Your restaurant is always slammed for lunch so you have to premake most of your food; keep it warm in heated food displays. These are glass enclosed cases that utilize heaters to hold food temperature steady until it's served. The glass allows customers to see what you're offering. In the case of buffets, of course your food is premade, but using the right buffet display case will keep it warm until it's all gone.

Mouths start watering when you display your dishes in a hot food display case. Here's how you can do this:

1. Set up small food display heaters on your counter if you only have a few hot items to showcase. This also works great if you don't have enough floor space for a larger display case.

2. Utilize heated food display cabinets if you do have the room for large displays and if you have lots of warm food to sell.

3. Make sure you're protecting your buffet food by using heated food display cases with sneezeguards. Some buffet cases come with these guards, others don't.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a heated food countertop display if you're short on space

Floor space can get used up pretty quickly in a small restaurant. You want your customers to be able to see everything they can get but you may not have any room left for a display case. The solution is to get a heated countertop display case to set up on your counter. Another upside to this is that the food is at eye level with your customers.

I recommend: Show off warm pastries and other confections with a display cabinet from The Restaurant Source Equipment and Supply. Use a rotating countertop display case for pizzas from BigTray.

Entice your customers with a commercial food heated display

Larger display cases are needed when you have either a lot of food to show or large items to display, like whole pizza pies. You can use a glass-front cabinet and allow your customers to take what they'd like or you can use a heated display that is only accessible to your staff.

I recommend: Display ready-to-grab plates of food in a two section reach-in warming cabinet from Kitchen Restaurant Supply. Or, keep control of what your customers can take using a heated display case from Instawares Restaurant Supply.

Set up a commercial heated buffet case

Buffets are popular amongst people who like to eat a variety of foods. The one downside to this is germs. You must protect your buffet dishes from sneezes, coughs and things accidentally falling into the pans. A heated buffet case will do the job as well as keep your food warm.

I recommend: Order the right size buffet case from AAA Commercial Products. Check out a countertop buffer warmer with a heated base from InstaOffice.com. If you've found the perfect warmer but still need the sneeze guard, ADM Sneezeguards has you covered.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you can't find anything to suit your needs, consider getting a custom heated food display case made specifically for your restaurant. Some heated food display case makers even manufacture heated cases combined with refrigerated cases to maximize space and efficiency.