Restaurant Training Manuals

The restaurant training manuals are detailed and comprehensive in scope, while maintaining a universal quality.  The rules can be applied to almost any restaurant training program; you can also supplement with your own specific rules.

When ordered as e-books, you will receive them in .doc format so you may modify them to fit your specific restaurant's needs.  You may also make as many copies as you need for your staff.

Following is the table of contents for each individual manual:

Bus Manual
- Introduction
- Equal Opportunity Employment
- Sexual Harassment
- Non-Discrimination
- Workers' Compensation
- Pay Periods
- Drinking
- Drugs
- Employee Theft
- Security
- Lost Employee Articles
- Customers' Lost Belongings
- Breakage
- Accidents and Safety
- Bulletin Board
- Personnel Records
- Your Earnings
- Parking
- Promotions
- Liquor Laws
- Pre-Shift Issues:  Schedules, Shift Changes and Calling In
- Appearance & Professionalism
- Cleanliness (detailed FOH cleanliness knowledge)
- Job Duties and Expectations (includes proper language vs. slang)
- Tips and Reporting to the IRS (from the NRA site-official information)
- Company Agreement Forms

Host Manual
- Introduction
- Equal Opportunity Employment
- Sexual Harassment
- Non-Discrimination
- Workers' Compensation
- Pay Periods
- Drinking
- Drugs
- Employee Theft
- Security
- Lost Employee Articles
- Customers' Lost Belongings
- Breakage
- Accidents and Safety
- Bulletin Board
- Personnel Records
- Your Earnings
- Parking
- Promotions
- Liquor Laws
- Pre-Shift Issues:  Schedules, Shift Changes and Calling In
- Appearance & Professionalism
- Cleanliness (detailed FOH cleanliness knowledge)
- Job Duties and Expectations (includes telephone etiquette/language)
- Calming the Crabby Customer
- Tips and Reporting to the IRS (from the NRA site-official information)
- Company Agreement Forms

Server Manual
- Introduction
- Equal Opportunity Employment
- Sexual Harassment
- Non-Discrimination
- Workers' Compensation
- Pay Periods
- Drinking
- Drugs
- Employee Theft
- Security
- Lost Employee Articles
- Customers' Lost Belongings
- Breakage
- Accidents and Safety
- Bulletin Board
- Personnel Records
- Your Earnings
- Parking
- Promotions
- Liquor Laws
- Pre-Shift Issues:  Schedules, Shift Changes and Calling In
- Appearance & Professionalism
- Cleanliness (detailed FOH cleanliness knowledge)
- Job Duties and Expectations (includes proper language vs. slang)
- Calming the Crabby Customer
- Server's Script
- Tips and Reporting to the IRS (from the NRA site-official information)
- Company Agreement Forms

Below you will find excerpts from each manual:

Excerpt from the Bus Manual

Basic Responsibilities
You are expected to be able to fulfill many different tasks for several people, including your servers, hosts, managers and guests.  The following checklist includes many of the required tasks and could include more or less:

- greeting guests when you approach a table

- serving bread and water

- pre-bussing

- clearing tables

- re-setting tables

- maintaining tables and floor appearance                                               

- cleaning and re-stocking service stations

- overall floor maintenance

- re-filling beverages and bread baskets

- cleaning spills

- taking out garbage

- wiping down high chairs and boosters with clean bar towel

Table Setting Guide
Before service, make sure that each table in the restaurant is set correctly.

1.       Check that all tables are stable and do not wobble.

2.       Wipe the chairs and be sure they are clean and set at an appropriate length from the tables.

3.       Check that the tables are clean on the top and edges.  If plants or ledges are nearby, they should also be free of dust and dirt.

4.       Examine the salt and pepper shakers, sugar bowl and any table tents/promotions.  The shakers and bowl should be full and clean; sugar and sugar substitute should be stocked.  Position these items at the centers of tables according to your restaurant’s procedures.

5.       Inspect the table settings.  Be sure everything is clean and aligned properly.

6.       Be sure the floor is clean around and under the tables.  Pick up trash. 

Whenever you have extra time, perform extra duties to make sure our guests are taken care of.  Side work duties are assigned and are expected to be carried out at the end of a shift to the expectations set forth.

Suggestions for extra duties

·        offer pepper for salads and soups

·        clear and crumb tables between courses and replace soiled silverware

·        serve beverages

·        remove trays and tray jacks left in a walkway/path

·        change out ash trays, light cigarettes, bring toothpicks, assist with coats

Clearing and re-setting tables
When clearing a table, have a tray with you for entire removal of all items.  Take care not to put your fingers inside of glasses, used or clean.  When wiping the table down, brush excess and large crumbs into your hand or onto a plate or napkin so they aren’t just thrown onto the floor for clean-up at the end of the shift.  Move salt and pepper shakers and sugar container and any other items off to the side while you clean the entire table.  Brush off chairs and booths so guests do not have to brush crumbs off their seats before sitting down. 

If using a large tray, come prepared with as much as possible for the clean set-up of the table.  The set up of all tables should be the same.  If you have room on your tray after you are finished with the set-up, take a quick look around and make sure there aren’t any other dishes from any other tables that you can pick up.  Cover your tray of dirty dishes with a napkin before taking back to service area. 

There will be times when it is necessary to replace silverware or dishes between courses.  Servers should communicate with you as to what they need you to do for them. 

There are a few basics to handling dishes, glassware and silverware, whether clean or dirty. 

   - When handling glassware of any type, always handle them by the stem or base section of the glass or cup.  Guests don’t know how clean your hands may or may not be.  It doesn’t matter if the glasses are clean or dirty; do not get into the habit of grabbing glassware by the rims or sticking your fingers into several glasses at once to more quickly bus a table.  It is a completely unsanitary practice and horrifying to guests who witness you doing so!

   - Plates of food should be served with your fingers splayed under the plate to balance, while your thumb is at the very outermost rim of the plate to avoid touching people’s food.  A service napkin may also be used to deliver a plate of food. 

   - Silverware should only be handled by the handle, never the end that is put into the mouth. 

   -The clearing of dishes and glasses should be done from the right of the guest, using your right hand to avoid awkwardness.  As when you serve food, you should clear dishes for everyone at the same time.  When it’s clear that everyone is finished, begin by asking the host or someone else’s permission to take things away. 

Examples:

·        “May I take these away for you?”

·        “May I take your plate?”

 Avoid slang terms and phrases, such as:

·        “All finished?”

·        “Still workin’ on that?” 

Asking permission is polite.  Saying other things can be offensive, especially if someone isn’t finished eating and you attempt to take away his/her plate.  Never make a guest feel uncomfortable.  The safest way to do that is to always ask permission to remove dishes and be reasonably sure a guest is finished eating. 

Take plates and other items from the right of the guests.  Anything that will no longer be needed should be cleared, including entrée plates, bread plates, silverware and glassware.  The only things that should be left are those items still being used, such as coffee cups, spoons for coffee, wine and water glasses.  If wine glasses are empty and there is no more wine to be drunk, remove them. 

Understand the proper etiquette that the servers follow and do the same.  We want our guests to feel as if the entire staff is there for the sake of their hospitality and comfort, and you are!

Excerpt from the Host Manual                   

Basic Responsibilities
You are expected to be able to fulfill three different hosting tasks:  seating, podium and phones.  Greeting is a given that must be done by all employees all the time, not just our hosts! 

Answering the Phones involves:

·        taking reservations

·        providing detailed information about the restaurant’s operations and policies

·        routing phone calls to the proper source when the information is not available to you

·        confirming reservations

·        handling sales calls                                                                           

Seating guests means you are responsible for:

·        expediting the seating of our guests

·        clearing and resetting tables when necessary

·        explaining certain promotions at the time a party is seated

·        checking and straightening up the restrooms and lobby area

As the Podium host person, you will also have to answer phones, as well as:

·        greet guests as they arrive

·        assign tables or assist the manager with this by following proper procedures

·        assist the other two aspects of hosting as needed

·        ensure the guests are pleased with their visit by inquiring as they depart

·        saying good-bye and thanking guests for their business

These three positions are intertwined, which is why you may find yourself filling all three in a single shift.  Also be aware that the management can and will ask you to fulfill tasks not necessarily associated with the position of the shift for which you were scheduled.  These tasks may include cleaning areas or items in the restaurant, assisting with paperwork or changing displays for promotional items as well as assisting in other areas of the restaurant.

 

Excerpt from the Server Manual

SERVER’S SCRIPT
A large part of excellent customer service is “suggestive selling.”  Suggestive selling is suggesting beverages or food items along the course of the guests’ dining experience.  Your job is to guide their dining experience and make it as enjoyable as possible.  Suggesting and describing items along the way gives your guests an idea of what to order, which can save you time and extra effort. 

“Planting a seed” is the suggestion of an item and “assuming the sale” is the assumption that your suggestion will be taken.  In the following script, note the language the server uses to plant the seed and then to assume the sale.  It doesn’t work all the time.  Whether or not your guests take every suggestion you offer is irrelevant.  You are displaying your knowledge of the menu and offering the best possible experience for our guests. 

The very generic script that follows can be modeled into any style of service.  It’s an ideal script and by no means does it imply exactly what will happen at every table just because you are suggestive selling.  Also, this script suggests a more formal atmosphere; you can change the language to fit your style and your restaurant’s style.  Just keep the basics in place! 

Greeting and Offering of Beverages 

You:           Good evening, my name is _____ and I’ll be your server this evening.  May I bring you a cocktail, glass of wine, perhaps a gin and tonic?

He:             Yes, she’ll have a glass of red wine and I’ll have a vodka tonic.

You:           Do you like a lighter red or something a little fuller-bodied?

She:            Something fuller-bodied.

You:           I have a very nice Zinfandel – XYZ is one of my favorites.  Another good wine is the ABC Cabernet Sauvignon – very tasty!  (points them out on the wine list)

She:            The Zinfandel sounds great!

You:           Very good…Sir, for vodkas, I have Absolut, Chopin…?

He:             Do you have Ketel One? 

 

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