Opening a counter-service restaurant can be a great way to make your mark in the competitive restaurant industry. Counter service lets diners eat quickly and efficiently, meaning you, as a business owner, can feed more customers in a shorter time, increasing your profit margins as you go.
But what exactly is a counter-service restaurant, and what do you need to do to open one? We’re here to provide the answers with this comprehensive guide to counter service.
A counter-service restaurant is where customers place orders at a point of sale (POS) or order point rather than having a staff member take their order from them at the table.
Diners coming in to eat at a counter-service restaurant will look at menu items on a board or a printed menu. They’ll then place and pay for their order at the POS.
Customers can provide a table number and go back to their table to wait for their food, or they can stay at the counter until their food is ready to be collected. This means counter service can be used for dine-in the restaurant or for takeout.
You’ve probably encountered counter-service restaurants several times, in cities like New York and San Francisco, in smaller towns, or even in theme parks like Walt Disney World. The counter-service model tends to be best for restaurants or establishments that prioritize quick service. Fast-food restaurants and takeout restaurants are prominent examples.
However, other quick-service restaurants (QSRs) can also work well under a counter-service system. Fast-casual restaurants that want to prioritize the quality of the food over slick service can benefit from counter service.
And it’s not just eat-in restaurants that can use counter service, either. Takeouteateries, coffee shops, and even ice cream parlors can work well with counter service instead of table service. Restaurants in a city’s Chinatown might also focus on counter service, as they’re likely to have a high turnover of customers.
It’s unlikely that fine-dining restaurants would use counter service, as diners willing to pay a premium for good food are likely to want table service.
You’re more likely to find counter service in easy-going eateries — places serving Thai food or burritos, burgers or tacos. These are the types of food-service establishments that work best under a counter-service system.
There are several reasons why a restaurateur might choose to set up their restaurant with counter-service options.
In contrast to table-service restaurants or full-service restaurants, counter-service restaurants don’t rely on servers to take orders, as customers place their order themselves or with a cashier.
This means businesses can operate with fewer staff members, allowing managers or business owners to reduce their restaurant operating costs.
If you’re considering opening a counter-service restaurant, you can choose to have a staffed ordering point or a self-service kiosk — using self-service can help you reduce your staffing costs even more.
Counter service works very well in QSRs, as it’s perfect for customers dining in a hurry.
Diners don’t need to wait for someone to take their order. They can simply place their order as soon as they know what they want. What’s more, if your customers order directly at the POS, the order can go through to the kitchen instantly, meaning your chef team can start preparing the food immediately.
All this can speed up your service time, which could, in turn, help you increase the number of customers you can feed in any given service. It’s win-win.
Another benefit of counter service for restaurant owners is that it’s easy to upsell your products.
When a customer comes to place their order at the POS, it’s easy for staff to offer them extra items like fries, sauces, or drinks. Many self-service kiosks can be programmed to suggest these add-ons before the customer pays for their order, so your self-ordering device can also upsell for you.
In fact, research suggests that diners place larger orders when using self-service kiosks, as they are less embarrassed about the amount of food they’re ordering.
Although there are several benefits to operating with counter service, there are some negatives too.
The main drawback of counter-service restaurants is for customers — the dining experience is not the same as they can expect in a full-service restaurant. Many customers prefer to interact with servers or other people while they eat out, as it adds to the overall experience. Using counter service means customers may feel like they’re missing out on what makes dining out enjoyable.
However, if you want to run an eatery that focuses on speed and efficiency rather than a fine-dining experience, counter service can be a fantastic solution. It’s all about prioritizing what works best for you and your customers.
So, now that you know why you might want to open a counter-service restaurant, let’s look at how you can make it happen with this quick step-by-step guide to opening a restaurant with counter service.
The first thing you need to do is source the location for your restaurant. You need to make sure it’s big enough to contain a kitchen, a dining room, and a counter area, so keep that in mind while you search.
When you’ve found the perfect place for your restaurant, you need to design your kitchen and dining space to maximize efficiency — but also to make it warm and inviting for customers.
When your restaurant’s interior is set up the way you want it, it’s time to design your menu.
Choose the type of cuisine you want to serve, and select menu items you love to cook. Work closely with your head chef to ensure you’re both happy with what you’ll be serving customers.
Remember that a menu should constantly evolve. When you’ve opened the doors to your restaurant, take regular stock of what your customers are ordering and what they’re not. Anything that’s not very popular should be replaced with something new.
The next step in opening your restaurant should be hiring a team. You’ll need both back-of-house and front-of-house staff, including chefs, pot washers, cleaners, and hosts.
Depending on how you want to organize your food delivery (i.e., whether you want customers to gather the food from a collection point or you’d prefer staff to run food to tables), you’ll also want to hire several servers or food runners.
If you decide to operate with collection, you can use a restaurant pager to let customers know their food is ready. Alternatively, you can set up a self-service kiosk to send a text message to customers when their food is available. This can work particularly well for takeout orders.
Another critical step in opening your restaurant is establishing a functional customer ordering system.
You can choose whether you want to have a staffed POS with a cashier or to use a self-service system like KioskBuddy.
Self-service kiosks let customers place and pay for orders on a tablet. The order then goes straight to the kitchen display screen, so chefs can start cooking immediately. Customers can add their table number while they place their order or enter their phone number so that the machine will send them a text when their food is ready to collect.
Using a self-service ordering point is a fantastic solution if you want to minimize the number of staff on your books.
When you’ve completed all these steps, the only thing left to do is to open your restaurant to the public and start serving food — wishing you the best of luck!
Counter service can be a fantastic way to reduce staffing costs and ensure speedy food service in your restaurant. By operating with a counter-service system, you can focus on getting good-quality food out to your customers as quickly as possible.
If you want to set up a self-service kiosk in your counter-service restaurant, KioskBuddy is an easy solution. Customers can place and pay for orders easily, meaning your staff is free to focus on delivering great food.
Sign up for KioskBuddy today and enjoy an easy way to set up self-service.