Restaurant Cleaning Checklist

Restaurant Cleaning Checklist

The Complete Guide

If there was ever a list of the top 5 must clean places in the world, our guess is restaurants would most definitely top that list. The reason is hardly far-fetched as restaurants are the home of edibles and it would be simply offensive for a restaurant to cook and serve in dirty germ infested environments.

Fact remains that, restaurants do not only have to be cleaned to avoid germs; they also have to be kept clean so customers have an extra reason to come back. People would rather not patronize a dirty restaurant, regardless of how cheap the meals are.

Chances are that from time to time, the local health agencies subject the restaurants to inspections and their tests must be passed. Not to mention the tabloid and their ratings; none of these would be achieved if the restaurant is left unkempt.

Having established the fact that cleaning a restaurant is important, we also have to highlight the right way to clean the right places and the right utensils.

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First, we will start with a list of kitchen items that should be cleaned after every shift or daily

• The fryers should be cleaned as often as possible in a day, also pay attention to behind and underneath it.

• The grill should be wiped and cleaned as well as behind and underneath it.

• The sanitizing buckets should be emptied often

• The steam table should be emptied and wiped clean

• The walk-in cooler should be swept

• The meat and cheese slicer should be cleaned

• Cleaning rags should be washed as well as other linens

• All surfaces should be washed and sanitized

• The linens should be washed

• The cutting boards should be cleaned and sanitized

• The kitchen floor should be swept and mopped

• Aprons should also be changed and washed.

• Prep surfaces should be sanitized

• The can opener should be washed

• The beverage dispenser should be cleaned too

• The popcorn machine should also be cleaned

• Splashes on the walls should be wiped off

• The dishwasher should also be cleaned

• Waste disposal area should be disinfected to prevent an accumulation of germs.

Next is a list of the items that should be cleaned weekly

• The sinks and faucets should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized

• The reach-in refrigerators should be emptied, washed and sanitized

• The oven should also be cleaned.

• The coffee machine should be cleaned too

• Clean table and chair legs

• Exterior surfaces of all sinks, microwaves, coolers, ice machines, ice dispensers, and tables should also be cleaned.

• Clean all gas pipes and water hoses for stains and then wipe dry

• Remove and clean exhaust hoods filters.

• Wash all wall tiles with a mild degreaser and wipe dry.

• Clean and disinfect all floor drains

The ones that should be cleaned at least once every month

• The ice machine should be emptied and sanitized at least once a week.

• Storage areas should be swept and mopped and particular attention should be paid to the hidden corners.

• Walls and ceilings should be checked and washed for grease and food stains

• Pest traps should be checked and changed; they are not there as furniture after all

• Hidden places like behind and under ovens, stoves, and fryers should be checked and cleaned to remove grease build up.

• Grease traps should be emptied

• Vent hood should be washed too.

• Check the ceilings for cobwebs.

• Empty the ice bin, clean and sanitize

• Check for pest/rodent droppings and be sure to call pest control when you see any

• Sharpen the meat and cheese slicer

• Check fire suppression system

• You should also check the fire extinguishers at least once a year.

Now let’s make a list of the places in the restaurant that should be paid particular attention to;

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Front of the House

The entrance doors, frames, handles, ashtrays and mirrors should all be cleaned before opening time and probably after closing time. Clean ash urns and imprint writings on the entrance doors. Places that easily accumulate dust like window blinds, window sills and shutters should be dusted every day too; dust isn’t exactly a sight that inspires hunger.

The artworks, picture frames, decorative wall hangings, light fixtures, baseboards and wall decorative ledges should also be cleaned daily. Because there are decorative people are bound to stare at them often and it won’t speak well of your restaurant if filth was the first thing customers see when their eyes wander there.

Sweep and mop exposed floors and also pay attention to the hidden spots like along the edges and underneath tables and chairs; also remove sticky items like gum. The carpets, floor rugs, and walk-off mats should also be vacuumed and attention should be paid to the not so visible parts too. Do not also forget the shelves, air vents, and ceiling tiles.

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Bars

Scrub and de-grease the bar mats (this is especially important for passing your health inspection) and empty the trash cans every day.

The floor drains should be cleaned and sanitized to remove any odors; customers will definitely not be comfortable in smelly bars. Sweep and mop the floors. The counters, shelves, and surfaces should also be cleaned.

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Patio

The floors should be swept and washed daily to remove spots that customers may have left. The tables, chairs, and fireplaces should also be cleaned.

Place all tables, chairs, and cushions per provided floor plans/photos; remove chairs and cushions for spotting as needed. Clean side stations including counters, surfaces, and floors.

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Bathrooms

Bathrooms too should be thoroughly cleaned every day with disinfectants. The floors should be scrubbed and sanitized. The toilet seats should be scrubbed and sanitized. And tissue paper should always be made available. You cannot risk your restaurants being tagged as the place with a messy bathroom. 

Keep in mind that a neat restaurant is a safe restaurant and people will always come back to a place they felt served them good food cooked under the most hygienic conditions. Do well to keep your restaurant clean at all times. You can also contract the services of commercial professional cleaners; they’d do a better job seeing as it is their field.

Restaurant Cleaning Checklist

Staff Scheduling for Restaurants

Staff Scheduling for Restaurants

The fast & easy way

Restaurant working hours are very delicate; considering how they serve food and the fact that there is no one fixed time range for people to eat or not to eat. This basically means that restaurant staffs have to always be available to attend to the endless stream of customers that walks in at all times. Seeing as the staff are human and are prone to get tired, it is logical for the restaurant owner to work out a scheduling system that puts the best fitted staff at the best fitted time and that gives staff some time off to rest or get refreshed.

This however is not as easy as it sounds; coming up with a perfect restaurant schedule entails accounting for a variety of different jobs including prep cook, bussers, servers, bartenders and a host of other jobs that all include a range of tasks. You would also have to consider that fact that workers have different needs, different hours that work better for them, different rules for overtime and other specifics that you would need to study before coming up with an effective employee schedule.

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Keys to Effective Scheduling:

There are key things that should influence staff scheduling for restaurants; some of which are:

 Be familiar with your team: You should have a comprehensive up to date list of every staff you have employed. Alongside their names on the list you should also write down their roles, relevant skills and certifications. You should also note whether they are part-time or full-time alongside any overtime restrictions.

Employee strength: You should pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of your workers and let it determine where and when you would post them to a duty. Strengths like good communication skills or even impeccable professional relations will go a long way in determining which employee should be placed where and when. Harness these skills and schedule employees where they can perform better. You can let the list you put together earlier help you to schedule the employees according to their talents and skills. Repetitively fixing staff members in positions that do not suit their preferences or abilities may have an adverse effect on their optimism.

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Flexibility & Empathy:

Consider time-off requests and work preferences: Give your employees a chance to communicate their preferred work hours; this will help foster a collaborative environment because since their choice is taken into consideration they will not feel exploited. Also giving your employees a chance to communicate what time suites best for them will help you place staff in work shifts that suit both parties. And this way availability will not pose a problem. They should however keep in mind that sometimes they may have to work other employee shifts to cover all open business hours.

Permit changes: You should also keep in mind that your schedule may not be fixed like that for a very long period because emergencies pop up and even conflicts between employees working the same shift may come up. At times like this, changing the schedule or changing the employees fixed to a shift become prudent. You should also allow employees to change what time they work when it becomes obvious that they may not give their best performance at that time. You can also allow them provide replacements or make the switch with another employee who happens to be best suited for that time; this way a good portion of the strain is taken off you

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Strategy:

Have a plan B: When you have a plan B you will not be launched into panic when circumstances beyond your control happen to render your schedule momentarily useless.

Take note of your busiest hours and get an average of the amount of business you get each day, this way you know what hours should have more than three staff on duty and what hours need just two or even one. Taking note of your restaurant’s average transaction and sales for ever day of the week and at different times of the day will give you a much better sense of how many employees you should fix for a particular day.

You should also take note of festive periods or other major events that may pop up near your restaurant. Even the weather should be considered for instance; during heavy snowstorms you will need more delivery drivers and less wait staff.

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Additional Scheduling Tips:

Also important to note are these other tips

• Schedule your best staff for your busiest times and the lesser performing staff for less busy times. This way you get the best from every staff.

• Give every staff at least one opening to make money. To do this you should try to schedule your new and less senior staff to at least one money-making shift on the schedule every week so they can learn and to also keep them satisfied.

• Try to give every employee a day off whenever possible. This way they will not be overworked.

• Schedule the staff in a way that every staff gets to work at least one day shift. This will give them the chance to make more money and will also give them better experience.

• Don’t schedule staff to positions where they will have to close the night before and open the next morning. To avoid them being worked out.

• Treat requests as what they are; requests. The interest of the business should be prioritized, so when an employee tables his request and it looks like granting the request will turn out bad for the restaurant you reserve the right to reject it.

• Make sure you post the schedule at least two weeks before it becomes active. This way you get the employees prepared and also give them a chance to see how convenient the schedule is for them, and if it isn’t there still will be time to make adjustments if possible. Posting the schedule on time will also give the employees an opportunity to sort out whatever conflicts they may have amongst themselves.

Bookkeeping for Restaurants

Bookkeeping for Restaurants

Bookkeeping for restaurants and record keeping is one of the most important things business owners should get right if they intend to last long in business. Particularly so for restaurants because they have to buy stock often and money is always coming in from the endless stream of customers or going out to  buy and replace stock to serve customers with. If you miss a day or two it will be hard to meet up accurately again which is why book keeping for restaurants should be taken very seriously.

Here are a few guidelines that you should adhere to so that your restaurant has a proper bookkeeping;

Record Sales: There is no one universal way for every restaurant owner to do this, you will have to pick which way will suit you best. However it is more advisable for restaurant sales to be recorded on a daily basis and since you will be accepting credit card payments alongside cash payments it will also be helpful if you customized your POS systems so you will get more detailed information. You should also work out your credit card payments in batches; this way the credit card deposits hit your bank account distinctly for each batch. Evaluate how funds enter your bank account and then set up the record system to reflect it. You will also need to build up a report that will summarize your sales. Since cash payments are collected at the restaurant and   don’t go directly into the bank you will need to record them as  not deposited yet, and then when you’ve had them deposited you should move them from the not deposited column to the more appropriate one. This way you would know for sure if the cash made it to the bank or not or if there were discrepancies with cash collected at the restaurant and cash deposited at the bank.

Outsource Payroll: it is prudent to contract to an external pay roll service. This way you reduce liability on your part and also protect yourself against losses that may have occurred if you handled the payroll yourself and made mistakes or filed in details late. Payrolls are sometimes intricate and tax laws are continually changing but with an outsourced payroll service there will be no additional charges incurred for any mistakes. There are, however, some things that you should look out for before choosing a company to do your payroll, things like how reliable their track record of customer service is. You should also check to be sure that the company has QuickBooks integration and if the payroll data can be imported in QuickBooks. Also, look out for how flexible they will be; this will tell how well they can accommodate growth.

Pay Bills on Time: This is very important if you want your business to survive a long time. Keeping your retailers satisfied is a sure way to keep them doing business with you and to maybe even get yourself occasional discounts. You can use software to keep record of your bills and also help you pay them or you could decide to do it manually – whichever works for you. Whichever way, just make sure you don’t end up accumulating debt!

So always make it a rule to pay all your bills at least every week.

Keep track of the Restaurant Inventory: You should not overlook the restaurant inventory because this is a sure way to know what you have available and what you don’t. The inventory also help you know what should be bought and when. This inventory keeping may be too tedious a task to use QuickBooks for, so getting a different inventory management control program or an external inventory system would be more advisable. You should also cross-check the values and look out for inconsistencies with the financial reports.

Set up a Bookkeeping Team and assign them specific tasks

You will first have to determine what exactly your bookkeeping needs are and which members of your staff are better qualified to be involved in the book keeping process. The list we would give below is not a universally standard list of who should be on a book keeping team or who should not which means you could replace some spots with people you feel would do a better job;

• Restaurant owners: it is safer for the owner of the business to be the only person with the power to sign checks, pay bills or move money in anyway. Giving someone else this power may allow for theft or embezzlement. He restaurant owner should also be the one to approve payroll. He should also handle bank deposits and cash transactions.

• Bookkeeping Team: This team can be made up of trusted employees with certifications in accounting; they should handle entering bills but not paying them because only the restaurant owner has the power to do that. The team should also confirm all cash deposits and should also take care of recording all daily sales and the regular reconciliation of accounts.

• Restaurant Managers: it is advisable to have restaurant managers oversee all cash deposits; he should handle the regular inventory of food and beverage as well. He can also take care of submission of payroll but not approval of payroll because as I said earlier the approval is exclusive to the restaurant owner.

Here’s list of some common accounting best practices:

• Recording sales and receipts on a daily basis

• Maintaining a detailed cost recording of purchase invoices

• Counting and recording inventory on a daily and weekly basis

• Keeping a track of key inventory item usage on a daily or weekly basis.

• Cost reporting food and labor on a weekly basis.

• Assigning key persons for accounting-oriented tasks.

• Getting a statement of account that shows how much profit or loss is made at least monthly.

• Having a POS system for keeping track of time and attendance.

The role flawless bookkeeping plays to the success of a business cannot be over emphasized. You as a restaurant owner should take it very seriously if you want your business to survive and make profit.

Click here to learn about the 10 best ways to maximize restaurant table turnover.