TRUE · EL CERRITO
Service · All True ModelsTrue Commercial Refrigeration Repair · El Cerrito, CA
True reach-in and prep table repair for El Cerrito cafes and restaurants, from San Pablo Avenue to El Cerrito Plaza.
- $99 diagnostic (waived with repair)
- Same or next-day best effort
- CSLB #1136642
True in El Cerrito
True commercial service.
San Pablo Avenue carries most of El Cerrito's food business, small restaurants, bakeries, markets, plus counters around El Cerrito Plaza serving commuters headed into BART. A good number of these kitchens rely on True T-Series reach-ins and TSSU prep tables to get through a full service day without much of a break. Bay Area Refrigeration Service, our commercial division, handles the repairs when something on the line gives out.
A lot of the San Pablo Avenue storefronts date back decades and were never fitted with real kitchen ventilation, so the condensing unit ends up pulling in whatever hot air is circulating near the line all shift long. Grease and flour dust build up on the coil faster than in a well-vented kitchen, and that's usually what's behind a fan motor running hot or a compressor working overtime. I check the condenser on every call before I look anywhere else.
EPA Section 608 Universal certification, CSLB license #1136642, seven-day availability because a shop can't sit dark over a weekend, and a $99 diagnostic that's waived once you approve the repair, that's how we run commercial calls out here.
Common repairs we do
What we close on the truck.
- Condenser fan motors dying in hot, greasy kitchen air. The older San Pablo Avenue kitchens run flour and grease into the air constantly, and that dust settles right onto the condenser coil. The fan motor has to work harder to move air through a caked coil, and the bearings give out well before their time. A rattling T-49 partway through a shift is usually this. I swap the motor, strip the coil clean, and set up a cleaning schedule that actually matches how busy the kitchen runs.
- Sandwich prep table gaskets and lid seals worn through. Prep rails on a busy counter take a beating, gaskets wear thin, and once they do, the pans stop holding the 41-degree mark that health inspectors check for. I swap the door gaskets, look over the rail cover seals while I'm there, and confirm the whole rail is back in range before I go.
- Iced evaporator from a stuck defrost timer. This one's easy to spot: the unit runs nonstop, the cabinet stays warm, and the coil behind the panel is a solid block of ice. The defrost timer is stuck in cool mode instead of cycling into defrost. We swap the timer, thaw the coil out, check that the drain is flowing, and since we carry the part, the box is back to temperature before we leave.
Models we service
True product lines.
- Reach-in refrigerators & freezers
- Prep & sandwich tables
- Under-counters
- Bottle coolers
Pricing and warranty
What it costs. What we stand behind.
-
$99
Diagnostic visit. Waived when you book the repair with us.
-
Written
3 months standard, 1 year on inverter boards, up to 2 years on sealed-system rebuilds. Quoted in writing before work starts.
-
CSLB
#1136642. Bonded and insured. We file warranty paperwork when applicable.
Nearby cities
True service in neighboring cities.
More cities
True across our service area.
- True in Alameda
- True in Alamo
- True in Atherton
- True in Blackhawk
- True in Castro Valley
- True in Concord
- True in Cupertino
- True in Danville
- True in Dublin
- True in Fremont
- True in Hayward
- True in Hillsborough
- True in Lafayette
- True in Livermore
- True in Los Altos Hills
- True in Los Altos
- True in Los Gatos
- True in Martinez
- True in Menlo Park
- True in Milpitas
- True in Moraga
- True in Mountain View
- True in Newark
- True in Oakland
- True in Orinda
- True in Palo Alto
- True in Piedmont
- True in Pleasant Hill
- True in Pleasanton
- True in San Jose
- True in San Leandro
- True in San Ramon
- True in Santa Clara
- True in Saratoga
- True in Sunnyvale
- True in Union City
- True in Walnut Creek
- True in Millbrae
- True in Burlingame
- True in Woodside
- True in Portola Valley
- True in Belmont
- True in San Carlos
- True in Redwood City
- True in East Palo Alto
- True in Half Moon Bay
- True in Daly City
- True in South San Francisco
- True in San Bruno
- True in Pacifica
- True in San Mateo
- True in Foster City
FAQ
True in El Cerrito questions, answered.
-
How long does it take you to get to El Cerrito from San Ramon?
Around 40 to 45 minutes via I-580 or the 24 to I-80. El Cerrito rides the same route as our Berkeley and Richmond calls, and a booked window gets a written arrival time ahead of the visit. Call early if a unit's down with product still inside, and we'll move it up the route. -
We have a re-inspection coming up, can you get the unit fixed before then?
Yes, tell us the deadline. Most temperature violations trace back to a gasket, a dirty condenser, or an iced coil, and all three are same-visit fixes with parts we already carry. You'll get written documentation of the repair for your file. -
Our shop has tight back-of-house space and the unit is wedged in. Is that a problem?
Not really, that's typical for El Cerrito's older storefronts. True reach-ins service from the front and the top, and we've worked on units that haven't moved since the day they were installed. If we do need extra room, we protect the floor and put everything back exactly where it was.
Need True service in El Cerrito?