Restaurant Moving in Boston and MetroWest

Work backward from the day the new kitchen's inspection and equipment start-up are booked. The dining room and smallwares usually go first, because the new space needs shelving and tables in before the chef can set stations, and the trades want the kitchen floor clear. At the old address, spare chairs, banquet stock, and back-up glassware can be packed days ahead; the tables in use leave after close that night, or on a weekend if you prefer.

Curb space is the other constraint. On Hanover Street or a narrow Back Bay side street, the truck may need a street-occupancy permit from the City of Boston and competes with other restaurants' morning deliveries. A plaza unit on Route 9 or Route 1 usually has a rear door, though the landlord may set its hours. Our insurance certificate can go to either landlord that wants one.

Most breakage in a restaurant move is glass and china, so stemware goes into divided cartons, plates are packed on edge, and each carton carries the station and shelf it came from rather than just "kitchen". Heavy stockpots never share a carton with glass. Banquette seats are wrapped against tears, table bases travel apart from their tops, and chairs are padded in stacks.

Back halls and kitchen floors are often greasy, so runners go down at the service door and kitchen pieces ride on their own side of the truck, away from upholstered dining furniture. A unit the technician has released, such as a worktable or an unplugged reach-in, travels upright and strapped and is set where its connections can be reached. Food stays with your kitchen team.