Your Kitchen Is Too Hot. Your AC Can't Keep Up. We Fix That.
Most restaurant HVAC systems are installed wrong from day one. Undersized AC. No make-up air. Unbalanced exhaust. The result? A kitchen your staff can't work in and a dining room your guests don't want to sit in.
Vinco Mechanical specializes in restaurant HVAC across NYC. Mini splits, VRF, heating, airflow correction, and ventilation. We fix the root problem, not just the symptom. 38+ years in NYC.
If Any of This Sounds Familiar, You Have an HVAC Problem
Every one of these costs you money. Lost covers. Staff turnover. Failed inspections. Higher energy bills. And every week you wait, it gets worse. Not better.
Kitchen is 100+ degrees.
Your line cooks are drenched. Service slows down. Staff calls out. The hood is running full blast and nothing is helping. The AC was never sized for the actual heat load from your cooking equipment.
AC can't keep up in the dining room.
Guests are complaining. The thermostat says 72 but it feels like 82 by the window. The system runs all day and the space never gets comfortable. It was probably undersized from day one.
Negative pressure. Doors slamming.
Your front door is hard to open. Smoke drifts into the dining room. Grease odors hit guests when they walk in. Your exhaust is pulling out more air than your make-up air is replacing. Classic install mistake.
Failed inspection. Shutdown risk.
DOH flagged your ventilation. Fire department wants documentation on your exhaust. Every day you operate without fixing it is a day closer to a forced shutdown. This doesn't fix itself.
Equipment failing under load.
Compressor tripping on the hottest day of the year. Fan motor burning out mid-service. Your HVAC system is working twice as hard as it should because it was never set up right.
Three contractors. Zero answers.
You've had multiple HVAC companies out. They patched something, charged you, and left. The problem came back. Nobody diagnosed the root cause. You're tired of wasting money.
Why This Can't Wait
Peak cooling season puts maximum stress on your system. The compressor that's been struggling all spring fails on a 95-degree Saturday night during dinner service. The make-up air imbalance that's been pulling grease odors into the dining room gets flagged by DOH. Small problems don't stay small. They fail under load, at the worst possible time.
We Fix Issues Other Contractors Miss
Restaurant HVAC is not regular commercial HVAC. Kitchens generate massive heat loads. Exhaust systems create airflow imbalances. Dining rooms need quiet, consistent comfort while the kitchen runs at full capacity 10 feet away. We've been solving these problems in NYC restaurants for decades. We know what to look for because we've seen it all.
The Modern Upgrade for Restaurant Comfort
Mini splits give restaurants what window units and old packaged systems never could: quiet, efficient, zone-by-zone climate control. No ductwork required. Installs in hours. Your dining room stays open.
Dining Room Comfort Without Construction
Wall-mounted or ceiling cassette mini splits install in hours, not weeks. A 3-inch hole in the wall. No ductwork. No dropped ceilings. Your dining room stays open during installation.
Independent Kitchen and Dining Zones
The kitchen runs at 74. The dining room runs at 70. The bar runs at 72. Each zone has its own thermostat. No more one-size-fits-none temperature for the whole restaurant.
Whisper Quiet Operation
Modern mini splits run at 19-24 dB in the dining room. That's quieter than a library. Your guests hear the music and conversation, not the HVAC.
Heating and Cooling in One System
Heat pump technology means heating in winter and cooling in summer from the same unit. No separate furnace, no boiler dependency, lower energy bills year-round.
VRF Systems. Total Control for Larger Restaurants.
Multi-level restaurants, high-volume kitchens, and spaces with a bar, private dining, and event areas need more than mini splits. VRF gives you commercial-grade climate control with individual zone management from one outdoor unit.
Multi-Zone Control Across the Entire Space
Kitchen, dining room, bar, private dining, office, storage. Each area gets its own zone with independent temperature control from one central system. VRF was built for this.
Heat Recovery Between Zones
Your kitchen generates excess heat. Your dining room needs cooling. Heat recovery VRF moves energy between zones instead of wasting it. Lower operating costs, better performance.
One Outdoor Unit. Clean Rooftop.
Instead of multiple condensers cluttering your roof or backyard, VRF runs everything from one outdoor unit. Cleaner installation, easier maintenance, less noise.
Built to Scale
Opening a second floor? Adding a private event space? VRF systems expand without replacing the core equipment. Add indoor units as you grow.
Restaurant HVAC Services
Heating, cooling, airflow, and ventilation. Every service a NYC restaurant needs from one contractor who actually understands food service environments.
Heating
Heat pump installations, boiler coordination, and radiant system service. Your restaurant stays warm without the energy bills from outdated steam or electric heat.
Air Conditioning
Properly sized AC for the actual heat load of a working kitchen and dining room. Not a guess. Not a rule of thumb. A real load calculation based on your equipment and layout.
Airflow Correction
Negative pressure, smoke migration, hot spots, and unbalanced ventilation. We measure actual CFM at every point and fix the airflow so the space works the way it should.
Make-Up Air Systems
Your exhaust hood removes thousands of CFM from the kitchen. That air has to be replaced. We size and install make-up air units that balance the system and eliminate negative pressure.
Rooftop Units (RTUs)
Installation, repair, and replacement of packaged rooftop units. Common in NYC restaurants with roof access. We handle everything from the unit to the ductwork below.
We also coordinate grease duct and kitchen exhaust cleaning as part of comprehensive restaurant HVAC service.
Stop Throwing Money at the Wrong Problem
We'll walk your restaurant, measure your airflow, check your equipment, and tell you exactly what's wrong and what it takes to fix it. Diagnostic fee credited toward any work performed.
Same-day and next-day diagnostics available. We work around your service schedule.
Three Steps. No Runaround.
Diagnose
We walk the kitchen, dining room, and roof. Check the exhaust, make-up air, AC, and ductwork. Measure actual airflow. Find the root cause, not just the symptom.
Clear Answer
You get a written diagnosis with exactly what's wrong, what needs to happen, equipment options, pricing, and timeline. No jargon. No upsell. Just facts.
Execute Fast
We schedule around your service hours. Early mornings, late nights, between lunch and dinner. Your restaurant stays open. We get in, get it done, and get out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Three common causes: your exhaust system is pulling out more air than your make-up air unit is replacing (negative pressure), your AC is undersized for the actual heat load from cooking equipment, or your airflow is unbalanced so cooled air never reaches the kitchen. Most restaurant HVAC is installed by general contractors who undersize everything. The fix starts with a proper load calculation and airflow assessment.
For most NYC restaurants, a combination of ceiling-mounted mini splits for the dining room and a properly sized make-up air unit for the kitchen is the best setup. Larger restaurants or multi-level spaces benefit from VRF systems that provide zone-by-zone control. The kitchen needs its own ventilation system separate from the dining room comfort system.
Negative pressure happens when your kitchen exhaust removes more air than your make-up air system replaces. The fix is balancing the airflow: sizing the make-up air unit to match exhaust volume, adjusting dampers, and sometimes adding a dedicated supply fan. We measure actual CFM at the hood and the supply to find the imbalance.
Mini splits work well for single-level restaurants under 3,000 SF with 1 to 4 comfort zones. VRF is the better choice for larger restaurants, multi-level spaces, or when you need precise zone control across kitchen, dining, bar, and private dining areas. VRF also makes sense when you're running both heating and cooling simultaneously in different zones.
Same-day or next-day for diagnostics. Emergency service available for critical failures. We understand restaurants can't operate without climate control, and every hour of downtime costs real money.
If your system is under 10 years old and the repair is under 50% of replacement cost, repair it. If you're calling us multiple times a year, the system uses R-22 refrigerant, or the compressor has failed on equipment over 12 years old, it's time to replace. We'll give you an honest assessment either way.
Yes. We schedule installations and major repairs during early mornings, late nights, and between services. Your restaurant stays open. We plan around your schedule, not ours.
Every Week You Wait, It Costs You More
Higher energy bills. Lost service hours. Staff walking out. Guests not coming back. A DOH flag you can't explain away. The fix starts with a 60-minute diagnostic.
Diagnostic fee credited toward work. No pressure. Just a straight answer about what your restaurant needs.