As a restaurant owner or manager, you may have conflicting feelings about the peak times in which your business operates. You probably enjoy the nice influx of customers, but the peak rush times you experience can cause all sorts of small issues that build up your stress levels. Even when everything seems overwhelming, there are things you can do to keep operations running smoothly and on-task.
Set up Kitchen Stations
A frenzied restaurant means that you need to take and deliver orders as efficiently as possible. If your cooks and workers are getting bottlenecked in the kitchen, it’s going to be much harder to get everything out to your customers in a timely fashion. To mitigate this issue, you can set up different stations in the kitchen. Workers with different duties should have clear spaces for themselves that do not overlap with another team.
Streamline the Menu
Your restaurant might be known for some inventive dishes that include unique ingredients. While that is a great way to establish a customer base, you might not always have everything you need to fulfill these requirements. Does your place serve a wide selection of chilled drinks? An ice maker with the capacity to make all of the cubes or other shapes you might need could be a good investment. In cases where special ingredients might be harder to source, consider a simplified menu that includes more accessible dishes at peak times when your staff seems overwhelmed.
Clean and Prep Early
If your cooks have to clean their kitchens each day, they might face crunches later during a rush. This could prevent them from being efficient after you open for the day. It’s a good idea to make sure that the equipment is clean or ready to go. Taking a quick inventory and replacing stock as needed can also help you eliminate problems during a rush. You can assign these important duties to a reliable employee with an eye for detail.
Adjust Routines
You might not be able to do it every time, adjusting your staff’s routines can help you deal with a frenzy. If you notice that these occur at fairly regular times, you might be able to make changes accordingly. You can ask the staff to bus tables more regularly to turn them over more quickly if necessary. Instruct them to bring bills to tables promptly after all empty dishes are cleared away.
Every little detail counts in the restaurant business. However, you don’t have to micromanage each of these fine points and potentially miss the bigger picture. If you use some of the tips above, you may be able to improve the efficiency of different operations throughout your restaurant, ensuring that, no matter how busy you are, everything flows as it should. When you’re in a bind, don’t forget to ask for feedback from your employees. They’re in the thick of things during rush times, and they may have valuable insights that aren’t immediately obvious to you.