Outdoor Kitchen in Kendall, FL: Plan It Around How You Cook

The best outdoor kitchen in Kendall is the one built around how you actually cook. First figure out if you're a grill-and-go person, someone who wants a full second kitchen out back, or the host who mostly pours drinks. Then plan the prep space, shade and utilities around that. The stone and the stainless come last.

Designers are saying the same thing this year. James King, VP of Design at RTA Outdoor Living, told Livingetc that 2026 is the year of function-first outdoor kitchens. We agree. A good-looking island that's awkward to cook on gets used twice and then becomes a place to dump pool towels.

If you want it ready for the holidays, start planning now. The dry season through December is the most comfortable time to build in a Kendall backyard, and the most comfortable time to stand at a grill.

Start with how you cook: grill station, full kitchen or entertaining bar

Most outdoor kitchens fall into one of these setups. Be honest about which one is you, because it decides almost everything else.

• Grill station. A built-in grill island with counter space on both sides and maybe storage underneath. This is for people who grill on weekends and do the rest inside. It's the simplest of the three to build.
• Full kitchen. Grill, sink, fridge and real countertops, so you're not running back inside every five minutes for water, ice or a clean plate. This is for families who cook out a few nights a week or host Nochebuena in the backyard.
• Entertaining bar. The cooking is secondary. The fridge, the bar top and the seating are the main event. Think a game-day setup by the pool.

A lot of people picture the full kitchen. If you really grill twice a month, you might be happier with a well-built grill island and the money left over for shade. Manny does every estimate himself, and when he walks the yard with you he'll tell you which one he thinks fits.

You can see more of what we build on our outdoor kitchen page.

Layout basics: prep space, landing zones and seating

Prep space is the counter where you season, cut and stage food before it goes on the grill. People skimp on it all the time. If your only counter is a narrow strip next to the grill, you'll end up prepping inside and carrying trays out.

Landing zones are the open counter on each side of the grill where you set things down. Raw food comes in on one side, cooked food goes out on the other. If you get one thing right, get this, because a grill with nowhere to put a full tray is a grill you'll hate.

If you're adding a sink, put it near the prep area, not across the patio. Same with the fridge. You want a short walk between them, the way your indoor kitchen works.

Then seating. A bar-height counter facing the cook keeps guests close without putting them in your way. Keep the seating out of the path between the grill and the door back into the house. That's the route you'll walk the most, usually with your hands full.

Also watch where the smoke goes. Turning the grill a few feet is better than having smoke drift into your living room every time the sliding door opens.

Shade and rain: adding a pergola

An outdoor kitchen in full Kendall sun is a kitchen you'll only use after sunset. In summer, it's also one you'll abandon mid-afternoon when the storm rolls in. Shade is what makes it usable most of the year.

That's why so many people ask us for an outdoor kitchen with a pergola. We build them in insulated aluminum, because it doesn't rot and you don't have to repaint it, and it's rated to 175 mph. We can finish the ceiling with the same slats as your kitchen cabinets so the whole space matches.

Every pergola we build is engineered and permitted to South Florida wind code, with proper footings. That part isn't optional here. More on options and pricing factors is on our Kendall pergolas page.

If the grill goes under a roof, the grill manufacturer's clearance and ventilation requirements need to be part of the design, settled before anything gets built.

Utilities and County permits in Kendall

Kendall is unincorporated Miami-Dade, so permits for your outdoor kitchen go through Miami-Dade County, not a city building department. Your property's folio is what decides that, so we check it before we file.

Gas for the grill, a water line for the sink, and electrical for the fridge and lighting all get permitted and inspected. Our permit runner files the paperwork, tracks the review and meets the inspectors. You don't have to deal with the County yourself.

Two things to know up front. First, the County's permit fee is paid by you, separate from our price, because every city's and the County's fees are different. Our written quote covers our work. Second, a permitted job isn't finished until it passes the final inspection, which closes the permit. We don't call a job done before that.

Plan the utility runs early. It's a lot easier to run gas and water lines before the slab or pavers go down than to cut into a finished patio later. If you have an HOA, we handle that paperwork too.

Materials that hold up to South Florida sun and rain

Out here your kitchen deals with sun, heavy rain and humidity. Materials that do fine indoors can fade, stain or warp outside.

For countertops, granite, quartzite and porcelain hold up best outdoors. Pick the color you like, but pick it from one of those.

What's under the kitchen matters as much as what's on top. The same things that shorten the life of a slab anywhere in South Florida apply here: skipped base prep, rebar left lying on the ground, the wrong mix, poor drainage and tree roots. If there are big trees near where you want the island, that's worth looking at before deciding where it goes.

Drainage is the other big one. After a summer downpour, water needs somewhere to go besides under your island. If you're adding turf around the kitchen, we install it over a drainage base so it doesn't pool after storms, and the infill is pet-safe and antimicrobial.

Budget and financing

We won't throw out a number for an outdoor kitchen before we've seen your yard, because there's no honest way to do it. Two kitchens on the same street can be very different jobs. What drives the price:

• The style you picked: a grill station is a different job than a full kitchen
• Size of the island and how much counter you want
• Which appliances (grill, sink, fridge) and countertop material
• How far the gas, water and electrical have to run
• Whether you need a new slab or pavers underneath, plus demo and drainage
• Adding a pergola, and which type

After Manny sees the site, you get a written, fixed price. That's the number.

If you'd rather spread it out, we offer financing through Wisetack for projects up to $65,000, with a soft credit check that doesn't affect your score. Qualified buyers can get 0% APR options up to 24 months, and there are 9.9% APR options on 7- and 10-year terms for eligible borrowers. Financing is subject to credit approval through Wisetack. Rates and terms vary, and checking if you qualify won't affect your credit score. For bigger projects, like a full kitchen under a new pergola with a new patio, Wells Fargo financing goes up to $100,000. Details are on our financing page.

We're a father-and-son company out of Hialeah and we've been pouring concrete since 2004. We serve customers in English and Spanish, so if you're looking for a cocina exterior in Kendall, we can walk you through the whole thing en español.

If you want to cook outside this holiday season, call our office at (786) 744-4899 for a free outdoor kitchen estimate in Kendall, or see what we've built on our Kendall outdoor kitchen page. You can also check Wisetack financing with a soft pull, and most people get an answer the same day.