How to Plan the Perfect Outdoor Kitchen for Your Florida Home

If your current outdoor dining plan is eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the way out to check the mail, let’s do something about that.

Wouldn’t it be great to cook and entertain outside? Not just grilling hot dogs, but the whole deal, serving up savory shrimp nachos and ribeye steak with grilled corn salad.

The perfect outdoor kitchen isn’t just a place to cook. Done right, it’s a whole vibe. It’s a vibrant, convenient gathering spot where everybody wants to hang out — even if you’re not cooking.

If you have a patio, why not create a cooking, gathering and entertaining space that makes you enjoy it even more?

Where to start?

Don’t worry — we make it easy, from the tips you’re about to read here to our first design chat at your kitchen table to the day you slide your first savory pizza into your cool outdoor pizza oven.

Together, we’ll have so many great ideas.

Let's get started on your Florida outdoor kitchen guide:

First, Your Sarasota Outdoor Kitchen Designer Has a Few Questions for You

Actually, a lot of questions. We want to really get at the heart of how you’ll use this fantastic outdoor space. It’s not just out there to look great — although it absolutely will look great.

Your outdoor kitchen space should be one of the most-used spots of your home.

But to make sure it is, be ready to answer some questions:

How big is your family?

How many people do you usually cook for?

Do you entertain a lot? How many people usually come over?

Grill station vs. full kitchen? What do you think best suits your lifestyle? Not sure? We’ll chat about it.

What appliances do you use the most?

When you grill steak, do you tend to cook filets or porterhouses? Wait a minute. Why does that matter? Is your outdoor kitchen designer trying to wangle an invitation to dinner?

That would be lovely, but no. It’s all about figuring out what grill size you need. You can fit 12 filets on a 32-inch grill but only four porterhouse steaks.

What do you order when you go out to a restaurant? OK, now your designer is just being nosy, right? Stay with us. If you answer that you always order the grouper at Bonefish Grill, we know you love grilled fish. So, you need a flat top area on your grill if you want to grill fish.

Your answers help us design your perfect outdoor kitchen.

We listen closely to your answers. If you say you really don’t need a sink out there, that deserves a conversation.

How far is your indoor kitchen from your outdoor kitchen spot? Do you really want to trek all the way from your outdoor kitchen counter to your indoor kitchen sink to rinse the honey soy glaze for your salmon off your fingers?

Maybe you don’t want to pay the extra money to connect an outdoor kitchen sink to your sewer hookup. Guess what? If you’re just going to use the sink to rinse your hands, that’s not necessary. (A good outdoor kitchen designer knows valuable stuff.)

We might ask if the people you often entertain are vegan or vegetarian. If so, maybe you want an outdoor pizza oven to make whole wheat pizza with arugula parsley pesto.

All these questions — and your answers— matter, guiding us to the features you’ll use and love.

designer customer presentation 5

What’s the Best Outdoor Kitchen Layout for Florida? Make It Work for You

We love a classic galley-style outdoor kitchen with a grill and sink on one side and seating on the other side with a handy refrigerator.

But you have other choices, and your layout really depends on the space you have available and your personal preference.

A U-shaped layout works well for larger spaces, with plenty of room if you need lots of storage and have multiple cooks (lucky you!)

An L-shape is nice for neatly separating your cooking area from your seating.

Or center everything around a multipurpose island and combine prep space, storage and dining in one handy area.

outdoor kitchen table 2

Outdoor Kitchen Materials for Humidity Include Cool New Cabinets

Among the latest options in Florida outdoor kitchen ideas: High-Density Polyethylene cabinets (HDPE, for short.) They're waterproof, UV-resistant and rust-resistant. Basically, they’re a super sturdy plastic.

They have the same high-end look of indoor kitchen cabinets but stand strong in our often-challenging Florida weather conditions.

Made from marine-grade HDPE, they stand up to moisture, UV rays, and extreme temperatures.

In the past, outdoor kitchen cabinets were often made of concrete with metal frames and a stucco coating that required a stucco contractor to apply. Leave those in the past.

Bonus: these HDPE cabinets are made locally, by American Outdoor Cabinets in Bradenton, a Florida custom outdoor kitchen builder.

Custom made, easy to install, lots of choices.

Pro tip: plan for enough drawer and cabinet storage. You don’t want to be running back and forth to your indoor kitchen all the time to grab a pitcher for margaritas, a serving platter or your favorite spatula. Your designer can help you figure out the right plan for you to incorporate all your favorite spatulas.

Add Granite Counters to Your Florida Outdoor Kitchen Design

Top those HDPE cabinets with stunning granite countertops and your outdoor kitchen is ready for the long haul.

Remember tile countertops? Well, feel free to forget about them.

Homeowners used to want tile counters for their outdoor kitchens. Then the tiles chipped, cracked or fell off. So, everybody’s replacing them.

Granite is the way to go.

Granite is perfect for outdoor kitchens because it stands up to heat and water and resists scratches.

Consider a honed or “leathered” granite finish. It has a textured matte surface that doesn’t reflect sunlight glare like a slick, shiny granite counter.

Plus, it’s fun to pick out your own granite. Black Pearl? Very sleek. Steel Grey? Its natural, textured look is a popular choice. Thunder White? Its bright hue often includes pretty gray, white, and black specks.

There are other countertop options for your Florida outdoor kitchen design, including concrete you can customize by dyeing it a color or embedding items into it like seashells or glow-in-the-dark stones. But be aware there’s no sample to look at like there is with a granite countertop.

outdoor kitchen with firepit seating patio water feature

How to Plan an Outdoor Kitchen? Always Go Bigger

Nobody ever says “Rats, my outdoor kitchen is too big.”

For one thing, you probably shouldn’t include “rats” and “outdoor kitchen” in the same sentence.

Also, most people discover their outdoor kitchen is actually too small, and they wish they had planned for more space.

Can you add another counter later? Maybe, but that’s not ideal. You probably won’t be able to match the granite exactly.

So really think this counter thing through. Maybe you think all you really need is a grill with a foot of space on each side. Where will you set all your stuff? You’re not just serving chips out there, right?

Outdoor Kitchen Planning Tips: Make It Comfortable

No guy wants to stand out there and grill all by himself. That’s no fun. (Unless he’s hiding because he’s actually supposed to be painting the bedroom instead of grilling himself a steak.)

So, make your outdoor kitchen area comfortable, inviting and fun, so everybody wants to be out there. That means comfortable seating. Festive lighting. Maybe a tiki bar for fun.

Use your outdoor kitchen space not just for cooking, but for gathering. Sit at the counter for cocktails. Include a TV for watching the big game or your favorite movie.

Make your Sarasota outdoor kitchen the centerpiece of your outdoor space — even when you’re not grilling.

Speaking of not grilling…

tiki hut outdoor kitchen bar 2

Pizza, Pancakes, Smoked Ribs: There’s an Outdoor Kitchen Appliance for Everything

Of course, you’ll want a grill for your new outdoor kitchen.

But even the juiciest burgers and chicken get boring night after night, right?

Check out the new possibilities in outdoor kitchen design:

Griddle-style Grills

The flat surface of an outdoor griddle offers possibilities beyond the standard grill set-up.

Think outdoor blueberry pancake brunch. French toast. Fried eggs. Sizzle up a shrimp and snow pea stir fry. Host a panini party.

outdoor kitchen food grill 2

Pizza Ovens

There are lots of options here, from full-scale built-ins to countertop models that heat up faster.

Then, get creative. Peach and bacon pizza. Spinach and artichoke pizza. Taco pizza.

Keep a planter of home-grown tomatoes and basil nearby for the freshest feast.

A Friday night family pizza party is a great way to kick off the weekend.

Smokers

If you love the flavor of smoky meats and vegetables, an outdoor smoker boosts your Florida outdoor kitchen to the next level.

Choose a model that burns mesquite, hickory or apple wood chips or a pellet smoker fueled by compressed hardwood pellets for a clean, consistent burn.

These versatile pellet smokers can grill, smoke, bake and roast.

Convenient digital controllers maintain the temperature, so you can go paint the bathroom until dinner’s ready. (Yeah, right.)

Beverage Fridges

Choose a free-standing version, countertop model or built-in option. You’ll always have a cold drink handy. Also, they’re adorable.

Kegerators

If you’re a beer fan, you’re probably familiar with this marvel.

A kegerator is a specialized refrigerator designed to store, chill and dispense craft beer — or other beverages —from a keg.

If you often host big thirsty crowds, this is a great addition to your Sarasota outdoor kitchen design.

You can’t beat the convenience factor. It offers immediate, on-tap access and reduces the hassle of bottles and cans piling up and wrecking the vibe of your tidy outdoor kitchen counters.

Ice, Ice Baby

Outdoor ice makers freeze lots of ice fast, great for hosting barbecues and pool

parties or if you have an ice chewer in the family or you have frequent unsettling nightmares about running out of ice.

Portable models can move easily or have your ice maker built in.

Outdoor Kitchen, Meet Technology

If you love your outdoor haven as a place to escape from the stress of the world and all its modern chatter, that’s cool. Embrace old-school grilling over a charcoal fire and turn off your phone.

But if you’d love a bit of tech to make your outdoor kitchen tasks more convenient, you have plenty of choices:

Grills equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth let you monitor temperature remotely, offer handy cooking alerts and some even allow voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant. (“Alexa, please tell my wife I really wanted to grill steak tonight, not this pile of healthy vegetables.”)
Outdoor refrigerators synced to an app will let you know when you’re running low on ranch dip or tell you if the door was left open.
Control your outdoor kitchen lighting with your smartphone to easily change the vibe. (More on lighting in a bit.)
Watch the big game on a flat-screen TV while you sizzle up fajitas or add a high-quality sound system for a luxury boost while you sip a fresh-air cocktail.

Outdoor Kitchen Planning Tips: Don’t Forget Lighting

If you think lighting is a luxury, any good Sarasota outdoor kitchen designer will say, sorry, you’re wrong.

Lighting overhead and tucked under the countertops is a must, just so you can safely navigate your space once the sun goes down.

Lighting the plant material surrounding your outdoor kitchen adds drama and highlights your favorite plants after dark.

But lighting is also fun. Add festive bistro lights to twinkle overhead. Flickering tiki torches create the ultimate vacation vibe.

outdoor kitchen lighting

What’s Your Outdoor Kitchen Floor? Pick Pavers

There are more exciting outdoor kitchen decisions to make than what you walk on, but the patio material underfoot is still important when you build an outdoor kitchen in Florida.

If you’re tempted to keep it simple and go with basic concrete, resist temptation. It tends to crack.

A better option: pavers.

Pavers are sturdy, dependable and you have lots of choices. You can actually have fun with this part, choosing your color, texture and design.

If a paver gets chipped or damaged, no worries. Save a few from your original installation for easy replacement.

A quick note about patio drainage. No matter how delicious your pesto crostini appetizer is, it won’t distract from the fact that your feet are in a puddle.

It’s not just how pretty your pavers are that’s important — skilled construction is crucial.

If water is pooling on your patio, it probably wasn’t sloped properly when it was installed. Or it might have sunk and settled if installers didn’t start with a proper base.

Excess water can damage your pavers, encourage mosquitoes to breed and can cause landscape flooding and erosion problems.

When you talk to your Sarasota outdoor kitchen designer about paver options, get reassurance that the installation will be done by patio pros.

Covered Outdoor Kitchen Ideas: Plan Some Shelter

It’s fine if your steak is sizzling in your outdoor kitchen. Not as much fun if you’re sizzling.

Make a plan to shelter your outdoor kitchen so you’re comfortable out there in the hot sun — or the rain.

A couple popular options:

A Pergola

On a hot sunny day, a shady pergola offers welcome overhead protection for your outdoor kitchen, filtering the light and lessening the sun’s intensity.

They offer a nice bit of privacy, too.

A Tiki Hut

Tikis are custom-built outdoor structures with fun thatch roofs and a tropical vibe.

Everybody thinks about tiki bars, which are absolutely great, and you can cover just the bar portion of your outdoor kitchen with a tiki if you like. But a tiki offers great shelter for your whole kitchen, too, and is great protection from a pop-up rain shower.

tiki hut outdoor kitchen bar 4

Outdoor Kitchen Planning Tips: Don’t Forget Plants

Any outdoor entertaining space should include plants, and that includes your outdoor kitchen.

Can’t figure out where to put them without getting in the way of your grill, the pizza oven, the island and your tiki bar?

Check out a few leafy possibilities:

Use tropical plants or palms to create privacy on the back side of your Sarasota outdoor kitchen, especially if your kitchen is situated close to a property line and neighbors.
When you build an outdoor kitchen in Florida, palm trees are a great way to anchor your outdoor kitchen, either along the sides or at the four corners, depending on your layout.
If your outdoor kitchen is covered with a pergola, that’s an automatic home for impressive, colorful flowering vines like bougainvillea or confederate jasmine. They’ll love growing up the posts and add extra shade once they cover the top.
A raised herb garden pulls triple duty in an outdoor kitchen: it looks great, smells fantastic and offers fresh ingredients for your outdoor cooking. Snip sprigs of basil for your pizza or cilantro for homemade salsa. If one of your counters has enough sunlight, consider a handy herb garden inset into a concrete countertop for easy snipping — and sniffing! You can’t beat the fresh scent of mint or lemon thyme.

artificial turf putting green backyard retaining wall tiki hut 2

Outdoor Kitchen Cost in Florida: The Bottom Line

Let’s start with the basics.

The most basic outdoor kitchen will typically have a grill with cabinets on each side for workspace and storage. Add a granite countertop with a couple feet on each side so you can set down your grill tongs and platter of cheeseburgers and you’ll spend about $8,000.

Need more? Then, the sky’s the limit, actually, but most homeowners usually spend $25,000 to $35,000 for an impressive outdoor kitchen that meets their outdoor living and entertaining needs.

Ultimately, the cost of an outdoor kitchen depends on its size and the quality and number of appliances you include.

Higher-end appliances will cost more than budget models. But when it comes to outdoor appliances for Florida climate, don’t skimp on your stainless steel appliances. You want high quality to stand up to the outdoor elements.

The Florida heat isn’t a big factor, but our humidity is. You don’t want rust to form.

Frequently Asked Questions About Outdoor Kitchens in Florida

Q. Can I use my outdoor kitchen year-round?

A. Yes, you can absolutely use an outdoor kitchen year-round here in Florida. To get the most use from your Sarasota outdoor kitchen, incorporate shelter for hot or rainy months, and a fire pit or fireplace for cooler evenings.

Q. What appliances hold up best in Florida’s humidity?

A. Your best bet for Florida’s high humidity and salt air are appliances made of high-grade 304 or 316 stainless steel, specifically rated for outdoor use to resist corrosion.

Q. Can I install a sink without tying into the sewer line?

A. It depends on how you plan to use it. If you’re just going to use the sink to rinse your hands, connecting it to a sewer line isn’t necessary.

Q. How much does an outdoor kitchen typically cost?

A. Most of our customers spend between $25,000 and $35,000.

Q. Can you stretch out the cost by doing your outdoor kitchen in phases, adding features later?

A. You can, as long as you create the entire plan with your designer ahead of time, so electricity can be run to the right places during the initial construction.

patio artificial turf outdoor kitchen

How to Choose Pros to Create Your Sarasota Outdoor Kitchen

You want total confidence in the design and construction team that creates your outdoor kitchen.

Check out these tips:

Look at examples of their work. Are you impressed? Then, ask questions about the projects. Why did they choose that outdoor kitchen layout? What’s the reasoning behind the appliances they used? It’s a great way to get some valuable insight.
Chat with a couple of their outdoor kitchen clients. What do they love about their kitchens? Were there any significant problems along the way? Would they hire this company again?
How will they make the whole process easy for you? This should be exciting and fun — not a big hassle that makes you wish you had spent your hard-earned money on a vacation instead. Don’t just look at pretty photos of their work — ask about the entire process, from the design consultation through the final walk through. You shouldn’t be apprehensive about anything.

Ready for a Sarasota Outdoor Kitchen Design You’ll Love? Talk to Us

Remember how we talked about the need for lots of questions? Here’s one more: what are you waiting for?

Maybe an outdoor kitchen sounds amazing, but you don’t know where to start. It’s kind of overwhelming. So many options. A good designer will help you incorporate one into your Sarasota Florida landscape design.

Our landscape design and build teams know how to boost your outdoor life with a perfect outdoor kitchen — and everything else you need to really enjoy it.

outdoor kitchen grill

Let’s get started. We’ll help you figure it all out.

Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team of Sarasota designers can’t wait to design the perfect outdoor kitchen to take your outdoor living up a notch. Maybe even two notches.