Marty's Meats: From food truck to one of New Zealand's highest-rated burger restaurants
How Marty's Meats scaled from a food truck to one of New Zealand's highest-rated burger restaurants
Project overview
Business: Marty's Meats Smash Burgers
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
Project scope: Kitchen design, equipment specification and supply
Equipment brands: Turbofan, Woodson, Atosa, Cookrite, Blue Seal and Classeq
Production volume: 1,000+ burgers per week
Outcome: 30,000+ burgers served in the first six months of operation
When Marty's Meats made the decision to move from a successful food truck into its first permanent restaurant in Nelson CBD, the goal wasn't simply to build a larger kitchen.
The challenge was to take a highly specialised operation built around handmade food production and scale it into a restaurant capable of producing more than 1,000 burgers every week without compromising quality.
For a business where everything is made in-house, every detail mattered.
From fermented beef tallow fries and house-minced aged beef smash patties to sauces cooked in-store for more than ten hours per batch, Marty's Meats has built its reputation on doing things differently.
Today, that commitment to quality has helped the business become one of New Zealand's highest-rated burger restaurants, maintaining a 4.9-star rating across two locations and more than 460 customer reviews.
Turning a successful concept into a scalable operation
Moving from a food truck into a permanent restaurant is a major step for any hospitality business.
What works in a compact mobile kitchen doesn't always translate into a high-volume commercial environment.
Working closely with Marty, the project architects and the wider build team, Simply Hospitality spent months helping refine the kitchen layout, workflow and equipment selection to ensure the finished operation would perform exactly as required once the doors opened.
Daily discussions focused on everything from production flow and available power requirements through to equipment placement, storage, refrigeration and service efficiency.
The goal was simple: create a kitchen that worked just as well in reality as it did on paper.
Selecting equipment for performance
Because Marty's Meats produces virtually everything in-house, equipment selection played a critical role in the success of the project.
Rather than simply filling the kitchen with standard equipment, every appliance was chosen based on the specific demands of the operation.
The final kitchen specification included equipment from Turbofan, Woodson, Atosa, Cookrite, Blue Seal and Classeq, providing a balance of performance, reliability and efficiency across cooking, holding, refrigeration and warewashing.
Each piece was selected to support the workflow requirements of the business while allowing the team to maintain consistency during busy service periods.
For an operation producing more than 1,000 burgers every week, reliability isn't a luxury—it's essential.
A kitchen built to handle growth
The true test of any hospitality fit-out begins once service starts.
A kitchen can look impressive during installation, but long-term performance is what ultimately matters.
Within the first six months of operation, Marty's Meats served more than 30,000 burgers through the new restaurant.
The result was exactly what everyone had hoped for.
The kitchen workflow performed as intended, equipment reliability met expectations and the operation was able to scale successfully without major changes or compromises.
Even after years of operation, the original design and equipment specification continue to support the business exactly as planned.
Built on shared standards
One of the things that made this project particularly rewarding was the alignment between both businesses.
Marty's Meats has built its reputation through attention to detail, consistency and an uncompromising approach to quality.
Those same principles guided the fit-out process from the beginning.
As Marty explains:
"Our demands of Simply Hospitality were the same level of detail, professionalism and commitment as we put into our food and they did not disappoint us."
"After six months of operations in the restaurant we went through 30,000+ burgers and the setup proved to be flawless and even now we would not change anything."
"Going into a new location in future, Simply Hospitality can expect our call."
For us, there is no better measure of success than helping a customer create a venue that continues to perform years after opening.
Looking ahead
Today, Marty's Meats continues to set itself apart through its commitment to quality, craftsmanship and a genuinely handmade approach to food production.
We're proud to have played a part in helping bring that vision to life and look forward to supporting future growth as the business continues to expand.
Visit Marty's Meats
Marty's Meats Smash Burgers
Nelson CBD, Nelson, New Zealand
Website: https://www.martysmeatssmashburgers.co.nz/
Address: 244 Hardy Street, Nelson 7010 (Outside Morrison Square)
Follow their journey and see why customers consistently rate Marty's Meats among New Zealand's best burger destinations.
