Cafe & Food Hall Counter Manufacturing: A Custom Build Guide
A service counter is the busiest square metre in any café or food hall. It has to sell, work and clean — in that order — and the difference between a smooth service and a permanent bottleneck is decided in the layout, not the décor.
Plan the queue and the pass
Start at the customer's side: allow 1200 mm of clear floor for people to stand, and keep the order point and the collection point apart so orders never queue through collections. On the staff side, give the pass 900 to 1000 mm of worktop height and 600 mm of depth in front of the till — enough for a tray and a hand, no more. A bar counter serving drinks wants a raised rail at 1100 mm so guests can stand with a glass without leaning into the coffee station.
Choose the worktop for the job
Stainless steel is still the right answer for food preparation and washing: 304-grade sheet on a welded frame, folded edges and no visible seams where crumbs collect. Dining-facing worktops read warmer in stone, solid surface or compact laminate, all sealed and able to take a daily wipe. Whichever you use, keep the wet zone on its own run and put a raised bead where liquids meet the timber.
Detail the front panel for maintenance
The front panel sells the counter, so give it a material you can actually maintain: fluted timber, lacquer or powder-coated steel, with the under-light recessed behind a lip so nobody stares at a bare diode. Make the panels removable from the front, keep the cable runs in a service void, and finish with an adjustable plinth — floors are rarely level, and a rocking counter will fail cleaning long before it fails a customer.
Build the back counter as a work station
Open shelf bays at 350 mm depth, a cup dispenser at elbow height, a bin within reach and a sink inside one pace of the pass. Group heavy appliances on their own circuits with their own breakers, and leave 200 mm of vent space above any machine that produces heat. The back counter is not storage; stock belongs in the storeroom.
Keep service and cleaning in the design
Grease, coffee grounds and milk go everywhere, so specify a wipe-clean splashback, coved corners where panels meet the floor, and floor-box outlets rather than loose leads. Set the electrical and water points before the frames are drawn, and leave one spare circuit: every food counter gains an appliance in its first year.
Order it as a manufactured counter, not a site build
A counter built in the factory and delivered finished keeps the price and the opening date predictable. To quote one, a counter manufacturer needs your floor plan, the menu and appliances, a photo of the look you want and your electrical points, then returns a shop drawing and a fixed quotation before anything is cut. Ask what the price includes, freight and duty, so you compare landed cost.
Get a quote in 24 hours. Send your floor plan, your menu and the counters you need to marketing@lux.com.hk, or message us on WhatsApp at +86 177 3517 3885. Tell us four things and the quotation comes back faster: the counters and quantity, your store size or drawing, your country and city, and your opening date. Free 3D design, fixed price, DDP delivery.
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