None for the Road

None for the Road

It happens more than you think: In the walk-in, behind the bar, in the restroom, in the parking lot, and even in the manager’s office. Unfortunately, nobody sees it, nobody talks about it, and nobody wants to believe it’s happening. A recent study by the National...
Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Restaurant management is like show-biz, and the key to a flawless production is in the details. Follow these steps to plan your work and work your plan. Make a Plan Before starting on the day’s work, create an action plan for your restaurant management tasks. Try to...
Why Do Restaurants Fail?

Why Do Restaurants Fail?

Why do restaurants fail? Despite the popular notion to the contrary, bad food or poor service alone never caused a restaurant to close. The bottom line is that restaurants fail because they couldn’t sell enough product to cover their costs. Your servers are your...
What Does Free Water Really Cost?

What Does Free Water Really Cost?

There’s no such thing as a “free” glass of water. In fact, according to industry reports, the typical glass of regular tap water can cost over a dollar per serving. How? The glass has to be ordered, inventoried, filled and washed for each guest — up go labor...
Close-to-Open Restaurant Management

Close-to-Open Restaurant Management

It’s happened to everyone in restaurant management. You arrive 10 minutes early, walk into the restaurant and immediately, without so much as lifting a pencil, find yourself already an hour or two behind because of the lousy close during the previous shift....
Restaurant Training with Teen Employees

Restaurant Training with Teen Employees

The restaurant industry has always attracted teen employees. In fact, about one in three American workers had their first job at a restaurant. And the truth is, we need young workers just as much as they need us. When hiring and training teen workers, you have a few...
Pre-shift Meetings Keep Training Fresh

Pre-shift Meetings Keep Training Fresh

Somewhere between new employee orientation and today’s shift, employees lose some knowledge and skill. How much or how little depends on the frequency of practice and reinforcement. Guests, meanwhile, don’t care about the past. They’re interested in the service...
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