and washable finishes any food tenant needs.
French pastry shop
Congress Street, downtown Tucson
Downtown food build-out on Congress. Commercial kitchen and display case work, health-department requirements, and the constraints that come with building inside an older downtown storefront.
Frozen dessert franchise
First Avenue
Quick-service dessert build-out: service counter, walk-in and product equipment, floor drains and the finish package a food tenant needs to pass inspection.
Concepts we build
Quick service and fast casual
Service counter, compact cook line, drive-through or pickup flow, and franchise prototypes built to a corporate standard.
Bakeries, cafés and dessert
Display cases, prep kitchens, espresso and cold equipment, and lighter mechanical loads than a full cook line — but the same health department scrutiny.
Full service restaurants
Full cook line, bar, larger dining room, and the mechanical and acoustic work that a big room with an open kitchen needs.
Hot pot, teppan and table-cooked concepts
When the cooking happens at the table, the ventilation and power have to reach the seats, not just the back of house. It changes the mechanical design of the whole room, and it is the version most contractors have never built.
Second locations and conversions
Taking a proven concept into a space that used to be something else — usually the hardest version, because the existing building fights the plan.
How we run it
Walk the space with your equipment list
Not just the suite — the equipment schedule too. What you plan to cook determines the hood, the gas, the electrical and the drainage, so we want to see both on the first visit.
Scope and number
A written scope line by line, priced against it. Food build-outs carry costs that surprise people — grease interceptors, make-up air, under-slab plumbing — and you should see those before you sign, not after.
Health department plan review, early
Food service plans go to the health department for review alongside the building permit. Starting that late is the single most common way a restaurant opening slips, so we start it early.
Build around the long-lead items
Hoods, walk-ins and custom millwork have lead times measured in weeks. The schedule is built backwards from those, not forwards from demolition.
Inspections through to opening
Building, fire and health inspections carried to sign-off. On a restaurant, finished means you can serve — not that the punch list is short.
Restaurant build-out questions
What does a restaurant build-out involve?
Everything between an empty or previously-used space and a kitchen you can serve from: the cook line and equipment, exhaust hood and fire suppression, make-up air, grease interceptor, under-slab plumbing and drains, washable finishes, front of house, ADA restrooms, and the building, fire and health inspections that let you open.
Do you build restaurants in Tucson?
Yes. Food service build-outs are a core part of Crest Contracting's commercial work in Tucson and Pima County — cafés, bakeries, dessert concepts, quick service, full service and table-cooked concepts. We are licensed general commercial in Arizona, ROC #321107. Recent food build-outs include a Chinese hot pot restaurant on First Avenue at Prince, a French pastry shop on Congress Street downtown and a frozen dessert franchise on First Avenue.
What usually delays a restaurant opening?
Rarely the construction. It is normally one of three things: health department plan review started too late, long-lead equipment like hoods and walk-ins ordered too late, or an equipment schedule that changed after the plumbing and electrical rough-in was already set. All three are avoidable and all three are about sequence, not speed.
Do I need a grease interceptor?
Almost always, if you are cooking. Size and location depend on your menu, your fixture count and what the local authority requires, and it is usually under the slab — so it has to be resolved before concrete is poured rather than discovered afterwards.
Can you convert a space that was not a restaurant before?
Yes, and it is common. Converting a retail or office suite to food service is a change of use, which typically brings accessibility, occupancy and mechanical requirements that did not apply to the previous tenant. We resolve those during permitting rather than during construction.
Who pays for a restaurant build-out — me or the landlord?
It depends on your lease. Many leases include a tenant improvement allowance, where the landlord contributes a set amount and you cover the rest. The work letter attached to the lease sets out who is responsible for what. We price the scope so both sides can see exactly what is included.
What does a restaurant build-out cost in Tucson?
It depends far more on the space than on the concept — what is already there, whether it was previously a food tenant, and what the under-slab plumbing and mechanical need. A suite that was a restaurant before can cost a fraction of an identical suite that was a shop. We walk it and give you a written scope with a number against it. The walkthrough is free.
Do you do the kitchen mechanical and refrigeration?
Crest Contracting is a general contractor and does not hold an HVAC licence. Mechanical work is done by our sister company Crest Air LLC and coordinated directly on the job, so you still deal with one contractor.
Opening a restaurant in Tucson?
Bring the space and the equipment list. We will walk it, tell you what the build actually involves, and give you a written scope with a number against it.