How to Estimate a Cafe or Restaurant Fit-Out
Estimating a cafe, restaurant or bar fit-out means pricing a small footprint against a disproportionately large services and compliance scope — a commercial kitchen with its own mechanical exhaust, hydraulic, gas and grease-trap requirements, a bar and servery joinery package, the dining fit-out itself, and a shopfront that usually has to satisfy a landlord’s design criteria before a single stool is installed. Because most hospitality fit-outs sit inside an existing tenancy in a shopping centre or strip retail location, hospitality fit-out cost also has to carry the site-access and after-hours work premium, a furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) allowance for items the operator selects, and a make-good provision for handing the space back one day. The sections below work through each package in order, with an illustrative example table further down — every rate shown is an example only, not a quote for a real job.
Key takeaways
- A hospitality fit-out estimate is built package by package — commercial kitchen services, bar and servery joinery, the dining fit-out, shopfront and glazing, and FF&E — not as one blended rate per square metre.
- The commercial kitchen carries most of the cost and risk in a cafe or restaurant fit-out: mechanical exhaust and ventilation, hydraulic and gas connections, the grease trap and the coolroom all need their own measured quantities and rates.
- Working inside an existing tenancy in a shopping centre or strip location usually means a tight program and after-hours or out-of-trading-hours work, both of which need pricing as their own allowance rather than being absorbed into standard labour rates.
- FF&E — kitchen equipment, furniture and loose items the operator selects — should be carried as a stated allowance rather than folded into the fixed price, and tenancy make-good at lease end deserves its own line item from day one.
- My Trade Hub speeds up hospitality fit-out estimating by measuring kitchen, bar and dining quantities from your uploaded fit-out drawings and applying your own editable rates automatically, producing a priced tender 60–75% faster than doing it by hand.
Why a hospitality fit-out doesn’t price like a standard commercial fit-out
A cafe, restaurant or bar fit-out doesn’t price like a standard retail or office fit-out because a disproportionate share of the cost and risk sits in a handful of specialist packages — the commercial kitchen services and the bar — rather than being spread evenly across the floor area. A 120 square metre cafe can carry a heavier services scope than a much larger office fit-out, because every square metre of a working kitchen needs mechanical, hydraulic, gas and electrical capacity that an open-plan office never will.
That’s why hospitality fit-outs are estimated package by package rather than as a single fit-out rate per square metre. Each package — kitchen services, bar and servery joinery, dining fit-out, shopfront and glazing, FF&E, and make-good — is measured from the fit-out drawings and priced against its own rates, then assembled into one structured Bill of Quantities.
- Commercial kitchen — mechanical exhaust and ventilation, hydraulics, gas, grease trap and coolroom
- Bar and servery joinery
- Dining fit-out — flooring, ceilings, lighting and feature finishes
- Shopfront, glazing and services upgrades
- FF&E allowance and tenancy make-good
The commercial kitchen: mechanical exhaust, hydraulics, gas and the coolroom
The commercial kitchen is usually the single largest and highest-risk package in a hospitality fit-out, because it combines several specialist trades that each need their own measured scope rather than a lump-sum allowance. Mechanical exhaust and ventilation — the canopy, ductwork and make-up air needed to clear cooking heat, grease and odour — is typically priced by the linear metre of canopy and the duct run to the nearest external discharge point, and is one of the packages most affected by where the kitchen sits relative to the building’s services risers.
Hydraulic and gas connections cover the supply and waste runs to cooking equipment, sinks and dishwashers, plus any upgrade to the tenancy’s existing gas or trade-waste capacity. The grease trap or grease arrestor is priced as its own item, sized to the kitchen’s equipment load, and the coolroom or cool-storage area — panels, refrigeration plant and flooring — is measured separately again, since its cost tracks the size and temperature range of the room rather than the surrounding kitchen floor area.
- Mechanical exhaust canopy, ductwork and make-up air, priced per linear metre and duct run
- Hydraulic supply and waste connections to cooking equipment, sinks and dishwashers
- Gas connection and any upgrade to existing tenancy gas capacity
- Grease trap or grease arrestor, sized to the equipment load
- Coolroom or cool-storage — panels, refrigeration plant and flooring, priced separately from the kitchen floor
Bar and servery joinery
Bar and servery joinery is priced by the lineal metre of bar front and back-bar run, in the same way kitchen cabinetry is priced by the metre rather than by counting individual units — with underbar refrigeration, glass washer and drainage connections measured and rated as their own line items rather than assumed to be part of the joinery cost.
A servery counter for a cafe follows the same logic on a smaller scale: the joinery run, any integrated display or heated cabinet, and the point-of-sale bench are each measured and rated separately, because a coffee-focused servery and a full bar have very different services and joinery loads behind a similar-looking front.
- Bar front and back-bar joinery, priced per lineal metre
- Underbar refrigeration, glass washer and drainage connections
- Servery counter, display cabinetry and point-of-sale bench
The dining fit-out: flooring, ceilings, lighting and feature finishes
The dining fit-out is measured much like any commercial interior — flooring and ceiling area in square metres, lighting by point or circuit, and joinery such as banquette seating by the lineal metre — but feature finishes carry more weight here than in a typical office fit-out, because the dining room is the part of the venue customers actually judge the business on.
Feature finishes — a feature wall, exposed services treated as a design element, pendant lighting over a bar or communal table, acoustic treatment for a busy dining room — should be priced as their own allowance rather than assumed inside a standard ceiling or flooring rate, since the specification, and therefore the cost, is often still being finalised with the operator or designer late into the program.
- Floor finishes, by area and by finish type where more than one is specified
- Ceiling area, including any bulkhead or feature ceiling detail
- Lighting, by point or circuit, including any feature or pendant fittings
- Feature finishes and acoustic treatment, priced as a stated allowance
Shopfront, glazing and services upgrades
A cafe or restaurant shopfront is priced as its own package — new or altered glazing, an entry door or bi-fold opening, and any signage substrate — because it usually has to satisfy a landlord’s design criteria before it satisfies the operator’s brand. Where the tenancy’s existing switchboard, water supply or gas meter can’t support the new kitchen and bar load, that upgrade is a separate line item, not an assumed inclusion in the kitchen or bar trade rates.
Services upgrades are worth pricing even when they aren’t yet confirmed, as a provisional allowance flagged clearly in the estimate — so the client sees the real cost risk, rather than a fixed price that assumes the base building already has capacity it may not have.
- Shopfront glazing, entry doors and signage substrate
- Switchboard, water and gas meter upgrades where existing capacity is insufficient
- Landlord design-criteria compliance items where specified in the lease
FF&E allowances and pricing a tight program in an occupied centre
Furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) — ovens, fridges, coffee machines and other loose items the operator sources directly — should be carried as a stated allowance rather than built into the fixed price, in the same way a kitchen renovation carries appliances as a prime cost item, because the operator’s final choices are rarely locked in when the fit-out is priced.
Hospitality fit-outs inside a live shopping centre or strip retail location also run to a tighter program than a standalone site, because trading hours and centre management rules usually push noisy or disruptive work into after-hours or out-of-trading-hours windows. That premium, and the extra supervision it needs, belongs in its own line item, since it applies across every trade working in the tenancy, not just one.
- FF&E — kitchen equipment, furniture and operator-selected items — carried as a stated allowance
- After-hours or out-of-trading-hours work priced as its own line item, not absorbed into trade rates
- Site access, centre inductions and shared-corridor delivery constraints priced in preliminaries
What to allow for in an occupied centre
Site access through a shared corridor or loading dock, centre management inductions and rules, after-hours or out-of-trading-hours work for noisy trades, and the extra supervision this requires all belong in preliminaries as named allowances — not absorbed into standard trade rates.
Tenancy make-good and the compliance line items to allow for
Make-good is the cost of returning the tenancy to its base-building condition at the end of the lease — removing the kitchen, bar and dining fit-out, and reinstating services and finishes to the landlord’s specification — and it’s worth pricing as a named allowance from the start of the project, even though the cost is realised years later, because the lease terms that drive it are usually fixed at commencement.
Health and food-safety requirements — council food-business registration, commercial kitchen design standards, and grease-trap or trade-waste compliance — shape the scope of the kitchen and drainage packages, so they belong in the estimate as line-item allowances for the physical work involved. This is general estimating guidance only, not food-safety, health or legal advice — confirm the specific registration and design requirements that apply to your venue with your council and a qualified adviser before finalising scope.
| Element | Typical unit | Example rate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial kitchen — mechanical, hydraulic & gas | Lump sum per kitchen | Illustrative example | Exhaust canopy, ductwork, gas and hydraulic connections |
| Grease trap / arrestor | Item | Illustrative example | Sized to the kitchen’s equipment load |
| Coolroom / cool-storage | Per m² of room | Illustrative example | Panels, refrigeration plant and flooring |
| Bar & servery joinery | Per lineal metre | Illustrative example | Includes underbar refrigeration and drainage |
| Dining floor & ceiling finishes | Per m² | Illustrative example | Feature finishes priced as a separate allowance |
| Shopfront & glazing | Lump sum | Illustrative example | Subject to landlord design criteria |
| FF&E allowance | Provisional allowance | Operator-selected | Equipment, furniture and loose items |
| Preliminaries, incl. after-hours work | % of subtotal | Illustrative example | Higher where the site is in a live shopping centre |
| Tenancy make-good provision | Lump sum allowance | Illustrative example | Priced at lease commencement, realised at lease end |
How My Trade Hub speeds up hospitality fit-out estimating
My Trade Hub is built to take the packages above off a spreadsheet and out of manual scaling. Upload the fit-out drawings for the cafe, restaurant or bar and the automated quantity takeoff measures kitchen floor area, bar and servery joinery runs, dining floor and ceiling area, and shopfront glazing straight from the plans, instead of a person scaling a PDF by hand for every package.
Your editable rates library then applies your own labour, material and plant rates to those measured quantities — including line items you set up for mechanical exhaust, hydraulic and gas connections, the grease trap and coolroom, and FF&E and make-good allowances — so the whole services-heavy scope of a hospitality fit-out gets priced properly, not folded into a single blended rate. The result is a structured Bill of Quantities and a client-ready tender document, built on rates you control, in 60–75% less time than doing the same takeoff and pricing manually.
- Automated takeoff from your uploaded fit-out drawings — kitchen, bar, dining and shopfront measured without manual scaling
- Editable rates library — your own rates for every package, including kitchen services, joinery, FF&E and make-good
- Structured Bill of Quantities, organised package by package
- Client-ready tender document generation
- Preparing a priced tender is 60–75% faster than doing it manually
Frequently asked questions
How do you estimate a cafe or restaurant fit-out?
You estimate a cafe or restaurant fit-out package by package — commercial kitchen services (mechanical exhaust, hydraulics, gas, grease trap and coolroom), bar and servery joinery, the dining fit-out, shopfront and glazing, and FF&E — each measured from the fit-out drawings and priced against your own rates, with preliminaries for site access and any after-hours work.
What drives hospitality fit-out cost the most?
Hospitality fit-out cost is driven mainly by the commercial kitchen — mechanical exhaust and ventilation, hydraulic and gas connections, the grease trap and the coolroom — because these services scale with equipment load rather than floor area, so a small kitchen can cost more per square metre than a much larger dining room.
What is tenancy make-good in a restaurant fit-out?
Tenancy make-good is the cost of returning a leased space to its base-building condition when the lease ends — removing the kitchen, bar and dining fit-out and reinstating services and finishes to the landlord’s specification. It’s worth pricing as a named allowance from the start of the project, since the lease terms driving it are usually fixed at commencement.
Why do hospitality fit-outs often involve after-hours work?
Many cafe, restaurant and bar fit-outs sit inside an occupied shopping centre or strip retail location, where trading hours and centre management rules push noisy or disruptive trades into after-hours or out-of-trading-hours windows. That premium, plus the extra supervision and site-access cost involved, needs its own line item in the estimate.
What is FF&E in a hospitality fit-out?
FF&E stands for furniture, fixtures and equipment — items like ovens, fridges, coffee machines and furniture that the operator typically sources or selects directly. It’s carried in the estimate as a stated allowance rather than folded into the fixed price, since final selections are rarely locked in when the fit-out is priced.
Can software estimate a hospitality fit-out automatically?
My Trade Hub automates the quantity takeoff for a hospitality fit-out by measuring kitchen, bar, dining and shopfront quantities from your uploaded fit-out drawings. Pricing is then applied using your own editable rates library, and the output is a structured Bill of Quantities and tender document, prepared 60–75% faster than doing it manually.
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