Can you know see the importance of inventory? Honestly doing daily inventory is really hard especially if you have a lot of guests and staffs are already tired to count everything everyday but that is how it has to be. It will be much easier to do monthly inventories if you have daily monitoring. I think a store just have to organized on how they are going to do with their stocks so as they can easily do daily inventory. From stocks that goes in, that goes out and even spoilages or damaged goods. Everything has to be counted.
Now let's go to the main operations. Employees should always be neat and presentable. Whether you are in front or back of the house, always observe proper hygiene and complete uniform. In uniform, a pen and paper is also considered a part of an employee's uniform especially if he/she is in front of the house. You always have to be ready with it so that when a guest calls you, you'll be able to write their orders. If you have a good memory that you can memorize all of their orders then that's good. I remember my days when I used to take orders without any pen or paper that I had to memorize all of them and repeat it when they were done ordering. Sorry to brag but I nailed it. Guests were impressed but I am not really suggesting this method because there are times that you'll forget even a single order.
Kitchen staffs have to always wear their hair net at all times. Female dining staffs has to have their hair tied in a bun and secured with a small hair net.
Employees should always do proper handwashing. In some restaurants and coffee shops, they do set a timer every 15 minutes for handwashing. I don't know how it is in the food industry during our present situation but I am sure that most restaurants may have implemented this since proper handwashing is really advised for all of us. I just know from my friends who are still in the food industry that face masks and face shields are a must. I just don't know how it is in the kitchen department. Imagine how hot it is when you are wearing both and then you will cook. Even without face masks and face shields, it is already hot inside the kitchen. I am sure most of you have noticed some kitchen staffs that looks dirty with all the sweat in their face. Sometimes exhaust fans and air cooler doesn't really help with the heat in the kitchen.
When taking an order, the staff should listen very well to all what the guest has to say. And when he/she is done talking, the staff should repeat all the orders and even the guest's requests.
In an order slip, write the date, time, table number, number of guests, orders, requests and who took the order.
It is much better if your order slip is carbonized at least 3 copies. One for the kitchen, bar and cashier. If you only have 1 order slip, that's ok just don't lose it. Differrent restaurants, different style of order system. Find the one that you think may suit your business and will make your operations more efficient.
In some restaurants that only have 1 order slip, they punch it right away to the POS (point of sale) and the orders will come out in the docket printer in their corresponding areas, bar, kitchen or grill. Just like in some fast food chains although instead of docket printers, it is seen in their monitors. In restaurants with carbonized order slips, this order slips is then passed to corresponding areas. Be sure to have a ticket holder so it would be easy to track which order comes first and have to serve first. FIFO rule, first in, first out. A ticket holder is the one where you would clip the order slips and all orders in the order slip has been served, set it aside as you can use it for backtracking or when you are going to do your inventory. But then again you have to have your own style or system on how to dispatch orders.
For example, 2 orders came in with just a minute apart. One from table 1 and another from table 2. Both have common orders like soup and a main entree. Right away make 2 orders of the soup followed by the main entree. You just have to inform the cook that he already has 2 orders of soup and the main entree.
One more thing about order slips, some restaurants have their order slips serialized. Why? So you can easily monitor each order slips. It is one way for the staffs not to be tempted with money. Order slips are to be attached in the print bill. Though there are many possible reasons if there is a missing order slip and we shouldn't point it to the staff right away. But for me, it is much better if order slips are serialized. If it is a cancelled order, the manager on duty can cross out or cancel the serialized order slip just like how we cancel a manager's cheque. Serialized order slips are better for restaurants that doesn't have a POS yet.
In POS, you can see right away if there is a void or cancelled transaction. Plus the manager has the code or the only access to do these things. That is why the managers aren't allowed to touch the cash registers. We file reports for every cancelled or void transactions. This usually happens when the guest forgot to hand over their discount/privileged cards, the guest suddenly changes his/her order when we have already punched it in the POS or an out of stock dish.
Maybe you are wondering why there was an out of stock when it was already endorsed in the logbook. Like I have said sometimes there are times that they have forgotten to write about it and also there are alao times when the kitchen staffs forgot to inform the dining staffs that they are running low on a particular dish.
For example, dining staff A, B and C all ordered a fried rice but the kitchen staffs forgot to inform the front of the house that they only have 2 servings left for the rice. That is where we will cancel a particular dish in the POS. Though in some POS, it isn't reflected in the tally report during the end of day reports.
Communication is also the key during food service operations. Not just among restaurant staffs but also with the guests. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this in my Working in the food industry articles but our roles doesn't stop when we have already placed all their orders on the table. As a manager, I was asked to do table visits and asks the guests if they needed something or get their feedbacks with regards to the quality of the food, service or their overall experience. If you are a little shy to do a little interaction with the guest, you can just hand them a guest comment card. But having a brief talk with the guest is more sincere don't you think? I remembered that I even met some of my dad's acquaintances when I do table visits or guest interactions. They would see my name plate with my surname and they will ask if I know "Juan dela Cruz" (not my dad's original name. Just an example) and I would say that he's my dad. And the short talk became a little longer. LOL.
