A commercial kitchen packs refrigeration, gas-fired cooking equipment, exhaust and makeup air, grease waste, and heavy electrical load into a few hundred square feet. When something fails during service, the question is not which vendor is responsible — it is who can be there before the dinner rush.
CEI services restaurant equipment across the Kansas City metro, and because we also hold electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and refrigeration licenses, one call covers the whole kitchen instead of four.
Equipment we service
Refrigeration
Walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-ins, prep and sandwich tables, ice machines, display cases, beverage systems.
Cooking equipment
Fryers, griddles and flat tops, ranges and ovens, convection and combi ovens, steamers, broilers, holding cabinets, and steam tables.
Ventilation and makeup air
Exhaust hoods, fans, and makeup air units — including the balance between them, which is the cause of more kitchen complaints than either alone.
Dish and warewashing
Commercial dish machines, booster heaters, and the supply and drain lines feeding them.
Gas, electrical, and plumbing behind the equipment
Gas lines and connectors, dedicated circuits and breakers, floor sinks and drains, and grease interceptors.
Why kitchen failures cross trades
A fryer that will not hold temperature might be a thermostat. It might also be a gas pressure problem shared with the range next to it.
A walk-in that stops holding temperature in August might be a compressor. It might be a condenser coil packed with grease from the exhaust discharge six feet away.
A hood that stops pulling smoke might be the exhaust fan. It might be a makeup air unit that failed and left the kitchen under negative pressure, which also makes the front door hard to open and the pilot lights go out.
Chasing those across three vendors takes days. We diagnose across all of them because we hold the licenses for all of them.
Emergency service during operating hours
Kitchens do not fail conveniently. Our dispatch is staffed 24 hours at 816-221-0006, including nights and weekends when most restaurants are actually open.
Service trucks carry common failure parts — contactors, capacitors, thermocouples, igniters, fan motors, belts, and gaskets — so a large share of calls close on the first visit.
Preventive maintenance for kitchens
Kitchens are harder on equipment than any other commercial environment we work in. Grease, heat, humidity, and continuous duty cycles compress equipment life.
A quarterly program typically covers condenser and evaporator coil cleaning, door gasket inspection, drain line clearing, fryer and range calibration, gas connection and combustion checks, hood and makeup air balance verification, and dish machine descaling.
Health inspections go smoother too, since most of what gets written up in the equipment section is maintenance rather than failure.
Who we work with
Independent restaurants, multi-location groups, bars and taverns, cafeterias and institutional kitchens, hotels, schools, and senior living facilities across the Kansas City metro.
Frequently asked questions
Do you service equipment you didn’t sell or install?
Yes. We service equipment regardless of where it came from.
Can you come out during dinner service?
Yes. Dispatch runs 24 hours at 816-221-0006, and evenings and weekends are when a large share of our restaurant calls come in.
My walk-in is warm but the compressor is running. Is it low on refrigerant?
Usually not. Iced evaporator coils, a grease-loaded condenser, a failed fan motor, or a defrost fault are more common causes. Adding refrigerant to a correctly charged system makes the problem worse.
Do you handle exhaust hood cleaning?
We service and repair hood and makeup air systems. Certified hood cleaning is a separate specialty and generally handled by a dedicated vendor.
Can one contractor really cover refrigeration, cooking, and HVAC?
That is the reason CEI is structured the way it is. We hold commercial electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and refrigeration licenses, so kitchen problems that cross trades get diagnosed by one company.
How quickly can you get parts?
Trucks carry common failure components. Anything beyond that depends on the manufacturer and model, and we will tell you the timeline when we diagnose rather than after.