7 Cheap Home Kitchen Tools You Can Score at Restaurant Supply Stores

You don't have to be a professional cook to be able to enjoy numerous benefits from shopping at your nearest restaurant supply store. From providing all kinds of impressively durable, easy-to-use, and budget-friendly cooking utensils like spatulas and tongs, to those deli containers that you need to level up your meal prep game, there's a lot to love about restaurant supply stores. We'll take a closer look at some of the best possible purchases you can make during your visit to a restaurant supply store. 

Just in case this is your first time coming across talk of a “restaurant supply store”, as is implied in the name, a restaurant supply store is assembled in such a way that it’s equipped with pretty much anything that a restaurant could need (both in the kitchen and the dining room, aka front of house), but also includes numerous budget-friendly additions for anyone who is an at-home cook. 

Restaurant supply stores are most often located in the industrial district of your city, and tucked away between warehouses. Very similar to your typical Costco, restaurant supply stores offer all kinds of crazy discounts on popular kitchen items in bulk, but they also usually sell restaurant-grade, extremely durable kitchen equipment at discounted price points. 

Keep in mind that you usually won’t be able to get flashy-colored kitchen equipment, as most restaurant supply stores stick to the two primary colors of black and white for the equipment that they sell. If you’re looking for great leads on where you can check out your first restaurant supply store, give WebstaurantStore or Restaurant Depot a look.

Related: Costco Online Shopping: The Big Differences Between Costco and Costco.com

It’d be great if it were easier to find these peelers at more stores outside of the realm of restaurant supply stores, but it’s far more difficult than you might think. These specific “Y” vegetable peelers are in a league of their own when it comes to an exceptional ergonomic design that makes it as easy as possible for you to quickly and painlessly peel vegetables.

Related: Frugal Cooks Share Their Secrets To Making Delicious Vegetable Stock Using Kitchen Scraps

If you’re doing a lot of cooking at home then you’re likely using your cooking tongs all the time. While simple enough, stainless steel utility tongs are built to be lighter and more resistant to wearing away over time. Plus, the utility tongs you’ll be able to find at your nearest restaurant supply store will be cheap, and available in pretty much any size that you can think of. 

If you’ve ever worked in the industry, then you’ve had your fair share of times grabbing various containers of soups, sauces, meats, veggies, etc. out of the restaurant’s walk-in fridge. There’s no reason that you can’t use new deli containers from a restaurant supply store to provide a new level of organization in your home’s fridge.

On top of helping you better organize various leftovers, new soups, stews, etc. in your fridge, deli containers are also far superior to any kind of Tupperware out there, because most are built to sustain extremely high temperatures. Plus, the lids between different-sized deli containers are interchangeable because they’re all the same size. 

(The 32-ounce containers are also great for drinking ice-cold water while cooking in a hot kitchen as you may have seen chefs do in TV shows like "The Bear.")

Related: 26 Delicious Recipes That Use Up Those Aging Condiments in the Fridge

You likely refer to these “sheet trays” (chef vernacular) as cookie trays or baking sheets. The best part about buying sheet trays from restaurant supply stores is that they are made with standardized measurements that have a specially designed inch-high rim which is perfect for when you roast or bake anything. For your average home-cooked meal, the quarter or half sheet sizes should do the trick. 

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Anyone who prides themselves on being a talented, well-equipped home baker would do well to invest in a digital kitchen scale. In your standard professional kitchen setting, pretty much everything you can think of is measured by weight for maximum accuracy, as well as consistency. Not only are digital kitchen scales great for that, but they’re also highly effective for whenever you need to be as exact as possible for portioning. 

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Most any restaurant that you've ever been to is using stainless steel mixing bowls. A great part about stainless steel mixing bowls is that by design they’re very durable and convenient to use, as they come in numerous different sizes that can be easily stacked upon one another. Plus, they’re heat-proof, which makes them great for using as a double boiler for when you need to. 

Related: 30 Kitchen Essentials That Are Built to Last