Since 1984, Superior Equipment & Supply has been a respected name in the food service industry. But since the company moved in 2008 from the corner of 13th Street and Oklahoma Avenue into spacious new digs at 4550 S. Brust Ave. in St. Francis, the business has grown into a full culinary center with expanded retail offerings for professional chefs and home cooks, a test kitchen for classes and demonstrations, its own line of gourmet coffee and condiments and more.
Owned by Sammy Mahmood, whose husband, Mike Mahmood, founded Superior after gaining knowledge of the industry while selling cash registers for a Chicago restaurant supply business, Superior is open to the public and offers a full range of new and used commercial kitchen and bar equipment and accessories. Superior serves private sector, government and nonprofit entities nationwide.
For the home cook, Superior’s 50,000-square-foot space is lined with professional-quality pots, pans, dishes, glassware, barware, cutlery, bakeware, chef’s jackets, hats and aprons. Among the immense assortment of kitchen gadgets, one can find less common items such as lime squeezers, lobster crackers, sushi mats and spaetzel makers. For those who wish to pop popcorn or make gelato at home, Superior also has an array of small appliances.
Manager Sandy Doran said many items, such as glassware, are sold open stock, as well as in larger quantities. Superior also sells holiday and themed party goods, disposable plates and cutlery, serving platters, and they feature a kid’s area with smaller, colorful kitchen gear for little cooks.
Caravan, Superior’s own line of coffee, is among the offerings in the food and beverage section. Assorted spice blends, smoothie mixes, lemon wasabi sauce, pickled ginger, tri-color angel hair pasta, dried wild mushrooms, buffalo bleu cheese sauce, chocolate caramel and sea salt sauce, and locally produced East Troy honey are some of the standouts. “We try to offer things that you can’t pick up just anywhere,” Doran said.
The west end of the building houses Superior Culinary Center, a modern test kitchen that hosts cooking classes and demonstrations for children and adults. Superior’s team of chefs lead kids’ cooking classes and birthday parties, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troupe events, and adult culinary classes and workshops that explore the tastes of the Greek Islands, California’s coast, cooking on the grill, small plates and date night couples cooking, which Doran noted is one of the more popular classes.
Superior also offers full catering services for parties and corporate events.
With room to expand on its spacious property across from General Mitchell International Airport, Doran said they plan to set up an outdoor patio for grilling classes. Raised-bed gardens have been installed on the grounds to provide produce for the kids’ food education programs.
In April, Superior hosted Flavors Chopped Competition, benefitting the American Liver Foundation. Popular MPTV shows “Wisconsin Foodie” and “Daria’s Italian Kitchen” filmed segments at Superior.
