Front-of-house cleaning for Vermont restaurants and shops
Simply Keeping cleans the front of the house at Vermont restaurants, cafés and shops — the dining room, the shop floor, the restrooms and the entryway your customers walk through. We do not work in the kitchen, and this page says exactly where the line is.
What does restaurant cleaning include
We clean front-of-house only — dining rooms, restrooms, entryways and common areas. We do not clean kitchen hoods or exhaust systems.
Kitchen hood and exhaust cleaning is a licensed, fire-code trade with its own certification and its own inspection schedule, and it is not what a commercial cleaning company does. Your kitchen line and your hood contractor keep the back of the house. We keep the room your customers sit in.
What we clean in a restaurant or café
- Dining-room floors swept and mopped, including under and around the seating
- Tables, chairs, booths and bar tops wiped down and reset
- Customer and staff restrooms — fixtures, mirrors, floors and touch points
- Entryways, vestibules, walk-off mats and the glass on the front door
- Front-of-house glass, service counters and the shelving customers see
- Trash and recycling collected from front-of-house areas
Nothing on that list touches cooking equipment, hoods, exhaust, grease traps or the line. If a job needs any of those, it needs a different contractor, and we will say so at the walkthrough rather than after.
What does retail cleaning include
Retail cleaning is the reset that makes a shop look open. Floors, glass, fitting rooms, restrooms, the counter and the entryway — the surfaces a customer forms an opinion from in the first ten seconds. In a small independent shop that opinion is most of the marketing budget.
It happens outside trading hours in almost every case, so a shop opens clean rather than being cleaned around. Merchandise, displays and stock are yours to move; we clean around them and we do not rearrange a display to reach a shelf.
What we clean in a shop
- Shop floors, entry mats and the threshold customers step over
- Front glass, display windows and interior glass fixtures
- Fitting rooms, mirrors, benches and hooks
- Customer and staff restrooms
- Service counters, till areas and the back-of-counter floor
- Stockroom and staff-area floors and surfaces, where they are in scope
Do you clean before opening or after closing
Both happen, and the right answer depends on your service. Restaurants that close late usually want an early-morning clean so the room is fresh for lunch rather than sitting overnight. Shops mostly want it after close, so the floor is dry and the glass is clear before the doors open.
Cafés with breakfast trade are the hardest window in this category and are worth talking through at the walkthrough. Whatever we agree becomes the schedule, written down, with building access sorted in advance so nobody is waiting on a key.
Frequently asked questions
Do you clean kitchen hoods
No. Simply Keeping does not clean kitchen hoods, exhaust systems, ductwork or grease traps. That is a licensed fire-code trade with its own certification and inspection cycle, and it is outside what a standard commercial cleaning company does. Our work in a restaurant is front-of-house — dining rooms, restrooms, entryways and common areas.
Do you clean the kitchen at all
No. Restaurant work is front-of-house only. That means we do not clean cooking equipment, prep surfaces, the line, walk-ins or kitchen floors. Kitchens have their own cleaning requirements tied to food safety and your own staff or a specialist contractor handles them.
Do you clean fitting rooms and customer restrooms
Fitting rooms and customer restrooms are part of a standard retail clean, and in a small shop they are the two spaces most likely to cost you a sale. That covers mirrors, benches, hooks, floors, restroom fixtures and touch points. Restocking arrangements are agreed at the walkthrough.
Can you work around our merchandise and displays
Yes, and we clean around them rather than moving them. Displays, stock and merchandise stay where your team put them; if something needs shifting to reach a surface, that is arranged in advance and noted in the scope. Nobody wants to open to a rearranged window.
Do you clean outdoor seating and sidewalk areas
Outdoor seating, patio areas and the sidewalk stretch in front of a business are quotable, and in Vermont they are seasonal. Because they depend on your lease, your town's rules and the weather, they are scoped separately at the walkthrough rather than assumed into a standard front-of-house clean.
Other spaces we clean
Health care facilities
Front-of-house cleaning for medical and dental practices — reception and waiting areas, never the clinical rooms.
Health care front-of-house →Property management
If your restaurant or shop is in a managed building, the common areas may already be covered.
Property management →Office spaces
The back office of a retail business is a standard office clean.
Office spaces →Let's walk your front of house
We'll see the room your customers see and tell you plainly what we can and can't take on. Free, and no obligation.