Top Online Stores to Buy Restaurant Equipment and Supplies

Submitted by davidwei on

Buying restaurant supplies online offers remarkable advantages, with convenience and pricing leading the way. Rather than spending valuable hours driving to various local showrooms, restaurant owners can source everything from a single screen. Additionally, online platforms consistently offer more competitive wholesale pricing due to reduced overhead costs.

To help you streamline your purchasing, here is the ultimate guide to the top online stores for restaurant equipment and supplies in the United States.


Quick Decision Matrix (At a Glance)

SupplierBest ForFootprint & ShippingKey Advantage
WebstaurantStoreLargest overall selectionOnline only, 22 regional warehousesIndustry-leading catalog (472K+ SKUs) and fast transit times
KaTomRapid shipping & inventoryTennessee hub, next-day shippingMassive 350K sq ft facility, deep wholesale pricing
Restaurant DepotCash-and-carry bulk food167 membership-only warehouse clubsBest in-person pricing for fresh meats, produce & groceries
Food Service DirectLow-barrier bulk food sourcingShipped nationwide, food-focused marketplaceNo membership fees, zero minimum order requirements
Culinary DepotInstitutional layout & buildoutsGlobal shipping, 1-5 days dispatchOver 30 years of commercial layout and custom fabrication expertise
LollicupStoreCafe & bubble tea suppliesNationwide shipping, online-onlySpecialized beverage catalog, Karat packaging, no order minimums
Mission RestaurantDesign-build kitchen projects5 Texas showrooms, custom metal fabTurnkey kitchen layouts, in-house fabrication, and installation
Ace MartTexas local pickup & immediate stock15 cash-and-carry Superstores in TexasOpen to public, 2-hour online order pickup, deep local stock
CKitchenConsultative sales & financingNationwide distribution since 1984Up to $50K credit lines via Credit Key, Coinbase crypto payments
AmazonEveryday consumables & fresh foodsGlobal logistics, Business Prime shippingTiered discounts, tax exemptions (ATEP), Fresh & Whole Foods integration

1. WebstaurantStore

website: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/

Founded in 2004 in Lancaster, PA, and now headquartered in Lititz, PA, WebstaurantStore has grown to become the largest online restaurant supply store servicing culinary professionals and individual customers worldwide.

WebstaurantStore.com has everything you need to outfit your foodservice operation, offering a massive selection of over 472,000 items to choose from. Their comprehensive catalog spans from lightweight smallwares like chef knives and cutting boards to heavy-duty equipment like commercial convection ovens and walk-in freezers. They also carry a wide variety of everyday restaurant supplies, including tableware, linens, and janitorial products.

Operating entirely online without retail storefronts, WebstaurantStore focuses heavily on fulfillment efficiency. Customers place orders directly on their website, and products are shipped from one of their 22 strategically located regional warehouses across the United States or directly from manufacturer locations, ensuring competitive freight rates and fast transit times.


2. KaTom Restaurant Supply

website: https://www.katom.com/

KaTom Restaurant Supply is a dominant force in the commercial restaurant equipment industry, offering more than 200,000 items online at competitive wholesale prices. Family-owned and trusted since 1987, KaTom caters to various business needs by providing a wide selection that includes budget-friendly lines, premium vendors, and their own house brands.

Thousands of in-stock items are ready to ship within one business day directly from their massive 350,000-square-foot fulfillment center in East Tennessee. However, even if an item is not kept in local inventory, KaTom works closely with a network of trusted manufacturers to drop-ship those products directly to your kitchen. With over three decades of dedicated service, their distribution center, customer care representatives, and sales teams work seamlessly together to ensure you get exactly what you need to build and run your commercial kitchen.


3. Restaurant Depot

website: https://www.restaurantdepot.com/

Restaurant Depot has been supplying independent foodservice businesses with quality products from large cash-and-carry warehouse stores since 1990. Operating as a chain of membership-based warehouse clubs for foodservice professionals, it functions similarly to Costco or Sam's Club, but is strictly designed for restaurants, caterers, and non-profit food operations.

Membership grants access to bulk quantities of fresh meats, produce, dry groceries, and dairy at highly competitive wholesale prices, which is a great way for restaurants to save money on daily operations. In addition to food, Restaurant Depot offers a robust selection of commercial kitchen equipment and smallwares, making it a true one-stop shop for all foodservice needs.

You can buy supplies from Restaurant Depot both online and offline. Right now, Restaurant Depot operates 167 store locations across the United States, making it easy to find a warehouse near you. The company continues to grow by opening new locations several times a year, with upcoming branches scheduled to open in Milwaukee, WI (August 2026) and Toledo, OH (September 2026). You can shop in-store products (mainly fresh food and dry groceries) on restaurantdepot.com, or order heavy-duty equipment online for freight delivery through the RD store.


4. Food Service Direct

website: https://www.foodservicedirect.com/

Food Service Direct is an expansive online marketplace primarily focused on bulk foods, beverages, and essential restaurant supplies. By creating a unified selling space that connects large national manufacturers with local distributors, the platform offers an incredibly wide variety of products to businesses and consumers alike.

The company positions itself as a "food-focused online marketplace" designed to change the game of traditional distribution. Their catalog covers a massive spectrum of categories, including everyday foods, specialty international ingredients, beverages, disposables, janitorial supplies, and smallwares.

The standout advantage of Food Service Direct is its frictionless accessibility. Unlike traditional broadline foodservice distributors that require lengthy credit approvals, strict contracts, and high order minimums, Food Service Direct operates as an endless marketplace with no membership fees and no minimum order requirements. Whether you are outfitting a busy commercial kitchen or simply stocking up a small food truck, it is a highly attractive partner to source quality ingredients and supplies with ease.


5. Culinary Depot

website: https://www.culinarydepotinc.com/

Founded in 1999 by Sholem Potash, Culinary Depot is a U.S.-based foodservice equipment and commercial kitchen solutions provider built on hands-on culinary expertise. With a foundation rooted in real kitchen operations, the company focuses on delivering practical, efficient, and chef-informed solutions for commercial foodservice environments.

Culinary Depot has evolved into a full-service provider supporting clients across the entire lifecycle of a commercial kitchen project. Its core services include kitchen layout and design, equipment procurement, custom fabrication, project oversight, installation, and ongoing supply chain support.

The company’s in-house design team provides detailed CAD kitchen layouts and 3D visualizations, including full equipment schedules and brand recommendations. Culinary Depot also offers MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) coordination to ensure seamless integration between kitchen design and building infrastructure.

Beyond design and installation, the company supplies a broad portfolio of foodservice products sourced from over 500 brands. With a continuously stocked inventory of more than 6,500 SKUs, Culinary Depot is able to fulfill many standard orders within 24–48 hours through its strategically located warehouses in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Nevada.

In addition to equipment distribution, Culinary Depot provides custom fabrication services for specialized kitchen needs, along with “white glove” delivery and installation services nationwide, including equipment placement, uncrating, and removal of old units.

The company also supports clients with automated order processing systems, EDI integration, reporting tools, and customized procurement workflows to streamline large-scale commercial purchasing. Its multilingual sales and support teams serve diverse markets across English, Spanish, Hebrew, and additional languages upon request.

Overall, Culinary Depot positions itself as a comprehensive commercial kitchen partner, combining design expertise, procurement capabilities, fabrication, logistics, and installation into a single integrated service platform.


6. LollicupStore

website: https://www.lollicupstore.com/

LollicupStore.com is the premier e-commerce platform of Lollicup® USA, Inc. (under parent company Karat Packaging), specializing in the specialty beverage industry. If you operate a coffee shop, boba tea lounge, juice bar, or dessert parlor, this platform is an essential resource for your daily inventory needs.

LollicupStore provides an expansive catalog of specialty ingredients, including premium boba, flavor powders, concentrated syrups (such as Monin and 1883 Maison Routin), and toppings under their signature Tea Zone® brand. Beyond ingredients, they are a major national supplier of disposable packaging. Through their Karat® and eco-friendly Karat Earth® lines, they offer a vast selection of paper and plastic cups, lids, straws, sleeves, and carry-out containers.

With no minimum order requirements, LollicupStore is highly accessible for independent operators who need to manage cash flow and inventory space. Orders ship nationwide from strategically located distribution centers, ensuring prompt, reliable delivery.


7. Mission Restaurant Supply

website: https://www.missionrs.com/

Founded in March 1988 in San Antonio, Texas, as a family-operated refrigeration and ice machine lease company, Mission Restaurant Supply has grown into one of the Southwest’s largest full-service equipment dealers.

While they maintain a robust nationwide e-commerce storefront, Mission's true strength lies in its comprehensive, end-to-end project capabilities. Rather than simply shipping boxed equipment, they provide complete kitchen design-build services, employing an expert team of in-house layout designers, custom metal fabricators, and licensed installation crews.

Still family-owned, Mission operates five physical showrooms across Texas (San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, McAllen, and Fort Worth), along with a specialized wholesale refrigeration department in Houston and a contract sales office in Dallas. They are also a trusted partner for school districts, healthcare facilities, and government institutions, managing multiple state and local cooperative purchasing contracts.


8. Ace Mart Restaurant Supply

website: https://www.acemart.com/

Family-owned and operated since 1975, Ace Mart Restaurant Supply was founded by Norman "Gus" Gustafson and his son, Paul, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Originally established as a cash-and-carry business to build a strong inventory foundation, the company has grown into a major regional distributor led by the second generation of the Gustafson family.

Ace Mart operates 15 Superstores throughout Texas, supported by a state-of-the-art 214,536-square-foot distribution center in Schertz, Texas. This infrastructure allows them to deliver on their core service philosophy: "When you need it – Now!" By purchasing inventory in large volume directly from leading manufacturers—including True, Hobart, Vollrath, Carlisle, and Libbey—they are able to pass significant savings on to their customers.

While the business primarily serves commercial kitchen operators, caterers, and concessionaires, all physical stores are fully open to the general public with no membership requirements. To accommodate modern procurement needs, Ace Mart has expanded beyond its original cash-and-carry model to offer online ordering with fast shipping (most in-stock orders ship within one business day), convenient in-store pickup, and flexible equipment leasing options. Their long-standing industry excellence is highly decorated, including being named FE&S (Foodservice Equipment & Supplies) Dealer of the Year and inducted into the FE&S Hall of Fame.


9. CKitchen

website: https://www.ckitchen.com/

Operating since 1984, CKitchen is a premier commercial kitchen equipment distributor serving independent restaurants, hotels, universities, and correctional facilities. As a fully-authorized dealer, CKitchen is an A+ rated, BBB-accredited business and holds active memberships in both the Food Equipment Distributors Association (FEDA) and the National Association for Food Equipment Dealers (NAFED).

Rather than relying on a self-service model, CKitchen focuses on a highly consultative approach. Their sales professionals average a minimum of 10 years of tenure with the company, allowing them to provide free expert consultations, customized solutions, and personalized quotes. For large-scale facility buildouts, CKitchen also houses a specialized contract department to coordinate high-volume commercial procurement.

To support buyers' budgets, CKitchen provides highly flexible payment options. Through Credit Key, approved businesses can secure instant lines of credit up to $50,000, featuring 0% interest for the first 30 days and no prepayment fees. Additionally, in partnership with Coinbase, CKitchen is an industry pioneer in accepting major cryptocurrencies, including BTC, BCH, LTC, DOGE, ETH, DAI, and USDC.


10. Amazon Business

website: https://www.amazon.com/business

While widely recognized as a consumer retail giant, Amazon has quietly become a highly efficient procurement tool for commercial foodservice operators. Under its Industrial & Scientific department, Amazon hosts dedicated, professionally structured categories including Restaurant Supplies and Equipment, Cleaning and Janitorial Supplies, Safety Supplies, and Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) Supplies. This structure allows purchasing managers to easily source everything from commercial-grade preparation appliances and heavy smallwares to facility maintenance tools and OSHA-compliant safety gear.

In addition to back-of-house hardware, Amazon has significantly expanded its food and beverage ecosystem. Through Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and the Grocery & Gourmet Food portal, small-scale operators, cafes, and caterers can source fresh organic produce, perishables, and specialty gourmet ingredients with rapid delivery. Furthermore, the platform's Subscribe & Save program is fully integrated into Amazon Business, allowing operators to automate recurring, scheduled deliveries of high-use consumables—such as coffee bar syrups, specialty tea supplies, and paper disposables—at discounts of up to 15%.

To maximize these advantages, foodservice operators should bypass standard consumer accounts and register for a free Amazon Business account. This unlocks key commercial purchasing benefits, including business-only pricing, tiered quantity discounts, and the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP) for seamless, tax-free purchasing. When paired with Business Prime, operators can secure predictable, expedited delivery on everyday supplies, bypassing the high shipping minimums and long lead times of traditional broadline distributors.