General Restaurant Equipment Supply

Such an odd, interesting & cool place. This isn’t your standard restaurant supply store. Located in Chinatown, it’s definitely more focused in dishes, pans & utensils used in an Asian style restaurant, but they do have general restaurant items as well.
I came here looking for plastic little cups (most ppl use for jello shots), for to-​go portions of salad dressing & hummus, and I found so much more! If there’s something specific you’re looking for, they probably have it. I found those little plastic cups, although it looks like they opened up a large package of them, proportioned them into smaller amounts (50 or 60 per pkg) & then using packing tape wrapped them back up. Oh well, still gave me what I was looking for.
Prices are cheap to reasonable, and I will definitely be back for some nice white serving bowls & dishes, some of which I know I’ve seen similar things at Macy’s for 2x the cost. The aisles are narrow, so be careful not to bump into anything, but make sure to look around. You don’t know what you’ll find in every corner, or for me, an unplugged refrigerated case storing those plastic cups!
They do accept credit card, with a $ 10 minimum purchase.

I like to come in here and just look at the dusty cardboard boxes and plastic sheets and dig for treasure. Alternatively, if I have something in mind and am in the area I always check this place. I prefer it to Asia Supermarket which also has a selection of home and kitchen goods, though Asia’s inventory pales in comparison.
I got my noodle soup bowls here. I think they were $ 3 a piece. Total steal! Huge, sturdy bowls perfect for a noodle hound!
I bought some black ceramic soup spoons. So far I chipped one and threw it away. They were $ 1 a piece, hey, I took a chance.
I bought a 9′ cake pan here, nothing fancy (bottom doesn’t pop out, have no ridged design etc), but it was only $ 4.50, and exactly what I wanted.
Most recently I also grabbed some bamboo sticks, and they carried the sturdy, thick ones with the flattened tip used for a handle. It was way better than the flimsy skinny kind most places carry, and it was only $ 2.25.
Then the most amazing thing happened, as I was checking out, some guy comes in from across the street with a box of 8 packs of strawberries. And the guys behind the counter was telling him that it was too much. And the guy just shrugged them off and left. So they were like hey do you want some strawberries. And I was like no thank you. And they were like come on! take a box! and I was like really? And they were like Yea! It’s too much! And if we don’t finish, that’s wasteful! So I gleefully took a pack of strawberries home.
And you know what? I’m going to make some popsicles. I have plans. Man I should’ve checked if they sold popsicle molds before buying it on Amazon. Also I can’t believe that’s how mold is spelled, there’s no way to distinguish a fun craft object from undesirable fungal growth except by context?

This place is pretty good for outfitting your home or restaurant with a ton of supply at a rapid pace. They have some really high quality stuff that’s on par with just about any other restaurant supply store. If you buy in bulk, you will probably be able to talk the shop owner into giving you a discount.
Now, just because this place is in Chinatown does not mean that it will reflect Chinatown prices. At any other Chinatown store, I end up turning the price tag upside down and questioning my literacy because there usually is no way that I’m looking at it right (the prices are usually that cheap). Although they have reasonable prices on things like dishes and cookware, random stuff like pitchers and storage units will be 2 to 3 times the price of Ikea.

This is the best priced supply store for both professional & home cooks. U should make this your 1^st stop to check off your list & really take the time to look around. U will not be disappointed.

General Restaurant Equipment Supply is a restaurant supply haven tucked away on the south side of Cherry Street (between 10^th and 11^th Streets).
This Chinese-​run establishment stocks everything a restaurant would need in terms of small to large scale cookware, utensils, plating, and the like. If a new restaurant is opening up in Philadelphia, chances are their staff has stopped here to look for supplies.
I, however, do not own or operate a restaurant. Yet, this store is still useful for individual cooking shopping. They don’t sell food — just the tools needed to cook it.
Prices are cheap to moderate and in line with other Chinatown vendors selling similar goods. But no other store in Chinatown has such a large and diversified selection.
The next time you need a pot or pan (or 20), stop into General Restaurant Equipment Supply. It’s cheaper than Kmart — and has a much larger selection.