Restaurant Behind-the-Scenes

Restaurants have a lot going on beyond the dining room and before and after operating hours. Purchasing, market list, sales reports, food preparations, repairs. What guests see is the end product of a lot of hardwork.

Whenever I am signed in to look at a restaurant's operations, I always look at the following:

INVENTORY MONITORING
Do they have stock cards? Do they conduct regular physical inventory?

STANDARD RECIPES
One of the most upsetting things I discover would be when a restaurant does not have documented standard recipes in an accessible place for kitchen cooking staff to review or refer to. Standard recipes would be the root of all good and bad whichever the restaurant is heading for. At the same time, it is also the source of solutions when things do go bad. Your standard recipe will always be needed when you adjust costs or quantities or if cost cutting measures are planned.

DAILY SALES REPORT AND MENU MONITORING
Aside from knowing how much you earned that day, it is important to know what menu items are moving and which are not being sold. Your order slips or order tickets would be where these data will come from. It is also good to note number of people to determine your average check.

HOUSE RULES
Restaurants which do not have houserules tend to have a lot of employee-employer contention as there are unclear answers to most issues or concerns ranging from how they will be penalized when they do this offense or policy on taking out food. A comprehensive and concise set of company policies and penalties for offenses is a must!

FOOD COST PERCENTAGE
Before any restaurant starts to operate, it should already have set a figure for break-even point, food cost range and target sales. Otherwise, it would be like a headless chicken running around. Every financial statement reporting should indicate your food cost.

Running a restaurant is both an art and an exact science. It cannot be all taste and PR and ambience. A lot of work has to go to maintaining your food costs are sane and your inventory intact. Aside of course, from keeping all operational procedures are followed.