A restaurant is the hardest kind of small commercial space to build, because everything runs through the kitchen. Hood and exhaust, make-up air, grease, gas, walk-in refrigeration, warewashing, and a health inspector who will look at every sink. Then there is a landlord, a franchisor with a prototype set, and an opening date that has already been announced. MASACO Construction builds restaurants, cafes, and franchise food concepts across Dallas-Fort Worth with all of that sequenced from day one. As a restaurant construction company and build-out contractor based in Plano, we serve operators across Dallas, Irving, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, and Fort Worth. One project manager, a fixed-scope proposal, a written photo update every week, and a certificate of occupancy before your first service. We also remodel restaurants and commercial kitchens that are already open, phasing the work around service hours the way we did at Pizza Twist.
Recent restaurant and cafe work.
- Pizza Twist, Irving. A 2,000 square foot franchise restaurant build-out with full kitchen installation and utility connections, interior finishes, flooring, and branding, delivered in 6 to 8 weeks while the restaurant stayed open and serving.
- Sayfani Coffee House, Allen. Framing for a cafe of about 2,000 square feet. On this job we were the framing subcontractor, working under another general contractor.
What makes restaurant construction different.
On an office build-out the floor plan drives the work. On a restaurant the kitchen does. The hood location decides where the exhaust shaft runs and where the make-up air comes from. The cook line decides the gas and electrical loads. The grease interceptor decides how the sanitary line is routed, and whether the base building already has one changes the budget by a real number. Warewashing, hand sinks, mop sinks, and prep sinks all have to land where the health code wants them.
We lay the kitchen out first, check it against your equipment schedule, and only then design the front of house. That order avoids the most expensive kind of change: moving a hood after the ceiling is closed.
Franchise build-outs.
Franchise concepts come with a prototype drawing set, a brand standards manual, and a franchisor’s inspection at the end. We read the package before we price anything so the proposal, the landlord’s work letter, and the brand standards all agree. Equipment is often supplied through the franchisor. We install it, build the utilities to match, and coordinate the hood and fire suppression with the equipment supplier so the fire marshal sees one coherent system.
Pizza Twist was delivered franchise-compliant, on schedule, and with every inspection passed. If you are opening a second or third unit, the same crew and the same close-out package carry over, which is how repeat locations get faster.
Cafes, coffee, and dessert concepts.
Cafes look simpler than restaurants and are not. An espresso machine wants a dedicated circuit and filtered water. Pastry cases, ice machines, and under-counter refrigeration each need power and, in several cases, drains. Counter millwork has to hide all of it and still leave the barista room to move. We schedule the plumbing, electrical, and millwork trades around the equipment plan so nothing gets torn out and nobody waits on a rough-in. Behind the counter we lay out for speed and flow, because a cafe that stalls at the register loses the line.
Staying open during construction.
If you are renovating an operating restaurant, a shutdown costs you every day it lasts. On Pizza Twist there was no shutdown period at all. We phased the work, moved loud and dusty tasks to hours outside service, kept the construction zone separated from staff and guests, and adjusted the daily plan around the kitchen’s schedule. It is slower per day than an empty space and far cheaper than closing.
Permits, health review, and the certificate of occupancy.
Restaurant permits run through the same building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire reviews as any commercial build-out, plus health department plan review of the kitchen layout, sinks, and finishes. Suburban cities such as Plano, Irving, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, and Murphy each have their own building and health departments with their own review times, and Dallas and Fort Worth run theirs downtown. We prepare the drawing set, manage the submittal, answer comments, and schedule every inspection. The certificate of occupancy is the finish line.
How we price it.
Your proposal is a fixed-scope document organized by trade, with allowances for finishes you have not chosen yet and a clear line between what the landlord provides and what you do. If the lease carries a tenant improvement allowance, we structure invoicing to fit the landlord’s draw process. Anything outside the scope becomes a written change order with a price and a schedule impact that you approve before the work proceeds. Our tenant improvements page explains the work letter side in more detail, and commercial construction covers ground-up and larger renovation work.
The full six-step process, from the first walk to the close-out package, is on our process page.
If you have signed a lease, are about to, or are planning your next unit, book a consultation and we will walk the space, read your franchise package and work letter, and give you a realistic path to opening day. Think Massive. Build Smart.
What's included.
- Franchise-compliant build-outs to the franchisor's prototype drawings and brand standards
- Commercial kitchens: equipment placement and installation, fryer and prep lines, hood and exhaust, make-up air, and fire suppression coordination
- Plumbing and electrical infrastructure for espresso machines, walk-ins, warewashing, ice, and grease interceptors
- Front of house: service counters, pastry cases, custom millwork, seating, lighting, and branded finishes
- Health department, fire marshal, and building inspections scheduled and passed before opening day
- Phased schedules that keep an operating restaurant serving while the work happens
- Second-location and multi-unit rollouts with the same crew and the same close-out package
How the project runs.
- Walk the space and read the franchise package. We walk the space with you, confirm what the base building provides for grease, gas, electrical service, and exhaust, and read the franchisor's prototype drawings and the landlord's work letter side by side. Your opening date goes on the calendar first, and the schedule is built backward from it.
- Kitchen-first layout, then the front of house. The kitchen drives a restaurant build. We place the cook line, hood, walk-in, prep, and warewashing first, check the plumbing and electrical loads against what the equipment schedule needs, and then lay out the counter, seating, and finishes. You review rendered views of the dining room and counter before we price.
- Fixed-scope proposal aligned with the franchisor and the landlord. The proposal is organized by trade and carries allowances for anything you have not selected yet. We reconcile it against the franchise standards and the work letter so the brand inspection, the landlord's approvals, and our scope all say the same thing.
- Permits, health plan review, and equipment lead times. Restaurants add health department plan review to the normal building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire reviews. We submit the set, answer comments, and track equipment lead times so hoods, walk-ins, and fryers arrive when the rough-in is ready for them.
- Build, inspections, and opening-day readiness. One project manager runs the build and sends a written photo update every week. We sequence the trades around the equipment plan, pass each inspection including the health department's final, secure the certificate of occupancy, and hand over a close-out package before your first service.
