Best Practices
Restaurant Success Starts with Strong Fundamentals
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing," Vince Lombardi once said, emphasizing the power of mastering football fundamentals. In any high-performing team, success hinges on the relentless execution of the basics—precision, discipline, and consistency. Just as Lombardi drilled his Packers on blocking and tackling until perfection became instinct, training your team to execute core skills flawlessly lays the foundation for sustained restaurant excellence, that your guests will notice and respond to.
Industry data indicates that repeat guests generate approximately 60% of restaurant revenue, making customer retention one of the most important drivers of long-term profitability. In order to get your guests to return over and over again, you must provide a consistent and repeatable guest experience, every time. This is where mastering restaurant fundamentals come into play.
In short, the fundamentals your team practices are reflected in the systems you use to accomplish the daily activities of running a restaurant. These include the systems you have for taking orders, controlling recipes, keeping the right amount of product on hand, preparing labor schedules, cleaning the restrooms, collecting payments and greeting your guests. If you do not have systems to guide your team through the basic fundamentals of running your restaurant, then it's likely you're experiencing daily breakdowns in delivering a consistent high-quality guest experience.
"Great businesses are not built by extraordinary people but by ordinary people doing extraordinary things through systems."
- Anonymous
Oftentimes, taking a "back-to-basics" approach to running your restaurant can yield extraordinary results. What if your restaurant never had a problem with running out of product? Had minimal waste? Never had long ticket times? Restrooms were always clean? Recipes were followed to a tee? How much better would your business be if you could reduce problems or chaos?
The fact is, you can reduce problems by implementing systems to help your staff execute restaurant fundamentals. We invite you to check out the resources we have to help you with systematizing your restaurant.
Good restaurant fundamentals can improve the guest experience, your team's attitude, and your restaurant’s financial results.
From how orders are taken to how restrooms are cleaned, the restaurant fundamentals you execute every day shape the guest experience and determine whether customers return. Check out these resources below to help you refine your systems, eliminate common breakdowns, and create an operation that runs smoothly.
Related Resources
Why Are Chain Restaurants So Much More Profitable Than Independents? We break down the systems and habits that drive their profitability and show how independents can adapt these fundamentals to compete and thrive.
Restaurant Kitchen Management Systems: Learn how to implement systems that streamline prep, control waste, maintain quality, and keep service running on time.
How Effective Systems Can Transform Your Restaurant and Your Life: Discover how putting the right systems in place can simplify operations, reduce stress, and deliver a better guest experience. This guide explores the link between consistent execution and long-term restaurant success.
Upcoming Webinar
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Webinar/Podcast
Exceptional Customer Service Practical Ways to Boost Guest Delight & Increase Loyalty
This webinar will equip FOH teams and leaders with the mindset, skills, and systems to boost guest connection and consistently exceed guest expectations.
