Restaurant rules: as important as the menu

Defining the rules of a restaurant is essential to ensure the proper functioning of the business and achieve the success you want.

This regulation must include several sections that clearly and thoroughly indicate how activities will be handled inside and outside the kitchen.

Here you will find more information about the points you must develop in the rules of your restaurant and, in addition, we leave you some tips to achieve the goals you have planned for your business.

Rules to follow inside the restaurant

The rules of a restaurant must include each of the aspects that will allow its development and how these will benefit your project.

This regulation will include the sanctions that the staff will have to comply with in case of not complying with the rules, such as not respecting the working hours or missing the tasks they carry out in the establishment.

Similarly, the regulations of a restaurant should highlight relevant aspects such as: the hiring of new personnel, the processing of permits and the obligations that the brand must comply with with employees.

Hiring of personnel

In this section we refer to the fact that all the people hired must comply with the requirements set out in the job offer.

At the time of the interview, it is necessary to request the applicant’s curriculum vitae. In this way, it will be easier to evaluate previous experiences and qualities for the position to which you are applying.

If new staff is hired, they must sign a contract specifying that they are on probation for a period of 90 days, and if they demonstrate proactivity and good performance, they will proceed to sign an indefinite contract.

Working hours and breaks

Working hours vary depending on the restaurant.

Generally, they tend to be Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and the lunch break will be one hour, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

When entering or leaving the work area, the employee must sign an attendance list to verify that he or she has complied with the work schedule

If an employee arrives late to work without prior notice, part of his or her salary will be deducted.

On the other hand, it is forbidden for any staff member to sign for a co-worker. This action will result in a reduction of part of their salary and a warning.

Staff leaves and absences

According to a restaurant’s regulations, workers’ permits must be submitted in writing one day before the requested date. If the request is made in less than 24 hours, it will be denied except in cases of force majeure.

The boss is in charge of authorizing the permits and determining the conditions, which must be clear and known and accepted by both parties.

One of the most important conditions relates to the worker’s absence from work and states that, no leave will be paid if the absence is for a full day, unless the manager indicates otherwise.

Areas of a restaurant

Generally, restaurant areas are clearly identified to prevent customers or visitors from mistakenly accessing spaces intended only for staff working in the business.

For this reason, no client will be able to enter the kitchen area, their stay will take place in the main room, terrace and bathrooms.

The waiters must be attentive to the arrival of new diners with the intention of providing quality service and avoid customers going through the inconvenience of waiting for a table for a long time.

Another task, not less important, that waiters have is to suggest the dishes or the menu of the day to the diners who may not have a clear idea of what their preference is. In this way, a pleasant and outstanding experience will be provided.

Parking spaces are for customers and staff. Any person who does not enter the restaurant must be removed from the premises by the head of security, with kindness.

The head of security will be in charge of watching the accesses of the visitors to provide greater security and the staff to keep a daily control.

It is important to emphasize that each member of the restaurant staff must keep their work area clean, thus ensuring the health of the establishment.

Obligations of the company towards its staff

The company’s obligations to its staff are unavoidable, and therefore it is responsible for fulfilling the commitments made to its employees.

The company must pay the salaries and compensation of the workers on the established date.

In addition, it is obliged to provide its workers with the necessary tools and inputs to adequately perform their duties within the restaurant. Likewise, they must include training courses to improve their employees’ work methodologies.

The workers will receive a professional, respectful and free of mistreatment treatment. If this is not the case, the employee can report the situation to the manager.

Prohibited activities in the restaurant

All staff members must have a company badge, which must be presented at the entrance and used during the working day. Employees may only remove the badge at the end of their working hours.

Similarly, the use of the uniform within the facilities during working hours is mandatory, for which employees have a locker area to change into and out of the restaurant. Workers who violate this regulation will be sanctioned.

The restaurant staff is not allowed to smoke inside the establishment, they can only do it during their break time.

For safety reasons, the establishment’s workers will be checked when entering and leaving the restaurant’s facilities. They must also leave their belongings in the locker area.

If any worker takes any object that is the property of the restaurant, he or she must have a written statement indicating the reason for the removal. If it is not justified, the person must explain why he or she took it and put the object in its place.

Acts of indiscipline inside and outside the establishment should be avoided, such as: scandals, arguments or quarrels with other staff members or some diners.

Recommendations for a successful restaurant

Offering quality service and providing a memorable experience in your restaurant goes beyond serving a good dish with a movie presentation.

You have to include small details in the rules of a restaurant such as empathy in service, innovation in the dishes, management of brand loyalty with customers and unparalleled attention.

With these eight recommendations you can provide an extraordinary experience in your restaurant, achieving not only the preference and loyalty of your customers, but also achieve the success of your project.

Innovation

If you want to stand out in the world of gastronomy, innovation and creativity help your restaurant to achieve this step by step.

Although there are some restaurants that offer a classic and traditional menu, this does not mean that a large number of people choose restaurants with different alternatives to what they are used to eating.

So take advantage of the theme of your restaurant and the menu you serve, to surprise customers and offer the service they expect.

Empathy

Empathy is one of the most important values in a restaurant and must be put into practice by the workers at all times.

Listening to customers, taking into account their points of view, making suggestions and offering pleasant treatment are some of the ways in which empathy should be addressed within your restaurant.

Training

Every person, especially those who are part of the kitchen, must be able to assume the position they hold within the restaurant and prepare the dishes offered to perfection.

However, it is important to reinforce this acquired knowledge so that they can improve their techniques or discover new dishes or recipes that can be profitably prepared in the restaurant.

However, when we talk about training, we must include customer service courses to reinforce the knowledge of the staff in charge of receiving and serving the guests in the restaurant. In this way, they will be able to offer a careful and quality service.

Product

The products used to prepare the dishes on the menu must be the best, this will add value and quality to the dish, giving it a distinctive character that stands out from the competition.

The ideal is to hire suppliers who provide fresh, high quality ingredients at affordable prices.

When your order arrives you should make sure that all the ingredients are in perfect condition without bumps or scratches, that they have good colour, smell and a perfect texture.

Organization chart

An organizational chart should be included in the rules of a restaurant to explain what the tasks of each staff member are and who the bosses are.

The creation of an organization chart is essential to avoid disorganization and hierarchy problems.

Following the organization chart, the tasks in the kitchen will be developed in a quick and orderly way, complying with the delivery times of the dishes, a fact that will be appreciated by the diners.

Loyalty

Diners’ loyalty to the restaurant will depend on the quality of the service and the dishes served.

It is not an easy task to satisfy the needs of each customer, so a personalized attention will be key to ensure that whoever leaves the restaurant will come back wanting much more.

Offer

The gastronomic offer of your menu has to be striking, this is one of the most important points that will distinguish you from the competition.

The dishes you serve in your restaurant must be original, contemporary, pleasing to the eye of the diner and must maintain a balance between the ingredients.

The menu should not be extensive because it increases the diner’s indecision. You should focus on designing a concise but varied menu.

Objective

It is important that as a company you can develop objectives, establishing terms that allow you to determine the fulfillment in short, medium and long term of those goals through the operations.

The objectives can be individual for each sector of the restaurant, so that each member of staff feels part of its fulfillment and success in management.

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