For large group feeding facilities (cafeterias, hospitals, prisons), the support area takes on a complexity rarely seen inside a table service or fast food restaurant. An institutional kitchen may require as much as 2,000 to 3,000 square feet of support area, because this is where serving lines are set up in a multitude of combinations:

1. Straight service line

2. Shopping center system

3. Scramble system (or free flow)

The straight line is exactly what its name implies. In terms of speeding customers through the food line, it’s the slowest-moving arrangement, because most guests are reluctant to pass the slower ones in front of them. However, single or double straight lines are still the most common style in commercial cafeterias, because they take up less space and the average guest is comfortable with the layout.

Since customers must go through all the food options, they are also more likely to create an impulse purchase.

The shopping center (also called the detour line) is actually a variation of the straight line. Instead of being perfectly straight, sections of the line are indented, separating salads from hot foods, etc. This makes it easier for guests to miss a section. In service lines where individual-order burgers, omelettes or sandwiches are prepared, the bypass arrangement keeps things moving.

The free-flow or scramble system is designed so that each guest can go directly to the areas that interest them. (Occasionally, you’ll hear it referred to as a hollow square show.) Food stations can be arranged in a giant U shape, a square with islands in the middle, or just about any shape the size of the room lets. permitted. This layout can be attractive, but it is often confusing for first-time customers. You’re most likely to discover this design in an industrial cafeteria, where employees eat every day, and you’ll soon become familiar with it.

Scramble systems offer fast service and minimal waiting. They also allow some types of display cuisine, including grilled, stir-fried, or sliced-to-order dishes. Airline food service kitchens appear to have the largest and most complex support areas. Several dozen workers line up on a conveyor belt program, assembling meal trays for up to 70,000 passengers a day. To produce this kind of quantity, the prepared food is kept in hot carts, with much of the preparation being done ahead of time so the assembly process is quick.