Every restaurant already has a way of doing things. Until it is written down, it changes with each shift and leaves with each senior team member. An operations manual records it as short procedures in one layout, read by every new starter and signed. Here is what to put in it and how to keep it current.
Why write procedures at all
- One answer to "how do we do this here?" New starters stop collecting three versions from three colleagues.
- The same service on every shift, including the manager's day off.
- Easier correction. Pointing to step 4 of the cash-up is less personal than "you always get this wrong".
- Safety and records. Allergen handling, accidents and fire are where a written procedure matters most. Food safety and health and safety rules differ by country, so check what your local authority expects in writing.
Writing a procedure once is quicker than explaining it forty times.
The sections
Eight sections cover a typical restaurant. Each holds a few short procedures and, where the order of tasks does not matter, a checklist.
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| 1. Who we are | A few lines on the restaurant, your service standards, key contacts |
| 2. Opening | Opening the building; kitchen, front of house and bar opening checklists; pre-shift briefing |
| 3. Service | Steps of service, taking an allergy order, kitchen and floor communication, reservations and no-shows |
| 4. Cash and the till | Float and till, end-of-day cash-up |
| 5. Guest complaints | Handling a complaint, who can take what off the bill |
| 6. Our team | Uniform and hygiene, rota, swaps and breaks, training a new team member |
| 7. Health, safety and emergencies | Accidents and first aid, fire, deliveries and storage |
| 8. Closing | Kitchen, front of house and bar closing checklists, locking up |
Finish with a "Read and understood" page. Put the key contacts near the front: owner, manager, head chef, the maintenance engineer, pest control and the emergency number.
One layout for every procedure
Use the same five parts every time, so anyone can find the answer in seconds:
- Purpose: one line on why the procedure exists.
- Who: the role responsible, by job title.
- When: the trigger or the time.
- Steps: numbered, one action per line.
- The standard: what "done right" looks like, with a number where possible.
Here is the allergy procedure from the sample bistro, where Nina takes the order and Elena is the chef in charge:
| Part | Taking an allergy order |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Guests with allergies eat safely. |
| Who | Server, chef in charge |
| When | Every time a guest mentions an allergy or intolerance |
| Steps | 1. Ask the guest exactly which allergen and how serious it is. 2. Check the dish on the allergen matrix. If the answer is uncertain, ask the chef in charge before confirming anything. 3. Enter the order with an ALLERGY note naming the allergen. 4. Tell the chef in charge in person as well. 5. The chef prepares the dish with clean equipment and checks it at the pass. 6. The chef or the server who took the order carries the plate to the table and names the allergen to the guest. |
| The standard | Never guess. When in doubt, say so and offer a dish you can guarantee. |
Put your own numbers into the service procedures. A sensible start: greet every guest within 1 minute, take the drinks order within 3 minutes of seating, check back within 2 minutes of each course arriving, and no table waits more than 3 minutes without contact.
Write it with the people who do the job
Elena drafts the kitchen procedures, Lukas the front of house. The owner reads both and settles any disagreement. Then test each procedure on someone new: hand it to Jon on his second week and watch. Wherever he hesitates, a step is missing.
Keep each procedure to one page. A manual nobody finishes reading trains nobody.
Keep it alive
- Two printed copies: one in the office, one at the pass.
- Change it when the work changes. A new till, a new supplier or a complaint that revealed a gap: update both copies the same week.
- Version number and date on the cover, plus the name of the person who owns the manual.
- A sign-off sheet at the back: name, role, date and signature for every team member once they have read it. Ask the whole team to sign again after a major update.
Start from a written manual
The Restaurant Operations Manual is a ready-written manual in Word and PDF with the eight sections above. Each procedure uses the purpose, who, when, steps and standard layout, and the manual includes opening and closing checklists for the kitchen, front of house and bar, a pre-shift briefing sheet, a key contacts table and a "Read and understood" sign-off page. Replace the highlighted parts with your own times, names, numbers and rules, delete what you do not need and add your own procedures in the same layout.
Related
- Read: Your New Hire's First Week
- Read: A Simple End-of-Day Cash-Up Routine
- Also useful: Staff Onboarding Pack, a first-week plan that puts the manual to use
Every template in Restaurant Notes is in the Complete Restaurant Collection: 25 tools in one download.