The Food and Beverage Magazine Guide to Restaurant Success

5Your Restaurant Is a Stage

As you begin to staff up your restaurant, think about this as if you are the producer and director and are casting people to perform in your movie or play. Think about the culture you want to create in your restaurant and how everyone will fit. This includes the wait staff, chef, cook, bus people, and others. You are creating an environment where people will want to share special occasions, make memories, and remember eating in your restaurant as part of their life experience that they talk about for years.

After reading the next paragraph, close your eyes. Envision how your restaurant is going to be operated. What is your flow? Imagine what the customer will experience when they open the door to your restaurant. Who will they see? What will be said?

I am imagining that I see a beautiful smile greeting the customer. The wait staff is talking to everybody, especially the seated patrons. Everyone knows the customers' names if they have eaten there before, and the staff introduce themselves to all the customers dining there for the first time. The server remembers a returning customer's favorite dish. The entire team is helping everybody and working together. If there is a rush, one server will take care of another's table by acknowledging the patrons sitting there. Everyone is pouring the drinks, clearing tables, and making sure the customers have the best dining experience ever.

Now close your eyes and use your imagination.

Do you envision what I ...