While most of these e-newsletters focus on service and those directly impacting the customer or guest, let's peek under the hood of your restaurant hot rod for a few tips about the area that makes it go - the kitchen. After all, the main reason people come here is to eat!
Too often, companies don't realize little things which make a big difference in food quality. All too often, new fries get mixed with old fries or equipment never gets a break or gets cleaned or maintained. Here are a few key tips to WOW the customer via the back of house:
• Sanitation and safety --- your number one priority must be to serve safe food! Miss this one and everything else doesn't matter.
• Avoid cool spots on the grill --- many grills have a 1" cool zone around the edge --- it's just not as hot as the rest of the grill. Cook products there and they're either under-cooked or need to cook longer which impacts service times.
• Rotate the grill --- don't cook items in the exact same spot. Allow the grill to get back to the proper temperature by rotating where you are cooking items on the grill.
• Let fryers get back to temp --- keep fries or other fried items going into the fryer nonstop? Stop! Rotate your fryers so you allow the shortening to regain the proper temperature so the items are cooked properly and fully in the right amount of time.
• Get low-ice indicators in your self-service beverage machines --- if the customer gets their own ice and drink, get with your beverage equipment provider so they can hook up a light (or alarm) which notifies people behind the counter that the ice is low. Fix the issue before a customer gets inconvenienced.
• Get a Restroom Attention light --- many restaurants and convenience stores have a switch in the restroom so a customer can turn it on and notify the employees (similar to the ice light above) that the restroom needs attention. Yes, you'll get pranked a few times, but can you ever check the restroom too often?
Get out there and start your engines…
T.J. Schier is service professional, consultant and speaker with over 20 years experience in operations and training. Founder and president of Incentivize Solutions and podTraining, T.J. has helped numerous clients enhance their service and training programs and spoken to tens of thousands of managers, franchisees and operators in various fields. Visit http://IncentivizeSolutions.com/ for more info motivating today's employees, training today's generation and delivering outstanding guest service; or http://podTraining.us/, a unique new system and the foundation of 'i-learning' - using the device of today's generation, the iPod - to train your workforce. |
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