Restaurant owners and managers should constantly strive to improve their restaurant standards. Whether you run a quick-service restaurant (QSR) or a fine-dining restaurant, good customer service and top-quality food are vital for a restaurant’s success.
If you’re struggling to improve the standards in your restaurant business or don’t know how to amplify the dining experience in your eatery, we’re here to help. We’ve got everything you need to know about maintaining and improving restaurant service standards, with easy-to-follow tips for restaurant management teams.
You can — and should — aim to meet several restaurant standards when running your restaurant. For a better idea of what criteria you’ll want to adhere to, take a look at this small selection of basic standards for restaurant service.
It should go without saying that you adhere to all required and recommended food safety practices within your restaurant. Examples of this are:
Hand-washing: A correct and thorough hand-washing technique should be taught to all staff members, with signage around the sinks to serve as a reminder.
Cleanliness: Your back-of-house (BOH) team should keep all food preparation areas clear and clean.
Expiration dates: Your operations process should include careful inventory checks to ensure you don’t serve anything past its expiration date.
Check the FDA regulations for your state regularly to ensure you’re meeting every food safety rule. This is a legal requirement, but it will also help you improve the overall standards of your restaurant.
In addition to food safety rules, you should ensure that the food you serve is of the best possible quality. Here’s how:
Quality ingredients: Using the best ingredients you can afford will make a massive difference to the quality of food you serve customers.
Varied menu: Ensure your menu items provide choices for customers. Include options for people with dietary restrictions, and consider a menu of specials that rotate regularly.
Complementary drinks: Ensure you have drinks that complement the food you serve. People eating fast food are unlikely to want fine wines, while diners at full-service restaurants are less likely to want free refills of their soda.
Ensuring the food quality in your restaurant is the best it can be is an excellent way to keep loyal customers returning for more.
Visiting a restaurant isn’t just about eating. It’s also about the overall dining experience. With that in mind, try to maintain excellent customer service to improve the guest experience, such as:
Ambiance: Your restaurant’s dining room or area should be a pleasant space where customers feel comfortable and immersed. Set the tables carefully and play subtle background music to create the right mood.
Friendly service: All front-of-house staff (FOH staff), whether new hires or long-term employees, should aim to serve customers quickly, efficiently, and with a smile. A friendly demeanor goes a long way in the dining experience.
A relaxed atmosphere: Running a restaurant can be stressful, but any BOH difficulties (problems in the kitchen, for example) must stay behind the scenes. Create a relaxed atmosphere for diners and ensure they’re taken care of at all times.
Remember, the hospitality industry should focus on hospitality. You want to create a warm welcome for your customers, whether you run a full-service restaurant or a QSR.
Improving the standard of operations in your restaurant is an essential part of restaurant business management. There are always ways you can make the dining experience more enjoyable for customers.
Follow this step-by-step process to improve your restaurant standards.
Start by evaluating your current restaurant operations and consider what you need to improve. There are a few ways you can gauge what needs to be enhanced:
Ask staff members
Ask restaurant customers
Read online reviews of your restaurant
Measure restaurant benchmarks to track various metrics
When you have a clear idea of what needs to change, you can create a detailed plan to help you get there.
Next, think about your restaurant’s values and where it sits in the local market. A clear idea of your target customer and brand values will help ensure your food and service standards align with what’s expected.
The values of a fast-food restaurant will be different than those of a full-service restaurant, so it’s essential to consider where your eatery sits within the restaurant industry.
This will help you decide whether you want to focus on speed of service, good food, a luxurious ambiance, or a combination of the three.
Now it’s time to think about specific improvements you’ll make. Tools and software can be a cost-effective way of enhancing your restaurant standards. There are several digital tools you could use to increase the efficiency of your food-service operations. Options include:
Point-of-sale (POS) systems: Comprehensive POS software facilitates order processing, inventory management, and accounting management. They can also be used to set up loyalty or rewards programs, which can help with customer retention.
A kitchen display screen (KDS): This connects with your POS to give chefs instant updates on what needs to be cooked and served to customers. Installing a KDS could speed up order processing and ensure faster food service.
Self-service kiosks: Devices like KioskBuddy let customers place and pay for orders themselves on a self-service device. Orders go straight through to the KDS, so chefs can start cooking immediately. Kiosks can also reduce queues in counter-service restaurants and decrease food wait times.
Restaurant pagers: These let customers know when their table is available or their food is ready to collect from the counter. They can be used in counter-service, takeout, or busy full-service restaurants to open up space in the dining area.
You should also contemplate ways to improve the quality of your food — look for new suppliers to source better ingredients, or have the kitchen team undergo a retraining session. It might also be worth hiring more FOH staff to help speed up service, particularly during busy shifts with lots of tables booked.
Consider the specific problems that need solving in your restaurant and explore the best ways to fix them.
With new plans of operation and software in place, you must train all staff members on any updated processes. Ensure everyone knows what they should be doing, and when and where they should be doing it.
It’s also a good idea to write a straightforward operations manual for new hires and existing staff so they have something to refer to if they’re unsure.
Once you think your restaurant standards have improved, ask customers and staff members how they feel things have changed. Is the service faster? Is the food better? Does the staff understand the new processes, or is there a need for further tweaks?
Ask staff and customers for honest feedback. Send out anonymous feedback forms to your team so they can be direct. You could leave feedback cards or survey forms for customers with the check. Encourage guests to fill them out by offering a prize draw or money-off coupons (this will also attract repeat customers, so it’s win-win!).
Consider all feedback and implement any additional changes until your customers and employees are happy with all in-house processes.
Improving your restaurant standards is one thing, but maintaining high standards is another. It’s a good idea to set up regular meetings with staff to check in on processes and operations, as well as ensuring that you’re receiving customer feedback, too.
Keeping an eye on your restaurant standards is an effective way to ensure customer experience doesn’t slip. It’s essential to offer up good food, but it’s also important to treat customers well and keep service running as smoothly as possible.
Self-service devices like KioskBuddy are fantastic tools to improve your restaurant standards. They’re easy to set up and work in conjunction with other restaurant software, like your POS system. Customers can place and pay for their own orders on a tablet, meaning your staff members are free to focus on other areas of service, and lines can keep moving.
Sign up for KioskBuddy today and get a 30-day free trial.