We had an unplanned kitchen renovation due to ice dam damage, so sometimes one has to punt on decisions. Having had the standard stainless sinks and enameled cast iron, I was sold on stainless overall and needed one fast. Ours was to be an under-mount sink below granite. Finally.
This sink has equal bowls versus our previous sink with the smaller, shallower bowl for the disposal. But each bowl is ample to any task we have. Just an expectation thing before you buy.
Standard stainless steel sinks as you may find, tend to be of thinner gauges, 20 GA being a baseline standard and 18 being heavy-duty, relatively speaking. Our Ruvati sink bridges the residential and commercial lines beautifully; utility without fanfare.
The features that made this the sink to have for us:
16 GA stainless steel. (Ruvati did this one better, with welded reinforcing plates as well. No drumming!)
Dropped center divider. This is a design feature that is remarkably scarce but was a must-have. When washing in one sink and rinsing in the other, a dropped divider allows the flowing sink to skim off into the dry or rinse sink, well below the rim. At once a safety feature, but any soap or grease floats off cleanly. This center divider is a full two inches below the rim. That means even more clearance below the goose-neck faucet.
Hardware: The drain baskets are simple yet elegant. Our plumber loved them. Comes with gaskets (but still use plumber's putty), they went together with no fuss. What is more, instead of the cupped basket one finds in a standard sink drain, the Ruvati has a small perforated stainless steel "bucket basket" with a bail handle. Simple and easy to dump into the disposal side.
The stoppers are flat knob plates with rubber gaskets. Perfectly water-tight and a far sight better than the twist type strainer baskets/stoppers that have been around since I Like Ike buttons were the rage.
Accessories: Total bonuses
A cutting board that fits in the sink rim shelf. Board is OK, could be longer as the fit is too loose. But easy to make one to your liking.
A vegetable basket, stainless with wood handles, also fits in the sink rim shelf. Good for soaking silverware after a party, washing and draining vegetables. Nice touch.
Sink bottom stainless steel rack shelves. Ostensibly to keep the sink bottom from being marred by large pots and pans, these racks are sturdy, sit an inch off the bottom and have a neat opening for the drain. No more lifting these kinds of racks to drain the sink.
The only defect with this sink was one of the corners of the rim plane was bent to a 45 degree angle, as if the sink were dropped. There was no damage to the box so this was a bit odd. Still, two blocks of wood and screw clamps took the dent out and brought it into alignment in no time. It seated as well as could be.
So we have all of the features and durability of a commercial sink with a very understated (and a bit modern) restrained look.