Operations
31 practical guides to help you make better decisions about operations.
How to Prepare Your Restaurant for a Hurricane
A 72-hour hurricane plan for restaurant owners: what to freeze, how to protect payroll and data, and how to document food loss so your insurance claim pays.
How to Set Up Outdoor Dining at Your Restaurant
Patio seats can add 20-40% more covers without more rent. Here's the permit path, buildout costs, service setup, and the payback math before you spend a dollar.
How to Start a Ghost Kitchen or Virtual Brand
A virtual brand lets you sell a second concept from your existing kitchen. How to pick the menu, price it, launch in 30 days, and know if it's profitable.
How to Handle a Food Recall at Your Restaurant
A supplier recall hits your walk-in at 4 p.m. The exact response order, what to pull and document, how to get credited, and how to protect your license.
How to Keep a Restaurant Kitchen Cool During a Heat Wave
Line temperatures hit 110°F+ in a heat wave. Here's how to cool the kitchen, protect your crew, and keep service running without blowing up your utility bill.
How to Prepare Your Restaurant for a Power Outage or Storm
A power outage can cost a restaurant thousands in spoiled food and lost sales. Here's the outage plan, food safety rules, and generator math every owner needs.
Managing Third-Party Delivery Logistics
Third-party delivery can grow sales or quietly bleed your margins. Here's how to run the logistics tightly — staging, packaging, timing, and channel control.
Building a Reliable Opening Team Routine
A restaurant lives or dies by how it opens. Here's how to build an opening routine your team runs the same way every day, even when you're not there.
Managing Takeout and Delivery Operations
Takeout and delivery can boost revenue or wreck your kitchen flow. Here's how to manage off-premise operations for speed, accuracy, and profit.
Improving Speed of Service Metrics
Speed of service drives table turns, throughput, and guest satisfaction. Here's how to measure ticket times, find the bottleneck, and fix it.
How to Set Up a Reservation and Waitlist System
A good reservation and waitlist system fills seats, cuts no-shows, and manages the rush. Here's how to set one up for your restaurant.
How to Run a Smooth Catering Operation
Catering can be high-margin revenue if you run it right. Here's how to manage catering orders, prep, transport, and execution without disrupting your restaurant.
How to Reduce Energy and Utility Costs
Utilities can eat 3-5% of restaurant sales. Here's how to reduce energy, water, and gas costs with low-cost habit changes and smart upgrades.
How to Prepare for a Busy Holiday Weekend
A holiday rush can be your best weekend or your most chaotic. Here's how to prep staffing, inventory, and the menu so your restaurant handles the volume.
How to Audit Your Restaurant Operations
An operations audit finds the money and time leaking out of your restaurant. Here's how to run a full operational audit, area by area.
Handling Supply Chain Disruptions
When a key ingredient vanishes or prices spike overnight, your restaurant needs a plan. Here's how to handle supply chain disruptions without wrecking your menu.
Creating a Positive Guest Experience Consistently
Great guest experiences shouldn't depend on who's working. Here's how to make a positive restaurant experience consistent across every shift and guest.
Creating a Maintenance Schedule for Equipment
A preventive maintenance schedule keeps your restaurant equipment from failing mid-service. Here's how to build one that saves money.
Setting Up an Efficient Line During Service
An efficient kitchen line means faster tickets and less chaos. Here's how to lay out stations, stage mise en place, and set the line up to move during a rush.
Restaurant Safety and Accident Prevention
Restaurants are full of burn, cut, slip, and fire hazards. Here's how to prevent the most common accidents, protect staff and guests, and lower your liability.
Opening and Closing Checklists That Work
A good opening and closing checklist makes your restaurant run the same every shift. Here's how to build ones staff actually complete, plus a free template.
Managing Reservations and No-Shows
No-shows leave empty tables you can't sell. Here's how to manage reservations, cut no-shows with confirmations and deposits, and fill seats when they happen anyway.
Kitchen Cleaning and Sanitation Schedules
A kitchen cleaning schedule keeps your restaurant safe, passing inspections, and running smoothly. How to build daily, weekly, and monthly schedules that stick.
How to Reduce Wait Times During a Rush
Long waits during a rush cost you tables and repeat guests. Here's how to speed up service without cutting corners, from prep to POS to table turnover.
How to Manage Multiple Locations
Running more than one restaurant multiplies the complexity. Here's how to standardize operations, empower managers, and use data to run multiple locations well.
How to Improve Front-of-House and Back-of-House Communication
When FOH and BOH don't communicate, orders get wrong and tempers flare. Here's how to build systems that keep servers and kitchen in sync every shift.
How to Handle Customer Complaints Gracefully
How you handle a complaint decides whether a guest returns or warns others away. Here's a proven framework for turning complaints into loyal customers.
How to Handle a Health Inspection
A health inspection doesn't have to be stressful. Here's how to prepare, what inspectors check, how to act during the visit, and how to fix violations fast.
How to Streamline Your Kitchen Workflow
A streamlined kitchen sends food out faster with less stress and waste. How to organize stations, tighten prep, and fix the bottlenecks that slow your line.
How to Improve Table Turnover Time
Faster table turnover means more covers and more revenue from the same dining room. Here's how to speed up turns without rushing guests or hurting the experience.
Creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
SOPs make your restaurant run the same way whether you're there or not. How to write standard operating procedures staff actually follow, plus a template.