Commercial Kitchen Equipment — Answers From the Experts

We service the full commercial kitchen — ranges, fryers, ovens, griddles, broilers, steamers, combi ovens, walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-in refrigerators, ice machines, dishwashers, soda fountains, coffee systems, rooftop HVAC units, make-up air systems, and more. See our commercial kitchen repair page and our full brands we service list for details.

Maintenance Chef was founded in 2011 and has been serving commercial kitchens across Colorado's Front Range for over 15 years. Our team brings over 100 years of combined technician experience. We're EPA Universal Certified, CFESA members, and BBB accredited. Learn more on our About page.

We provide a 30-day warranty on all OEM parts procured and installed. We use original manufacturer parts — not aftermarket substitutes — because commercial kitchen equipment tolerances demand it. If a repair fails within 30 days due to the same issue, we come back and make it right.

Two options: call us at (720) 244-1065 — we pick up — or fill out our online service request form and we'll follow up within one business day. For active emergencies, calling is always faster. For scheduled service or new client inquiries, the form works great.

Yes. We offer 24/7 emergency service for commercial kitchen equipment failures that can't wait — walk-in cooler failures with inventory at risk, cooking line down during service hours, or any situation causing active revenue loss. Call (720) 244-1065 directly. Emergency calls are dispatched as fast as possible across the Front Range.

Call us immediately at (720) 244-1065. Walk-in failures are food safety emergencies and we treat them as such. While waiting for the tech: document the current temperature, transfer the most temperature-sensitive inventory to backup cooling if available, and minimize door openings to preserve cold. Our emergency team prioritizes refrigeration failures involving food safety risk.

Response time depends on your location on the Front Range and current call volume. Same-day service is available for emergency calls — we prioritize them ahead of scheduled service calls. For the fastest possible dispatch, call us at (720) 244-1065 rather than using the online form. Our PM contract clients receive priority scheduling on both emergency and scheduled calls.

Yes — Hobart, Hoshizaki, and Vulcan are among the most common brands in Colorado commercial kitchens and we service all three. We service 70+ brands total including Manitowoc, True, Blodgett, Traulsen, Beverage-Air, Carrier, Trane, and many more. See the complete brands we service list. If your brand isn't listed, call us — we likely service it.

We use OEM (original manufacturer) parts only. Aftermarket parts are cheaper upfront but fail faster and can cause secondary damage to other components. For frequently serviced brands, we stock common OEM parts on our service vehicles to reduce wait time. All installed parts are backed by our 30-day warranty.

Absolutely — most commercial kitchen equipment we service is well past manufacturer warranty. That's normal. As an independent service company, we can work on any equipment regardless of age or warranty status. We'll give you an honest assessment: if it's cost-effective to repair, we'll fix it right. If it's time to replace, we'll tell you that instead of running up a repair bill.

Yes — our technicians hold EPA Section 608 Universal Certification, which is required by federal law to purchase, handle, recover, and recharge refrigerants in commercial systems. This covers all refrigerant types (R-22, R-404A, R-448A, R-410A, etc.) across walk-in systems, reach-in units, ice machines, and display cases. See our commercial refrigeration service page for more.

Running-but-not-cooling is one of the most common commercial refrigeration symptoms. Common causes include refrigerant leak (low charge), failed evaporator fan motor, dirty condenser coils reducing heat transfer, failing compressor, faulty thermostat or control board, or ice buildup on evaporator blocking airflow. Diagnosis requires a technician — call us at (720) 244-1065 or request service and we'll get the right tech to you.

Yes — ice machine repair and maintenance is part of our commercial refrigeration service. We service cube, nugget, and flake ice machines from Manitowoc, Hoshizaki, Scotsman, Ice-O-Matic, Follett, and more. Common issues we handle include failure to produce ice, dirty or cloudy ice, water inlet problems, condenser fouling, and refrigerant issues. We also perform full cleanings and preventative maintenance on ice machines.

Yes — Maintenance Chef is a licensed commercial HVAC contractor in Colorado. Colorado state law requires this license to legally pull permits, perform building inspection-required HVAC work, and handle refrigerant on commercial systems. Most commercial kitchen repair companies don't hold this license, which means they can't legally do the work or it won't pass inspection. See our commercial HVAC service page for more information.

A make-up air (MAU) unit replaces the air exhausted by your commercial hood system. When your exhaust hood pulls air out of the kitchen, it creates negative pressure — and MAU brings in conditioned replacement air to balance it. When MAU fails or is undersized, the resulting negative pressure disrupts combustion on gas equipment: pilot lights blow out, burner efficiency drops, and CO levels can rise. It also causes doors to be difficult to open and smoke to spill into the dining area. MAU problems are often misdiagnosed as cooking equipment failures. Our licensed HVAC team services all major MAU brands across the Front Range.

Our PM contracts include scheduled inspections, cleaning, and tune-ups on all covered equipment on a frequency matched to your kitchen's volume and equipment mix. We document every visit with a service report so you have a full maintenance history. PM clients also receive discounted rates on any repair calls needed between scheduled visits and priority scheduling over non-contract clients.

For high-volume kitchens, yes — by a significant margin. Unplanned emergency repairs cost more than scheduled maintenance (emergency rates, expedited parts, lost revenue during downtime). Equipment that's regularly cleaned and inspected runs more efficiently, extends its service life, and is less likely to fail during a dinner rush. Many health code issues are also caught during PM visits before they become inspection violations. See our PM contracts page to learn more.

We serve commercial kitchens across Colorado's entire Front Range — from Fort Collins and Greeley in the north, through the Denver metro (Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Centennial, Broomfield, Littleton, Commerce City, Northglenn), Boulder, Longmont, Loveland, Castle Rock, Parker, and south to Colorado Springs and Pueblo. If you're on the Front Range, we can be there.

Yes — Colorado Springs is within our service area. We handle both emergency calls and scheduled service in Colorado Springs and the surrounding Pikes Peak region. Visit our Colorado Springs page for more information or call us at (720) 244-1065 to schedule service.