We chose a Kindred sink. Owned by Franke, but manufactured in Canada (North American or European construction was important to us in our remodel). Great quality, great price.

Many here recommend Ticor: great quality, great price. Made in China, which is not an issue for most people. Available from Galaxy Tool (online) and everyone rates their service highly.;

Before you buy a sink, talk to your fabricator. I have a franke commercial ss sink, and I love it, but even on sale on ebay ($1,000...it's 30x18 and 12" deep) the fabricator could have beat the price by $400 bucks! I do recommend my Franke but I wouldn't have purchased it if I'd have known how easy it would be for the fabricator to do it for us. It was actually more in labor to integrate an already made sink as well. Really, talk to them first, then if you don't think you'll get what you want, buy a franke or the like :) (Kindred is great). Commercial grade stainless is an inportant factor (to me anyhoo) as it tends to last a lifetime in a huge commercial kitchen...and while I beat it up...I'm not that bad heh heh

This is my integrated sink with a drain board/runnels:

We just put in an artisan sink. I got it at overstock.com at a great price.

They make some beautiful sinks.

http://www.artisansinks.com/Kitchen-Sinks/index.php

Our stainless steel fabricator made the chef sink for us according to my measurements. It's 14 gauge.

Some members here have just installed Vigo SS sinks. You can get them for the best prices at surplusdecor.com. I just bought an apron front stainless steel sink 33 x 20 x 10 from overstock.com, which arrived two days ago. It was nicely packed and no dents or dings.

It seems most GWers like the single bowl sinks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Surplus Decor

Also look into Ticor sinks at GalaxyToolSupply.com. Personally, I prefer a large sink w/two bowls...one large bowl, one small-to-medium bowl.

However, I think IglooChic is correct...check with your counter fabricator...it will probably be much easier to create a sink for you than try to fit a pre-made sink into the counter.

Another consideration is finish. You probably want the SS finish of the sink to match the counter...I know I would.

Thank you so much to everyone for the recommendations. Igloochic, that is a beautiful sink AND a beautiful view. Does the view come with the sink?! If so, I definitely want one!! And thanks for the thought about having the fabricator make the sink too. That makes total sense, and I can also have it made exactly the size I want, which will also be great!
ErikaNH, I am drooling over that beautiful stainless, and I know you also mixed it with marble countertops. And is that a marble backsplash I see? Just gorgeous. It's nice to see how good the two materials look together (You might remember that is what I am thinking of doing too, mixing the two different countertop materials).
If you have your fabricator make the sink, do you need to know which faucet you will use ahead of time? (I haven't picked mine out yet, I just know I want a single lever and a space for insta-heat).

Thanks again for all the help!

Hi Liz,

Yes, my fabricator wanted to see the specs on the potfiller I was going to use. I ended up switching to a different potfiller but it wasn't a problem since both faucets used a standard size hole. And, yes, the backsplash behind that sink is Calacatta Manhattan.

Good luck!

Erika

I'm sure Franke will add the view for just a few thousand more...they're very customer friendly :oP (Hard to see the view through those horrible dirty windows...it was mid remodel LOL)

Our fabricator did want to have the faucet in advance, but I actually changed mine after it was all done. I had a bigger KWC and changed to the smaller...the big issue is really the number of holes they have to cut. We also had the soap dispenser/air gap on hand (which we've now gotten rid of since we only did for the inspectors...now it's a Never MT soap dispenser only). And we did the push button for the garbage disposal at the same time...but, our fabricator said they could change things if we ever did. They can easily cut another hole in a heart beat and if push comes to shove, cover up one you don't need (though very high expense was mentioned since it would entail a lot of on site work once installed).

We have fallen in love with our fabricator LOL Our counter was the most complicated he'd done, with the runnels and slope, pushed in at the sink, then it actually does the opposite (pushed out area) at the range, and the backsplash and incorporated raised counter behind the sink :) We've since had them make me a high chair tray that fits into DS's antique high chair (they're finishing that now) the MOST fabulous lazy susan (they used an old port hole that I tripped over while treasure hunting many years ago and surrounded it with a SS frame like on a naval ship) and we had them refabricate our hood since we had to resize it for a french range (american hood). They just recently made me vents that go under our cabinets from some covered air holes (what is that you have with hot air heating?) anyhoo that were under the cabinets and just heating the cabinets...the new ones fit down into the base board, cap the vent hole and bring the air forward...heaven on earth and a huge change in the warmth of our home.

By the way...I didn't use one and can't give it away at a garage sale...anyone want it for the cost of shipping? It was expensive to make and I hate to see it go to waste! But umm that's another thread right? LOL

lizg, we don't have a ss countertop and so my recommendation may not be particularly useful to you in light of comments above, but I thought I would comment because I had trouble finding comments about my sinks before I bought them. I had at one time, based on all the recommendations here, thought I would get silgranite sinks by Blanco and, at the last minute, it turned out that 1) the sink I really wanted was backordered by 6 months and 2) I touched some silgranite and found that I wasn't crazy about the feel of it. I was under the time gun at that point and the only manufacturer that had SS sinks that I could find quickly and met what I was looking for was Blanco. I quickly turned to GW for advice but I couldn't find much about Blanco's SS sinks since most of the chat is about the silgranite. I took my chances and ordered two of Blanco's Platinum Series sinks, both the cleanup and the prep sink and kept my fingers crossed. But I am very pleased with them. They arrived in excellent condition, are very quiet and look nice....and I think they were much more reasonably priced than some of the other brands. They are 18 gauge SS though so if you want something heavier, I think that's all they do. But they are very nicely padded and very quiet.

Franke Orca here, and I love mine, also. Saved several hundred dollars by calling faucet depot and asking for thier best price. I also bought faucet, soap dispenser, instant hot and a few other items there.

Sue

I love my Ticor sink from Galaxytoolsupply.com !

Hi Lizg,

I have a simple sink but I love it.
It is made by Oliveri. They can make any configuration.
I am not totally sure of the comparison to other
brands. They make industrial sinks, square sinks, double,
triple and many differnt styles. You can even get grids,
cutting boards, sink racks, insert tubs....

http://www.oliverisinks.com/

This is the sink I chose. Approx $700.
It was in our price range.