With the rise of internet, technology and savvy customers, the open kitchen concept has continued to gain popularity within the restaurant industry. Restaurants such as Chipotle and Domino’s Pizza are at the forefront of this concept. These operations are meeting the ever changing demands of consumers. The sizzling sounds, the aroma of spices, and seeing the fresh ingredients prepared in a commercial kitchen, can be very appealing to diners.

This transparency allowing the customers to see their meals being freshly prepared that gives the customers the feeling that the foods taste better and built trust. Other benefits with open kitchens are, reassuring the customers, the hygiene conditions are optimal and with the chef interacting directly with the customers, this motivates the chef to take more care in preparing the food.

To determine if open kitchen concept is right for you, here are some pros and cons to consider.

Advantages and disadvantages of an open kitchen:

Pros

• Guess entertaining through seeing fresh and quality products being prepared in a commercial kitchen.
• Improved hygiene among staff as they are being watched by the customers.
• Open kitchen stimulates the senses of sound, smell and sight can certainly help elevate customer’s appetite.

Cons

• Occasionally accidents happened during rush hours that can leave negative impact on restaurant’s reputation.
• Commotion of typical commercial kitchen; clanging of pots and pans, bright lights, staff yelling for pickup orders or when mistakes happened and stovetops cooking that emit smoky smells.
• During busy rushes the kitchen may be messy as serving the customers takes priority over any other matter.

In conclusion whether to go with an open kitchen concept, devise compromises should be carefully discussed during design development.