Is seeking out a restaurant supply store worth it as a home cook?
- Absolutely. If you haven’t been inside one, they are like the Container Store, Williams Sonoma, International Grocery Store, and Home Depot all in one place.
For the average home cook, these restaurant depots are most useful for buying small items, instead of ordering online: A spatula, a squirt bottle, or a ladle, or a set of food storage containers.
- It’s great for niche items too: they’ll have cake molds, any size mortar & pestle, and tortilla warmers, just to name a few.
Often their prices are even cheaper than what you can find online.
How is this possible?
1) Economy of scale
- Because restaurants buy all of these items in bulk, they’re offered at a lower rate, unlike online consumer direct shopping.
2) Limited branding
- Because everything is mostly unbranded, you get a lower price. When you buy a name-brand product, the marketing that comes with that company is baked into the price. Someone has to pay for it (you do).
We’ll admit, it’s quite the experience to walk through one of these: it’s overwhelming, and inspiring all at the same time. So whether you go simply for entertainment or to just buy a few small items, definitely go check out a restaurant supply store if you have one nearby.
