I regularly speak to a server at a popular downtown restaurant. This location doubles its size in the summer with a very large patio. She is a typical hardworking student who is willing to work as many hours as she can in a serving position to maximize her earnings for school. She selected this location based on its popularity and busy location. However she told me that guests are rarely happy on the busy days and it hurts the server’s gratuities. I asked her what the problem was, she explained the restaurant launched a new menu and the kitchen can never handle the rush. The food is very late and the guests complain. Everyone, including management, jump in to run food but feel the cooks are just dropping the ball. But is it their fault? Outside of taking a hard look at the kitchen operations, there are key Front of the House items to consider. First, the restaurant has a large number of menu items. Is it a kitchen execution issue or a menu size issue? Is it setting up its Back-of-the-House team to fail? Menu engineering, looking at top sellers and sizing the menu for volume execution should be considered. Secondly, they never have pre-shift meetings. Your hourly team know the key issues and have ideas for solutions. A staff meeting or a daily shift meeting is critical to review sales techniques and how to improve speed of service. Finally, management on the floor needs to focus heavily on leadership and flow of the dining room versus just jumping in when things are going awry. Their leadership can guide the flow to slow things down, start a line-up and proactively talk to the guest.
