Where Can I Buy Kitchen Shoes
Birkenstock Professional Birki is a supportive shoe that has been tested in the kitchen environment for decades. And if you prefer the sneaker look in your shoes, the New Balance Slip Resistant Shoes are safe and comfortable.
where can i buy kitchen shoes
Being a chef is no easy task. The workload drains you, the fast-paced environment rarely stops or slows down, and you work long and tireless hours. Spending all day and night on your feet becomes burdensome quickly. This toiling affects chefs both mentally and physically. For this reason and many others, you need to take care of your body. Choosing the best chef shoes for the kitchen is one important way to do this.
The Dansko Professional is one of the most distinctive (opinions differ on whether this is a good distinctive or bad distinctive) chef shoes available. Although Dansko introduced the Pro XP and Pro XP 2.0 (above), the Dansko Professional maintains an intensely loyal following amongst chefs around the world.One of the reasons that the Dansko Professional has such a strong following is that they are incredibly comfortable if you are on your feet all day. Dansko builds them with a rocker bottom that helps you move around while minimizing pronation and providing lateral support. This leaves your feet and calves less tired, leading to fewer injuries and less pain after a long shift.The other feature that sets Dansko apart is the way you walk in them. By design, your heel should move up and down as you walk in Dansko clogs. This takes a bit of getting used to, but is really comfortable once you catch on.
The major downside people find is that if you have larger feet, the padded instep across the bridge of the foot is tight. The padding is there to help alleviate this, but isn't sufficient for some people. For more details read our complete review of the Dansko Professional.3. Birkenstock Professional Slip Resistant Work Shoe (aka, Profi-Birki)Available for Men and Women atAmazon.comBirkenstock offers quality shoes. This goes not only for their standard footwear offerings, but also their work shoes and chef shoes. While Birkenstock prices the Professional series at a premium to some other brands, they maintain a cult following. Every shoe serves a purpose, and these shoes are a top choice in professional and commercial kitchens.
Crocs take a good amount of beatings due to their appearance. Many believe Crocs makes relatively ugly shoes. However, the comfort and utility is almost unmatched, especially at the price point. For all this abuse and negativity, the shoes have not suffered from sales, with everybody from Prince George to Michelle Obama photographed wearing Crocs.Why all this use? These shoes are practical, quick and easy to slip on, and borderline indestructible. The likelihood for chefs is that investing in a pair of these shoes will lead to a lack of worry for a good bit of time.The Crocs Bistro Clog has a sturdy, non-slip Crocs Lock tread. There is also a heel strap, providing solid room for the ankles to breathe, and alleviating the persistent heel blisters all too common with most inexpensive, lower quality chef shoes currently on the market.For more details read our complete review of the Crocs Bistro Clog.
A newer brand to the footwear market, Shoes for Crews stormed into the work, industrial, and non-slip shoe scene with flying colors, quickly becoming a customer favorite for hard workers. We've seen some kitchens that require Shoes for Crews as part of their uniform. They have shoes to meet non-slip safety standards that corporate kitchens might need to satsify. This is mainly due to the extensive warranty services and high level of confidence they have with all their products. This is evident with the Radium, a wonderful shoe for chefs.The Shoes for Crews Radium meets all testing standards for non-slip and non-skid work shoes. They also feature a luxurious footbed of memory foam, and are water and stain resistant, perfect for the hard-working chef. Shoes for Crews continues upward growth in their shoe line, and are a power player in the workwear market.7. Birkenstock Tokyo Super GripAvailable for Men and Women atAmazon.comWhile there are less expensive brands and styles of chef shoe with similar shapes for challenge-to-fit feet, they often make them from plastic-based materials that lack breathability. In comparison, Birkenstock makes the Tokyo Super Grip from high-quality, naturally breathable leather. This leather upper allows chefs and cooks to work a full shift without sweat soaking through their socks.
New Balance built these wide-fitting alloy-toe shoes with comfort and safety in mind. However, note that you'll need to wear these shoes a few times to break them in. As such, some people find them uncomfortable straight out of the box.They are some of the more expensive shoes on our list, as we expect for shoes with safety-toe features. These actually come at a completely reasonable price point for safety shoes from a top manufacturer like New Balance. Maybe we're used to safety shoes for industry and construction that typically come in about 50% higher in price than these.Some kitchens require a safety toe shoe. We'd say it's not typical, but gets more common each year. While they'll certainly protect against falling knives, a good leather or synthetic clog will almost certainly protect your toes in that situation as well. The one area a safety toe does offer an advantage is protection against heavy falling objects. Anyway, if your job requires a safety-toe, this is the direction we'd go.9. Crocs on the Clock Chef Shoes Work Slip OnAvailable for Men and Women atCrocs.comZappos.comAmazon.comCrocs is one of the industry leaders in work-related shoes, renowned for their simplicity, single-piece design, and comfort. They are also one of the most budget-friendly footwear options for chefs. These shoes come with an impressive range of additional features as well.
The Crocs option has a Sure Grip outsole, preventing slips and falls. Also, the footbed has massaging nodes, to massage the feet with every step while you zip back and forth in the kitchen, while simultaneously stimulating circulation to the lower extremities.Additionally, this footwear for chefs has enhanced arch support, helping to prevent aches and pains in the center of your foot. These are common after extended periods of standing, such as after a long shift in the kitchen with minimal time to sit and rest.For more details read our complete review of the Crocs On the Clock Work Slip-On.The Best Kitchen Shoes are About More Than the PriceHigh-quality chef shoes are not something that comes cheap. A chef might have second thoughts about spending a good bit of money on a work shoe that will get dirty and covered in food almost immediately. However, is your safety, security and comfort in the workplace the best place to try and save money?It should also be mentioned that shoes that cost more do not necessarily correlate to higher durability and functionality. Many chefs and cooks will fall into the trap of purchasing the inexpensive ten-dollar slip-on shoes from big box retail establishments. The issue with this is two-sided.
For one, this increases the chances of a workplace-related incident. The slip-resistance of a ten-dollar shoe will pale in comparison to its fifty-dollar alternative. Additionally, the footwear will need replacing at a far higher rate than more expensive options with higher utility. What would be better, spending $25 on shoes every six months, or spending $100 on shoes every three years? Exactly.Diving Into the Importance of Chef ShoesHigh-quality chef shoes, like the options reviewed above, allow cooks and chefs to perform their work at high levels of efficiency, while simultaneously ensuring safety and comfort. Additionally, chef shoes need to have some form of practicality. They need to be comfortable, resistant to spills, slip resistant, and sturdy to a point where they can protect the feet from heat and falling objects.These aspects are all vital to the safety, security and efficiency of the chef. They absolutely need to be covered and included in a pair of good quality chef shoes. But there is another, obvious factor in play as to why a pair of chef shoes is crucial.Wearing chef shoes in the workplace is often mandatory, and a requirement for most health and safety standards, especially those set forth by OSHA for food service establishments. In these cases, it is almost always the responsibility of the employer to enforce the rules, however it is the responsibility of the chef to purchase and maintain their own footwear.While comfort and functionality are extremely important, work standards and regulations for safety in the workplace are an equally crucial role, and should be considered as well when making purchase decisions for chef shoes. To ensure the safe, productive, uninterrupted operations of a restaurant, it is vital to comply with these safety regulations.
There is more to the concept of workplace safety in the kitchen than simple regulatory aspects. There are other reasons why chef shoes are incredibly important. This feature allows chefs to perform their workplace duties at a very high level. Any professional, from a cook to a plumber to a teacher and beyond, can only provide their best work if there are no distractions.
Whether a chef purchases a slip-on (like all the options we tested and suggested as the best) or lace-up work shoe, it is vital to select footwear that is appropriate for the work environment in which they will be worn. If the kitchen back of the house area tends to heat up regularly, breathable shoes are the best design type. Slip-ons are typically superior for chefs, as our own research and testing showed. However, some cooks just simply prefer the snugness and support that lace-up shoes provide. 041b061a72