Commissary kitchen
Updated August 2026
A commissary kitchen is a licensed commercial kitchen that rents production time to food businesses, by the hour, by the shift, or by the month. It gives a caterer a permitted place to cook, cool, and store food without owning a facility.
Also called: shared kitchen, commercial kitchen rental, ghost kitchen.
Why it matters to a small caterer
For most caterers the commissary is not a convenience, it is the address on the permit. Health departments generally want to see a permitted commercial facility behind a catering operation, and a home kitchen usually does not qualify for the hot food and on-site service that catering involves. The rules are set state by state and often county by county, so the only answer that binds you is the one your own health department gives.
The rent is the visible cost and rarely the largest one. Booking windows are the real constraint: if your slot is Thursday nights, your prep schedule is Thursday nights, and a Saturday wedding with a Friday delivery has to fit around that. Add the drive between the commissary and the event, the cost of moving product in and out, and the walk-in space you are actually allocated rather than the walk-in you can see.
What to ask before you sign
What equipment is included versus shared versus yours to bring. How much refrigerated and dry storage comes with the plan, and what happens in December when everyone needs it. Whether the facility’s permit covers what you intend to do or whether you need your own. What insurance the facility requires and what limits. How cancellation and slot changes work. Whether there is a loading dock, and whether you can get a van near it at five in the morning.
Ask what the busiest hour looks like, then visit during it. A kitchen that is comfortable on a Tuesday afternoon and impossible on a Saturday morning is a scheduling problem you will discover at the worst time.
Where this shows up
Put the terms to work on a real quote
CaterKit costs every dish from your own ingredients, prices the quote at your margin, and sends it as a page the client can accept on their phone.