Outdoor kitchens and BBQ islands

We build them across Corona, Riverside, Norco, Eastvale, Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Moreno Valley and the rest of the Inland Empire, placed so the person cooking is part of the party instead of facing a wall.

An outdoor kitchen is a structure, not an appliance

The grill is the thing people shop for. The thing that decides whether the kitchen gets used is everything around it: how much counter you have on each side of the grill, whether there is somewhere to set a platter down, whether people can walk past without going through the cooking space, and whether the cook is facing the pool and the company or the back fence.

So what we are building is masonry and counter. The appliances drop into it. Choose them early, because their dimensions set the openings, and an opening built for the wrong model is a demolition job rather than an adjustment.

Layouts that work in a real backyard

The straight run

One counter, grill in the middle, working space either side. It fits against a wall or a fence, it is the least expensive to build, and it is the right answer more often than people expect. Its limit is that everything happens in one line, so a second person helping means somebody shuffling sideways.

The L shape

A return leg at one end gives you a second working surface out of the smoke, which is where plates, prep and drinks end up. It also starts to define the outdoor room, giving the seating something to sit against. This is the layout most yards end up wanting once they have stood in the space.

The U shape

Three sides, usually with the cook in the middle. It gives the most counter and the most storage, and it suits people who genuinely cook outside rather than grilling occasionally. It needs real square footage, and it needs its traffic flow thought through or it becomes a trap.

The island as a seat wall

The counter faces the pool, the back of it is finished at seating height, and the structure doing the cooking is also the structure people sit on. It is the single most efficient use of masonry in a backyard, and it is where an outdoor kitchen and the hardscape stop being two separate projects.

The constraint nobody plans for is smoke. Prevailing air in most of these yards moves predictably, and a grill placed without thinking about it sends smoke straight across the seating or in through the back door. It costs nothing to get right at layout stage and it cannot be fixed afterward.

BBQ islands

If what you want is the island and not a whole kitchen, that is a smaller and very common project. A built in BBQ island is a masonry base, a counter, an opening for the grill, and whatever you choose to put under it: access doors to reach the gas connection and store the cover, a side burner for a pot, a refrigerator space, a trash pull so the bin is not standing beside the island. Bar height seating on the far side turns it into the place people actually gather.

The difference between an island and a kitchen is scope, not quality. Both get the same counter material, the same veneer and the same utility work.

Counter and veneer finishes

The finish is what makes the kitchen look like it came with the house. We match the veneer and the counter to the pool coping and the deck, so the yard reads as one project rather than three purchases made in different years.

Counters take the abuse: heat from the grill, sun all day, spills, and whatever the sprinklers reach. Veneer is where the yard gets its character, in stone, tile or stucco to match the house. If the deck is going in at the same time, this is the easiest moment to make all of it agree.

Utilities, and planning for them

An outdoor kitchen needs a gas line, power for lighting and outlets, and in some layouts a water line and a drain. Those get planned with the structure rather than chased afterward, and permitted where the city requires it.

The practical point: if there is any chance you will want an outdoor kitchen later, have the sleeves run while the yard is open. A conduit under a deck that has not been poured yet costs very little. The same conduit under a finished deck means cutting it, and a patch never quite disappears.

Building it with the pool, or after

With the pool build you get one mobilisation, shared trenching, a single grade to work, and utilities that go in before anything is finished over them. It is the cheapest version of this project by a clear margin.

After the pool is entirely doable and we build them that way often. Be aware of what it involves: the deck gets cut for the utilities and patched, finished surfaces have to be protected, and access for material is through whatever gate exists. None of that is a problem. It is just real work that the first option does not need.

• New pool construction
• Concrete pool decks and patios
• Built in fire pits and fire features
• See finished work