A restaurant hood cleaning service is the recurring contract a restaurant signs to keep its exhaust system legal and its insurance intact. In practice you are buying three things: the cleaning itself, the documentation that proves it happened, and a provider who will show up on the interval your kitchen actually requires rather than the one that suits their route.
A standard visit covers the hood canopy, the baffle filters, the accessible ductwork and the exhaust fan. Filters usually come out and go through a soak tank or a commercial dishwasher. Interior duct surfaces are scraped and pressure washed where access panels allow. The fan is degreased, and belts and bearings get a look while the housing is open. Good crews work at night or after close, mask the cook line and floor, and leave the kitchen ready for service.
NFPA 96 distinguishes inspection from cleaning. Its exhaust-system inspection table lists solid-fuel cooking monthly, high-volume operations such as 24-hour cooking, charbroiling or wok cooking quarterly, moderate-volume operations semi-annually, and low-volume operations such as churches, seasonal businesses and day camps annually. Clean contaminated portions when inspection finds grease deposits. Confirm the adopted edition and any additional requirements with your local authority having jurisdiction.
Restaurants are the clearest case for this service because they combine daily grease output with the highest inspection frequency and the most to lose from a closure order. Independent operators, franchise locations, hotel restaurants and bar kitchens all fall in scope. When comparing providers, the questions that matter are whether they carry current insurance, whether they clean to bare metal where reachable, whether they photograph the work, and whether the service report is detailed enough to hand to a fire marshal without explanation.
Compare providers by location in our directory of hood cleaners by state, or read the guide to choosing a hood cleaner before you request quotes.