I've always dreamed of opening a restaurant, I'll probably never do it but I like to dream about it sometimes. I know a lot of restaurant peeps and in talking with them, they're like "never do it, shit sucks. Unless you love it but it still sucks."
But they've also given me lots of good tips on being successful in the restaurant biz, which I will share here. I know there are some other restaurant people on here like DeepChicago, Lance, Brett and Grimson if he ever gets unbanned from the Bar knows a shit ton about wing and burger sports bars, so feel free to chime in here!
Here's the first installment of tips in this series:
HIRING - 1. If your restaurant is situated in a smallish town, NEVER hire the local whores. They have blown 90% or well over half your clientele. This makes for bad business. Whores in larger municipalities are conversely a boon to your operation, as their flirtatious nature keeps customers returning, maybe just to check and see if the napkin with their number dropped into their beer when they last left was well-received (just an example)
2. "Executive Chef" vs. "Line Cook" - It's always a good idea for a newer place to hire a hungry, gritty Line Cook to get your place going - someone with big time aspirations but not a big time paycheck can elevate your food and put you on the map without fucking up your budget.
3. Bus Boys/Dishwashers - these guys should also be cooking the food, as they can have a huge benefit to your bottom line. Don't let them take customer orders or have access to the liquor though. BIG TIME No-No.
I'm sure there are other trade secrets for staffing, but this completes the first installment of the Hiring piece for the time being...
When it comes to hiring people, here are a few thoughts:
1. Know your territory. If you're in the suburbs, plan on short careers. My restaurant is in a suburb and I specifically hire young (with less bad habits) because I know the career servers are downtown. I encourage them to go to school, get a 2nd job, and follow their passion. A happy staff is a great staff. If you set your expectations appropriately, you'll never be short-staffed and your restaurant will have an ebb and flow. Big fish need little fish just as little fish need big fish.
HHM, in regards to hiring a young, hungry line cook-I agree, but not when first opening. Your guests will forgive lapses in service when you're a new restaurant, but if the food sucks, it sucks and they won't be back. The key is to be constantly training/grooming everyone's replacement. Promote from within. I have a roster of 48 servers and 35 of them are former bus boys/assistants. They might not be lookers, or Level 2 Somms, but I know their work ethic and if they've survived me, then they are good to go.
2. CLEAN YOUR RESTAURANT. Hoakies should be on every floor or one for every 300 S.F. Restaurants nowadays are filthy. I pitch it to every employee like this: "Everything I tell you to do is designed to help make you more money. If the guest sees a rosemary sprig or drink ticket on the floor, they will think we are dirty and perhaps tip you poorly because of it. That in turn, affects our ability to win them back for their next anniversary." THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS is the EASIEST business in the world when you think about it. The more money you (Servers, Bar, S.A.s, Hosts/Kitchen staff-raises) make, the more money the restaurant makes. IT'S THAT FUCKING SIMPLE. If I can bring on enough support staff, magicians, backups and you are making 25-30% grats, it tells me they will dine again. Two points in one there, but it's really just a philosophy-I put everything on the line every day.
3. Idle hands are the devils playtoy. Yes, the ultimate sin is turning away a walk-in due to being understaffed, but you have to manage expectations. Tell your tipped staff exactly what their sales goals are each and every night. Here is what I say during orientation. "Our sales goal for you Monday-Thursday is 800-1,000. Fri/Sat/Sun over 1,000. If you sell less, we were overstaffed/had bad weather, etc. Anything more, congrats." Staff aggressively but always leave room for walk-ins.
4. PAY YOUR PEOPLE. Find good help and pay for it. If your business plan and concept is legit, you will be fine. Goes double for a handyman. Worth his weight in gold. You can spend 4 precious hours troubleshooting a cooler, or pay Polar to do it while you revamp your wine training, have a meeting, run data, etc...
5. Reward performance. Again, on day one, I tell my tipped staff that the only thing seniority dictates is the schedule. Once they are logged in for the night, the section is entirely dependent on their performance. I don't care if they've been with us three months or three years...if they are selling what I want them to sell and giving good service, then they will be in the best sections of the restaurant every night. **** the guy that tells the best jokes, **** the girl that gives the best head. Every month we post new power rankings which dictate sections. I track six different items on excel every night and each category has a monthly prize in addition to improved power rankings. There is no bitching, no "Why me." Sell your ass off and dominate your floor and you will make money. We will teach the tricks to larger sections along the way.
6. Always look for opportunities to audit yourself. Perhaps it's been a while since you've sat in on a bar training, or prepped vegetables. If you don't stay in the day to day a little bit YOUR PROCEDURES will change for the worse. Without question. There is always a better, more efficient way of doing things. Pick the appropriate times/seasons to audit everything from training to operations.
7. Be a good listener. All day long people talk to me. Around every corner, through every wall and door. Don't let your emotions overwhelm you because they will. Celebrate the success of your staff and never drag the whole group into a negative situation (counselling/Gordan Ramsey meltdown) unless you can turn it back on a dime in regards to reminding them of teamwork and money. Everything can be positively spun if you keep your eye on the prize.
8. **** corporate.
