Restaurant Masterminds

After speaking with a new restaurant owner this week, I was surprised to find that they had little, if any training in place. I thought how frustrating that must be for them. Did you know the number one reason that staff turnover is high is because of lack of training?

How involved are you with your new hires?

When you hire a new staff member, it is important to make sure you have a training system in place.
Putting together a training package gives you an opportunity to express explicitly each of the rules and procedures of your business, leaving nothing to the imagination. Provide them with their job description and explain what is expected from them and what the consequences will be if they don’t perform up to standard. Spend time with your new hires showing them around the restaurant and talk to them about your experience in the industry, the history of your restaurant and what sets your establishment a part from others. (Give them a reason to want to work there!)

You may want to spread the paperwork out over a few days as to not overwhelm them.
Find out more about their experience in the industry, you never know what secret talents they may be harboring!

A lot of restaurants have made the mistake of trying to “cross train” staff from the beginning. I believe that it is imperative to allow your new hire to grow comfortable with their initial duties and responsibilities before adding more.

Unfortunately training responsibilities usually fall on those with the closest proximity of the new server, and those with the most available time. When your new employee begins training on the floor, make sure they are shadowing a server that will take the time to show them the “right” way of doing things, and not “their” way. Check in with the trainer and trainee during the process to answer any questions and address any concerns as they come up.

Remove the barrier that usually erects between the “boss” and the “new kid on the block”. The first few shifts are monumental in establishing a working relationship with your employees.

I am also a firm believer that your trainees should eat for free during training. Treat them to some food so they know the food and have an even better understanding and working knowledge of your restaurant.

Then after they have gone through the training make sure you have a very comprehensive test that covers all aspects of the restaurant. Even if you do an open book test it will help them to comprehend everything you want them to know about the position and your restaurant.

The more you teach your staff, the more they will know about your product, your policies and your procedures and the more successful everyone will be.

My family and I just returned home from a weekend vacation in San Diego, CA. and as usual one of the highlights of our getaway is finding Independent Restaurants that provide us with a “wow” dining experience.

It didn’t take us long to find a “wow” experience, in fact, the very first restaurant we dined at was in Old Town San Diego, Cafe Coyote. This 600 seat plus establishment has been family owned for 20 years! Like many small independently owned restaurants they started off with only a small dining area of 80 seats, however, they had a dream to be big and that they are! Cafe Coyote seats over 600 guests with four separate dining rooms and two LARGE outdoor patios including a bar/dining area across the walkway.

Even though the food itself was par at best by my standards, Cafe Coyote excelled in having signature items on their menu, the first was their “Breakfast Margarita”, I’ll be honest, I have never had a margarita for breakfast, but the server did an exceptional job in selling me one and true to her word it did not disappoint.

The second and probably the biggest “wow” of the restaurant was the Mexican Lady making fresh tortillas on the outside patio griddle. Tourist walking buy can actually stop by and purchase a fresh made tortilla and have it smeared with butter…ummm…ummm, good!
Our server explained in detail the freshness of every tortilla and every entree would be served with a fresh homemade tortilla right off the griddle. Now like I said earlier, the rest of the food was average for my taste buds, however, the two “wows” of the morning had me sold and had us coming back for dinner later that night.

So what makes your restaurant so special? Everyone restaurateur claims to have the best food and the best service, but not many have something “Special”, something that guests talk about and come back for again and again.

My management staff met the week before I left on vacation to discuss new menus and new signature items that will help us stand out from all the others. For the first time ever our new menus will not have any new items for 2010, instead, we are actually eliminating some menu items so that we can focus on “wowing’ our guests with a few signature menu items that are already in place. Yes, we already have items that “wow” our guest, but, for 2010 we are taking those items and like Emeril likes to say, “we’re kicking it up a notch”, so that we can “wow” our guests like Cafe Coyote in Old Town San Diego wows their guests.

Take the time and ask yourself, your staff and even your guests, What makes your restaurant so special? You’ll be surprised at your answers.

Ben Martinez
Restaurant Masterminds

By: Richard Varano

Is there anything more annoying than ordering your meal or drink in a restaurant, and having the server come back to the table to inform you that they are out of your item? I have serious issues with this scenario. Why wasn’t the customer informed at the time the order was placed? Why wasn’t the server aware the item was not available? In nine out of ten cases, the answer is carelessness. Management wasn’t paying attention, or the server didn’t check the “86” list, which is restaurant speak for “out of stock.”

My wife and I were out Christmas shopping and decided to have a quick bite to eat before we finished our shopping. We visited one of the local chain restaurants, and sat ourselves at the bar. The bar only had twelve stools, and six of them were occupied. The bar was a mess, the bartender was busy making drinks for the dining-room and the manager was behind the bar trying to have a conversation with the young attractive bartender. As a restaurant owner, I should have realized that this was going to be a mistake to dine at the bar. All the signs were there, and I chose not to notice. My radar was down, I was on vacation, shopping with my wife and I missed all the telltale signs.

We sat at the bar for a good five minutes and neither the bartender or the manager noticed us, I could see they were busy and I waited patiently for someone to take our order. In the meantime, my wife had gone to the restroom and when she returned, she asked me what I had ordered for her to drink. When I informed her that we hadn’t been waited on, she couldn’t believe it. The manager finally noticed us and asked if we would like another beer. I laughed and informed him that I was still waiting for my first. At this point, I thought he might have realized the lapse in service. My mistake, he took my order for a Corona and ignored my wife. He opened the Corona and set it down in front of me and only then did he inform me that they were out of limes. Seriously, are you kidding me? I ordered a Corona because I wanted a lime in my beer.

I have four questions to ask.
1. Why is a bar out of limes at five o’clock in the afternoon?
2. Why would you open the Corona before informing the customer that you were out of limes?
3. Why wouldn’t you send one of the ten servers who were sitting around doing nothing to the supermarket located in the same mall?
4. Why didn’t you ask my wife what she wanted to drink at the same time you took my drink order?

Our experience only went from bad to worse, the bar was out of the Christmas ale they were featuring on their menu. It turns out, no-one ever tapped it. We know this, because the manager mentioned it at least three times. These are all avoidable mistakes, which happen in restaurants more than most people realize. Inventory is critical to the success of your business. Nothing is more aggravating than finding out the restaurant is out of your order right before they deliver your meal, or bottle of wine or beverage. Mistakes happen, stay on top of your “86” list, vendors stock you out of products all the time. Don’t run your inventory so tight that a vendor delivering two hours late affects your business. Your customers count on you to deliver. If you pay attention to your deliveries, chances are, whoever picked your order for the vendor missed putting the item on the truck. If you catch these things in time, you can reorder them and probably have the item the same day.

Having an “86” list with nothing on it, is a point of taking pride in your professional organization. How do you want your customers to look at you? Are you a mom and pop fly by the seat of your pants organization? Attention to details separates the contenders from the pretenders.
Minimize your mistakes and your customers will love you for it.

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