A back bar cooler is the refrigerator a bartender reaches into during service, not the one a customer browses from the aisle. This model is built around that job. It is an undercounter beverage cooler for bars, restaurant service wells and hotel lounge counters, proportioned to sit beneath the counter line or at the end of the back bar so bottles, cans and mixers stay within arm's reach of whoever is pouring.
That distinction shapes the whole cabinet. This commercial back bar refrigerator is designed to serve a shift; a full-height glass door merchandiser is designed to sell drinks to a room. Solid doors keep the working face quiet, the interior is given over to shelving rather than display glass, and the compartment is lit so staff can find a bottle in a dark corner without leaving the well.
The family runs from a single-door body for a compact service station to two- and three-door cabinets for volume bars where several people work the same counter. Hinged and sliding versions share the same proportions and shelving pattern, so the decision usually comes down to the space in front of the cabinet rather than the cabinet itself.
One boundary is worth stating plainly: this is chilled storage, not a freezer. It holds bottles and cans at serving temperature and is not intended for frozen goods, or for cooling a delivery of warm stock down in the middle of a rush.
Bars with dark timber and low light often ask us for a black back bar cooler. The cabinet on this listing is the stainless steel build, so tell us the finish you need when you enquire and we will confirm what is available for the body you choose.
| Model reference | ES-150H |
| Temperature range | 0 °C to +10 °C |
| Compressor | Donper |
| Refrigerant | R600a |
| Temperature controller | Elitech digital controller |
| Shelving | Chrome wire shelves, 2 layers per door |
| Cabinet material | 201 stainless steel, interior and exterior |
| Inner liner | Mirror stainless steel |
| Door type | Solid doors; hinged or sliding by body size |
| Widths available | 595 mm (1 door), 900 mm (2 doors), 1350 mm (3 doors) |
| Cabinet depth | 536 mm |
| Cabinet height | 840 mm |
| Door handle | Curved aluminium alloy |
| Interior lighting | Built-in LED |
In a still-air cabinet, cold settles. The level nearest the evaporator runs colder than the one below it, and a bottle at the back of a shelf behaves differently from the one at the front. Fan cooling takes that behaviour out of the equation: a fan moves refrigerated air around the compartment continuously, so the upper and lower shelves sit within a working range of each other and the front row stays as cold as the back.
That evenness is what makes a bar bottle cooler practical with a mixed load. A bar stores long-neck bottles, cans, tonic and juice in the same compartment, and the stock is rearranged constantly as the night goes on. With air moving through the shelves, shifting a bottle from the back to the front does not change its temperature, and a shelf refilled at seven is back at serving temperature before the first rush.
Fan cooling also shortens recovery after the door closes. Every time a bartender opens the cabinet, a wedge of cold air leaves and room air goes in; the fan redistributes what is left and pulls the cabinet back down instead of waiting for still air to settle again.
Two practical points follow. Leave a little space between the shelves so air can travel — a compartment packed solid works against the system. And never load warm stock straight from a delivery: put it in the walk-in first, because moving air will spread that warmth through the whole cabinet rather than keeping it in one corner.
The cabinet is managed by an Elitech digital controller, with the readout on the front of the unit. In practice that means a shift supervisor can see what the cabinet is doing without opening a door and letting cold air out, and can change the set point without reaching for a dial inside the compartment.
The working range is 0 °C to +10 °C, which covers the serving temperatures most bars actually use. Lagers and soft drinks sit comfortably at the cold end; ales, mixers and styles that lose their character when over-chilled sit higher up. Set the cabinet to the temperature your menu calls for rather than to the lowest number the controller accepts, because a cabinet running at 0 °C will chill mixers harder than most bars want them.
Two things are worth knowing about how any digital controller behaves. The readout shows cabinet air temperature, not the temperature inside a bottle; a warm bottle loaded into a cold cabinet takes time to come down, and the display will react before the product does. And the controller holds a steady set point far better than it can rescue a cabinet that is opened every thirty seconds — door discipline matters as much as the setting.
Check the setting at the start of each shift, and again after a power interruption or a defrost cycle. If your team runs several sites, write the set point into the opening checklist so every bar runs the same number.
Both the exterior and the interior of the cabinet are 201 stainless steel, and the inner liner is a mirror-finish stainless panel rather than a painted or plastic liner. In a bar that choice is about the working day: the surfaces are wiped constantly, spillage is routine, and anything that stains or scratches shows within the first month.
Stainless also handles the wet part of the job. The body resists the corrosion that painted steel develops around door frames after a few seasons of spilled tonic and cleaning chemicals, and the smooth liner leaves nowhere for syrup to collect. A curved aluminium alloy handle runs across each solid door — a small detail that matters when the door is opened several hundred times a night with a wet hand.
Care is simple. Wipe the exterior with a soft cloth and a mild detergent, then rinse and dry it. Keep chlorine-based bleach and abrasive pads off the stainless: they dull the finish and, in a wet environment, can start the pitting the material is meant to prevent. Check the door seals as part of the weekly clean so cold air stays where it belongs.
This listing describes the stainless steel build. If your bar design calls for a black back bar cooler, raise the finish when you request your quotation and we will confirm exactly what can be supplied for the body you need, rather than leaving it to a photo.
On a busy Friday the cabinet is opened dozens of times an hour, and none of those openings is planned. What matters then is not the specification sheet but whether the person pouring can get the right bottle without breaking rhythm. A few situations show where the format earns its place.
In a neighbourhood cocktail bar, the cabinet sits under the back counter with mixers on the upper level and the house pour below, so a bartender builds a round from one position. In a hotel lobby bar, the stainless front and solid doors keep the equipment reading as furniture rather than as a display fixture, which is usually what the interior designer wants for a lounge. In a restaurant, the cabinet goes into the service well beside the pass, where the same person is plating and pouring and the walk to the store room is the thing you are trying to remove. In a small brewery taproom or bottle shop, a two-door body holds packaged stock behind the counter and acts as the reserve for the front fridge. And at last orders, closing staff use the lit interior to count what is left and restock from the back before the morning delivery.
Each of those is the same behaviour: stock close to the point of service, organised so it can be found in the dark. The cabinet is not trying to display product to customers — that merchandising happens elsewhere in the room. What it has to do is hold a steady temperature while being opened constantly, keep two levels of stock in order, and look appropriate in a room where customers can see the bar. That is the kind of detail worth talking through with a back bar fridge supplier before the counter is built, not after it is installed.
For bartenders, the most noticeable benefit is often not a technical specification but how quickly the bar bottle cooler fits into the service routine. A well-organized back bar refrigerator allows commonly ordered beverages to stay within easy reach. LED lighting helps staff see the cabinet contents, while the two-level shelf layout gives each product category a defined position. For restaurant operators, the compact configuration can be useful when the back-of-house or service counter area is already crowded with preparation equipment. Instead of allocating space to a larger upright refrigerator, a back bar configuration can concentrate beverage storage closer to the point of service. For hotel bars and hospitality venues, the stainless steel cabinet appearance also fits naturally into professional service environments where equipment needs to remain visually consistent with the surrounding bar.
Before choosing a back bar refrigerator, confirm the cabinet dimensions against the space available at the bar, service counter, or back-of-house. Check the delivery route and installation access, including doorways and turning space, and confirm the electrical supply and plug type required for your location. Ask the supplier to confirm ventilation clearances and any site-specific installation requirements. It is also worth confirming how the shelf layout matches the bottles and cans you serve most often, and reviewing the delivery lead time and after-sales support available in your area.
ESCOLO has manufactured commercial refrigeration equipment in Foshan, Guangdong since 2010, and the team now numbers more than 800 people. Fifteen-plus years in the trade, a network of 3,000+ qualified partner factories and an annual output of 200,000+ units let us run container-scale programmes and repeat orders for supermarket, convenience and foodservice buyers. OEM and ODM work is standard: size, colour, function and your own branding are set to the specification you send. Factory audit, pre-shipment inspection, consolidated shipping and after-sales support are handled in-house.
It is a compact refrigerated cabinet built to keep bottled and canned drinks at serving temperature at the point where staff pour them — behind the bar, under the counter, or at the end of a service run. Unlike a glass door merchandiser, it is not designed to sell product to shoppers; the solid doors, two-level shelving and interior light all exist to help the person serving work faster.
The operating range is 0 °C to +10 °C, set on the Elitech digital controller. Choose the set point from your menu rather than from the lowest number available: lagers and soft drinks suit the cold end, while ales and mixers are usually better a little higher. Recheck the setting after any power interruption.
A fan keeps refrigerated air moving through the compartment instead of letting cold settle on the upper level. That keeps the two shelves within a working range of each other, keeps front-row bottles as cold as back-row ones, and pulls the cabinet back down quickly after the door has been open.
A Donper compressor with R600a refrigerant. R600a is a hydrocarbon gas, so your service technician needs the equipment and training to handle flammable refrigerants — worth confirming with your local partner before the cabinet is installed.
Two chrome wire shelves per door, giving each compartment an upper and a lower level. They lift out for cleaning, and because they are wire rather than solid trays, air passes through them. Measure your tallest bottle and confirm the clearance between levels on the quotation before ordering.
Yes — built-in LED lighting inside the compartment. It is there for the people working rather than for display: reading labels in a dim back bar, spotting what is running low, and doing a quick count at close. LED adds very little heat to the cabinet load.
An Elitech digital controller with the readout on the front panel. Staff can read and adjust the cabinet without opening the door. The readout reflects cabinet air temperature, so give a newly loaded warm bottle time to come down rather than judging by the display alone.
Yes. The single-door body is hinged only; the two- and three-door bodies are available in both hinged and sliding formats. Hinged doors give a full open aperture for restocking, while sliding doors suit a narrow well or a corridor where a swinging door would block the walkway.
Three widths are available, with one, two, or three doors. The cabinet has a fixed depth and height, so the clear height under your counter and the depth behind the counter line decide the fit before the width does.
Yes. The cabinet is commonly placed in a restaurant service well beside the pass, where the same person is plating and pouring and a trip to the store room interrupts service. It holds chilled bottles and cans only, so frozen stock belongs in a separate freezer.
That is what it was designed for. Solid doors, two shelf levels per door and a lit interior make it a practical undercounter beverage cooler for bars where the priority is reaching the right bottle quickly rather than displaying it to the room.
OEM and ODM requests — size, finish, configuration, branding — are reviewed against the project specification and production feasibility. Send drawings or a written requirement with your enquiry and we will tell you what can be done and what it does to the production schedule; we would rather confirm a specification than guess at one.
The cabinet on this listing is built in 201 stainless steel inside and out, with a mirror stainless inner liner and a curved aluminium alloy handle. Buyers who have been looking for a black back bar cooler should raise the finish at quotation stage — the exterior finish you need is confirmed on the order documents before production.
Five things: the clear space under your counter and the floor in front of the cabinet; whether you want hinged or sliding doors; the temperature your menu needs; the voltage and frequency of the site; and the exterior finish and material configuration you expect. A short written list of those five is enough for us to quote accurately.
