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Permalink Reply by eric on November 30, 2008 at 2:27pm

I highly recommend buying a new ice machine, you can expect a few years of trouble free service from it. (clean and sanitize it every few months) used units even newer ones will lead to problems it only takes one or two trips from the repair guy at 40 to 60 per hour plus parts to kill any savings
Never mind not having ice for a few days. I will never buy a used ice unit again.
Check out the yellow pages for your local restaurant supply store. Look what they carry, then check prices on line then go back and bargain with them.

I would also recommend buying refrigerators new, but if you cant make sure used ones come with some kind of warranty even if its just for a few days, when you get them to your place plug them in and let them run for a few days, make sure you or they ship upright

for display cases look on craigs list or ebay, even ask your local restaurant supply or auction house

1. What product do you recommend to clean espresso machine? use puro caff or any other name brand made just for espresso machines. very important that you look for that. other cleaners maybe to corrosive.


2. How do I know what’s the right tamper? look at espresso parts . com under tampers for your size Astoria - 58mm
Astra - 58mm
Aurora - 56mm
Azykoyen - 58mm
Bezzera - 58mm
Brasilia - 58mm
Bunn - 58mm
Caramali - 58mm
Cimbali - 57mm
Conti - 58mm
Dalla Corte - 54mm
Elektra - 58mm
ECM - 58mm Elektra - 58mm
Expobar - 58mm
Expobar - 58mm
Faema - 58mm
Fiorenzato - 58mm
Futurmat - 58mm
Gaggia - 58mm
Grimac - 58mm
Isomac - 58mm
La Marzocco - 57mm
La Pavoni - 56mmLa Spaziale - 53mm
Laranzato - 58mm Pasquini - 57mm
Rancilio - 58mm
Nuova Simonelli - 58mmRancilio - 58mm
Reneka - 56mm
San Marco - 53mm
Synesso - 58mm
Unic - 56mm
VFA - 58mm
Wega -58mm


3. Where can I get whip cream dispensers? check out any store like target or Williams Sonoma Birkdale Village - www.williams-sonoma.com don't forget the chargers.

4. What company’s cups are reasonable? check out your local paper wholesaler that sell commercial
5. Menu Board (Chalk board can I get this from Michael’s?) having just done this after other mistakes. go to the hardware store (home depot or the likes) buy a full sheet of pressed board
it looks like the stuff clip boards are made of have them cut it to any size you need. then buy a
Smooth roller and a pint or two of black chalk board paint. Paint the shiny side and corners. If you need to you can glue stronger wood on the back to give it some strength. they look great and from a distance you would never be able to tell.

good luck with your new venture.....and remember to have fun

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Permalink Reply by Dave on November 30, 2008 at 3:59pm

Eric had an excellent idea with the chalk board paint. You can also buy some sort of edge trim from home depot/lowes/whereever, stain it, attach the trim (I'd recommend gorilla glue and 2 or 3 trim nails), and hang it. Or, if you want more of an artistic board, you can cut the board into different shapes. Just a few other ideas.

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Permalink Reply by Al Soto on December 1, 2008 at 4:33pm

1. Bran new ice machine and refrigerator I was going to purchase from http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/equipment/commercial-refrigerat...

I ended up buying most everything used so I was able to cut corners and save a ton. I bought a great commercial fridge from Ebay and used a company UShip.com to get it shipped.

4. Cups: I use cups from Sam's Club : Dixie's perfect touch cups. No need for sleeves and they are the best price that I could find. About .12 per cup with lid.

5. Chalkboard: Great idea about the chalkboard Dave.

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Permalink Reply by Diversity Den Cafe on December 1, 2008 at 8:23pm

Thank you very much for the recommendations.

Al Soto said:

1. Bran new ice machine and refrigerator I was going to purchase from http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/equipment/commercial-refrigerat...

I ended up buying most everything used so I was able to cut corners and save a ton. I bought a great commercial fridge from Ebay and used a company UShip.com to get it shipped.

4. Cups: I use cups from Sam's Club : Dixie's perfect touch cups. No need for sleeves and they are the best price that I could find. About .12 per cup with lid.

5. Chalkboard: Great idea about the chalkboard Dave.

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Permalink Reply by Mitch Buckner - Bella Caffe on December 16, 2008 at 8:02am

www.coffeestuff.com has the Whipped Cream dispensers from ISI that are good.
I would suggest Javastock.com for cups. They offer some great designs on their insulated paper cups. They are a little pricey but help cut the price of sleeves or double cupping plus they look great. I hate seeing a coffee shop using styrofoam even if they do have a design on them & I dont care for the Sams cups either (I've had to use them in emergency before). Now the average customer might not care about the Sams cups but I would still suggest giving a good quality cup. Its what they have to see every time they pick it up to drink & you want them to think about you. The only way to do that without spending tons of money on custom printing is to offer a quality cup. You can also check out www.baristaworks.com or www.insulair.com for the Insulair insulated cups. They are a little more expensive than Javastock (International Paper) but you can also order smaller amounts at a time (I think IP you have to get 1000 12oz cups when you only have to get 600 from Insulair). These are really nice looking cups & again, they are double walled so you dont have to get a sleeve or double cup.

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