Service Stations

 

Service Stations

Type of Facility

Our facility is an upper midscale restaurant that allows for max capacity in our layout. Our kitchen is a standard commercial kitchen set up. We have the kitchen at the back of the house with 4 different stations; one is set up for cold foods prep that does not need to be cooked such as salad stuff; another is set up for hot foods and cooking stations, one is set up for hot foods prep where raw meeting will be cut, and lastly one station will be set for assembly. Each station in the back of the house will be staffed appropriately with around three to four chefs per station. Front of the house will have a hostess station and one server per every 4 tables.  Other than 4 different stations, there will be a reception room near the entrance of the restaurant, a waiting room for the customers to feel comfortable while waiting, a clean bathroom with good hygiene, and staff room to keep their important stuff and take a break during their break time.

 

Product Description

Our product is authentic Greek cuisine. We want our customers to feel like they are in the movie when sitting at our restaurant. The product, besides the food, is the environment we provide to our customers. We will have blue and white with pink accent colors all throughout the restaurant as well as items seen in the movies such as orange trees seen in the movie strategically placed throughout. Our tables will have mosaics on them such as the tables from the movie, when you first walk into our restaurant next to the host stand will be a miniature replica fountain from the end of the first movie. By adding all these details we are adding to our product value of feeling like you are in the movie

 

Service Profile

Effective communication between front of the house and back of the house will make the systematic organization with a repeatable pattern of tasks. In order to operate the restaurant effectively, we have 6 main positions including general manager, BOH manager, FOH manager, Executive chef, server supervisor, and sales & marketing manager. Their responsibilities will be explained further in the paper later. We will also provide the shift organization and scheduling table that shows overall schedules of our 6 members. Moreover, service process, service management, and food safety and sanitation will be provided in the paper. Well-established service profile will be the guideline of the operation to provide constant quality of service to customers. Having standardized service guidelines and instructions will increase customer’s satisfaction and make less confusion among employees. Now, we will explain how we designed a service profile in detail.

 

Designing a Service Profile

In this section, we will describe the workflow in the front and back of the house.

 

Opening Hours

Our opening hours would be 9 am. Prep time will be starting from 9am to 11am, service time from 11am-3:00pm, 4:30pm to 9pm, and closing from 9pm to 11pm.

 

Station Organization and Assignment

In order to make the station organization to be well functioned, there will be 6 main positions in total including the General Manager, Back of the House Manager, Front of the House Manager, Executive Chef, Server Supervisor, and Sales and Marketing Manager. General manager is responsible for allocating budget and formulating policies. He or she will oversee the entire restaurant. He or she oversees the performance of the Front of House Manager and Back of the House Manager, and the Sales and Marketing Manager. Front of the House Manager will be responsible for supervising the entire front of the house including servers, waiting lines, sanitation, and taking care of guest complaints. They oversee the greeters and servers. The Back House Manager will be responsible for ensuring the kitchen department runs smoothly with safety regulation while preparing food, load-in for the ordering items, storing for the food items, check the inventory, managing breaks, back up supply in the kitchen, and do the quality assurance checks. Executive Chef will be responsible for managing the chefs including sous chef, line cook and dishwasher. He will oversee the menu production. Executive Chef is managed by the Back of the House Manager. Server Supervisor is responsible for checking the appearance of servers, checking the knowledge of the menu, and greets the customer as they enter. The Server Supervisor is under the Front of House Manager. Sales and Marketing Manager is responsible for developing marketing opportunities and planning new sales plans. Also, they need to make sure that the sales department works cross functionally with other departments while promoting the new menus or applying new strategies during the operation. They will control the revenue and budgeting planning and will send the monthly report to the GM.

 

Shift Organization and Scheduling

Shift organization and scheduling is an important part in the workplace in order to operate effectively. Hourly employee scheduling is critical to build a great employee experience, lowering employee retention rate, and improving satisfaction. There’s even a saying that “Employee turnover is 174% more likely without real-time scheduling capabilities”. This shows how critical the scheduling is. The chart below shows how our team would organize the shift organization and scheduling. Each person will have a 2 days break during a week and 30 minutes break for each day.

 

Schedule of Managers:

GM-General Manager

S&M-Sales and Marketing Manager

FOH-Front of the House Manager

BOH-Back of the House Manager

	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri
9am			GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M, BOH
10am			GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M, BOH
11am	BOH	BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M	GM, S&M	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
12pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
1pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
2pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
3pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
4pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
5pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
6pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, BOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, FOH	GM, S&M, BOH, FOH
7pm	BOH, FOH	BOH, FOH	BOH	BOH	FOH	FOH
8pm	FOH	FOH			FOH	FOH
9pm
10pm
11pm

 

Schedule for Server Supervisors:

SS-Server Supervisor

		Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri
	9am
	10am	SS 2	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 2
	11am	SS 2	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 2
	12pm	SS 2	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 2
	1pm	SS 2	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 1	SS 2
	2pm	SS 2 SS3	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS3	SS 1 SS3	SS 2 SS3
	3pm	SS 2 SS3	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS3	SS 1 SS3	SS 2 SS3
	4pm	SS 2 SS3	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS3	SS 1 SS3	SS 2 SS3
	5pm	SS 2 SS3	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS2	SS 1 SS3	SS 1 SS3	SS 2 SS3
	6pm	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS3	SS3	SS2
	7pm	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS3	SS3	SS2
	8pm	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS3	SS3	SS2
	9pm	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS2	SS3	SS3	SS2
	10pm
	11pm

Schedule for Chefs:

EC-Executive Chef

SC-Sou Chef

	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri
9am
10am	SC	SC					SC
11am	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
12pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
1pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
2pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
3pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
4pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
5pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
6pm	EC, SC	EC,SC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC,SC
7pm	EC	EC	SC	SC	EC	EC	EC
8pm
9pm
10pm
11pm

 

 

Schedule for Regular Shift: for all other positions

S1-shift 1

S2-shift 2

S3-shift 2

They will have 2 days of break for each week, and the managers will be in charge of making the schedule.

	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri
9am	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1
10am	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1
11am	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1
12pm	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1	s1
1pm	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2
2pm	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2
3pm	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2	s1, s2
4pm	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3
5pm	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3
6pm	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3
7pm	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3	s2, s3
8pm	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3
9pm	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3
10pm	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3
11pm	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3	s3

 

Supervisory Structure and Communication Between Front and Back of the House

The effective communication between front and back of the house will make a more stable kitchen environment and better guest experience. In order to have effective communication BOH and FOH people should understand their perspectives. Understanding the demands of both sides will reduce the conflict. Also, managers of BOH and FOH should have direct conversations when having a problem. There will be one on one meetings between the General Manager and FOH manager and BOH manager every week. There will also be one on one meetings with FOH Manager with Server Manager, BOH Manager with Kitchen Manger and Sanitation Manager every week. The Server Manager,  Kitchen Manger  and Sanitation Manager will have meetings with the other staff everyday.

 

Reservation

The theme dinner’s reservation would be through the restaurant website reservation page. Also, walk-in reservation is available if there are remaining spots.

 

Ordering System and Transmission

We had two ordering systems. When the customers choose to dine-in, their order will be placed by the waiter or the waitress.  Another ordering system is through online which lets people order their food online and pick it up from the restaurant. In the restaurant, the waiter and waitress have a device that they can enter the food needed from the customer.  The system allows them to add food preferences or special requests for the foods. For example, if customers request  to have less salt or less oil, our employee can put the notes down to customise the needs for the guests. For the online system, the guests can choose the items online with the detailed description of food with the picture of food. They can choose the pickup time and make the special request before they check out. After the waiter and the waitress or the guests place the order on the device/ online system, in the kitchen, another device would automatically ring an alert and print out the order.  It saves the time for the waiter and waitress. It makes our service process more efficient. After the food is ready, the chef will send it to the kitchen window, so the waitress or waiter could come to pick it up. The waiter and waitress are going back and forward between tables and the kitchen window, so there’s no need for the kitchen to send a notification to them to notify them that food is ready.  The food will come out with the printed ordering number, so the waiter and waitress would be able to recognize which food is for which table.

 

Type of Service

As a mid-upscale restaurant, we want to provide the best service to our customers.  To begin with, our customers will experience the warm welcome at the front. We would have a guide to take the guests to their table. Since our restaurant is at downtown State College, it’s very convenient for parking.Therefore, we don’t provide the Valet service.  If the customers have the questions about parking, we would be more than happy to help them. If there is a waiting line for the restaurant, we would provide seats, waiting time and the menu for them. After they are seated, we will introduce our food for them.  We will first ask what they want to drink before they make the decision for the main item.  Since we have the advanced ordering system, the waiting time won’t be really long. Before they finish, we will ask them if they want to have any dessert. When the customers have questions about the menu items, we will help them to answer the questions.  We will ask if the customers have allergies. If they do, we will put down the notes to prevent any contamination.  Lastly, after they’re finished with their food, we will ask for their feedback.

 

Service Process / Steps

1. Greeting
2. (Waiting in line only) Provide seats, menu, and estimate waiting time
3. Lead to the table
4. Ask for drinks
5. Serve drinks
6. Introduce the food items
7. Ask for allergies
8. Place the order (help to answer questions if needed)
9. Serve the food
10. Ask if they want deserts
11. Check out
12. Ask for feedback
13. (for complaints only) Get the manager to take care of the complaints.

 

Queue Management

Queue management is the management that helps to reduce the waiting time in a restaurant. Sometimes, having a line is okay because it could be an indication that the business is popular. However, a long, non-moving line can hurt the business.  To begin with, providing a waiting room with entertainment sources that can make the waiting time enjoyable. In the waiting room, we will provide music, small food samplers, and board games at the front to entertain our customers.

While the guests are waiting, the server can provide them the estimated waiting time in order to let them know how long they have to wait. Also, there should be a choice that the customers can choose if they want to wait in the room or somewhere else. They will get a call when the table is ready. When customers choose to wait in the restaurant, they can experience the service from our restaurant. We will first give them the menu and they can order ahead of the time. It helps to deduct the waiting time when they have their table. Furthermore, the server will ask them if they want water.

Service Equipment / Technology

As a mid-upscale restaurant, we want to have the high tech kitchen equipment at the back of the house that can add efficiency for our preparation time in order to deduct the waiting time of the guests. We have oven, steamer, dishwasher, coffee maker, Point of Sale system, credit card machine, microwave oven, table, chairs, linen, glassware, silverware,  Our oven and stemmer have the control of the temperature and the time, it would ring the alerts after it’s done cooking. Also, we have equipment that has less energy consumption that can help to save energy. Furthermore, for the front of the house, we have a device for each of the servers that they can send the ordering information directly to the kitchen to save time. The order would be automatically printed when it was sent to the kitchen. Also, our customers can order the food online and pick it up from the restaurant. We have designed the online ordering system that allows our guests to review the menu, add the special request, and choose the pick up time. Overall, we have the service equipment and technologies that helps us to run the business more efficiently.

 

Guest Greeting and Accommodation

As for the front of the house, one of the first tasks would include greeting the guests. The host/hostess will welcome the guests to “Kalokairi” and will ask how many is in their party, grab the amount of necessary menus, grab and walk them to their table which will already have the linens on the table, utensils, and glasses of water. They will mention that the server will be momentarily and the host/hostess will let the guests be.

 

Food/Beverage Handling and Delivery

As for food delivery to the guests, under the current circumstances that we have with the COVID-19 pandemic, food delivery to guests will be different because of this. The servers and/or runners will be responsible for delivering the guests. In the back of the house when the food is ready, the servers/runners will first ensure that their hands are washed and sanitized. They will then put on the rubber gloves and masks and carry the food out to the designated tables. When approaching the tables, the servers will announce what each plate is and will give it to the guests. Once all the food has been delivered, the server/runner will ask the guests if there is anything else that they can grab them. If the guests need anything then the server/runner will go and grab what it is they need, if not they will allow them to start enjoying their meal. The runner will then go to the back and will remove the rubber gloves and wash their hands/sanitize again.

 

Food Safety and Sanitation

As for food safety and sanitation practices, this involved both help from both employees in the front and in the back of the house. As for the back of the house, food safety will ensure that everything is off the ground, is labeled correctly, placed in the correct and designated refrigerators and that certain food is on the correct shelves. The chefs will also be responsible for ensuring that the food is cooked to the correct internal temperatures that is safe to serve to guests. Using a thermometer, the chef will occasionally make sure that the food is all made to the correct temperature. The employees in the back of the house will also ensure that all the areas and the specific colored cutting board designated for raw meats that they use are cleaned and sanitized as soon as they are finished using that area or cutting board to ensure that there is no bacteria and germs being spread around. As for the front of the house, the servers and hosts will ensure that all door handles, railings, seats, tables, and menus are always being wiped down and sanitized to ensure that there are no germs being spread around. Each table will also have a bottle of hand sanitizer and the hosts/servers are making sure that these bottles are not empty and are constantly being refilled. The tables are also spread out at the safety distance.

 

Suggestive Selling Initiatives

As for suggested selling initiatives, the servers will always try to upsell our products to ensure that guests are getting as much as they can at our establishment. They will always ask if the table wants to start with any drinks so we can see if there is a way to increase their tabs, along with asking if they would like to start with an appetizer. The server will also ask the guests if they want any desert at the end. Occasionally, our restaurant will try out different promotions or sales that will entice the guests to come to our establishment.

 

Staffing Schedule and job definition

The workflow design outlined what needs to be done and serves as the guide for the staffing needs. Therefore, in the following section, we are creating a staffing schedule for either the Front or Back of the House employee. The managerial positions for the team are included. It is in accordance with the opening hours and shifts as described in the service profile section. The job description is written in the following section:

 

Workstation Description

In the back of the house we have 4 different stations; one cold foods prep line that does not need to be cooked such as salad stuff; another is set up for hot foods and cooking stations, one is set up for hot foods prep where raw meeting will be cut, and lastly one station will be set for assembly. Each station in the back of the house will be staffed appropriately with around one to two chefs per station. Front of the house will have a hostess station and one server per every 4 tables.

 

General manager

A general manager is responsible for hiring and firing people, allocating budget and formulating policies. He or she will oversee the entire restaurant. He or she oversees the performance of the Front of House Manager and Back of the House Manager, and the Sales and Marketing Manager. A general manager needs to have experience of about four years in the industry. They need to have good interpersonal skills and should be able to work well under pressure. They need to have a degree in Culinary Arts or Hospitality.

 

Front of the House Manager

Front of the House Manager will be responsible for supervising the entire front of the house including servers, waiting lines, sanitation, and taking care of guest complaints. They oversee the greeters and servers. They need to have a four-year of experience, work well under pressure, and have good communication skills. They require a degree in Hospitality Management or any other related field.

 

Back of the House Manager

A Back of the House Manager is also responsible for hiring and firing employees. They buy supplies and ensure they are of high quality. A Back of the House Manager is responsible for all the activities that take place at the back of the restaurant.  The Back House Manager will be responsible for ensuring the kitchen department runs smoothly with safety regulation while preparing food, load-in for the ordering items, storing for the food items, check the inventory, managing breaks, back up supply in the kitchen, and do the quality assurance checks. They need to have a four-year of experience, work well under pressure, and have good communication skills. They require a degree in Culinary, Hospitality Management or any other related field.

 

Sales and Marketing Manager

Sales and Marketing Manager is responsible for developing marketing opportunities and planning new sales plans. Also, they need to make sure that the sales department works cross functionally with other departments while promoting the new menus or applying new strategies during the operation. They will control the revenue and budgeting planning and will send the monthly report to the GM.  They need good marketing, accounting,  financing, and communication skills. The degree in Hospitality, Marketing, Accounting or Financing would be preferred.

 

Server Supervisor

A server supervisor will be in charge of managing all the servers. He or she will also train the new server. He or she needs two years of management experiences. A degree from Hospitality Management would be preferred.

 

Executive Chef

Executive Chef will be responsible for managing the chefs including sous chef, line cook and dishwasher. He will oversee the menu production. Executive Chef is managed by the Back of the house manager. He or she needs four years of kitchen experiences. A degree from Culinary Art would be preferred.

 

Sous Chef

Assistance of Executive Chef. He or she will oversee the performance of the chefs, line cooks and the dishwashers. He or he will also be in charge of training the back of the kitchen staff.  He or she needs two years of kitchen experiences. A degree from Culinary Art would be preferred.

Chef

Chefs will be in charge of the cooking performance. He or she needs at least years of kitchen experiences. A degree from Culinary Art would be preferred.

 

Line Cook

A line cook is responsible for ensuring that a chef has all the ingredients ready when preparing meals. A line cook works with the chef to ensure that the meal reaches the customer as fast as possible. A prep cook should have the ability to work well with others, be a fast learner, and have the ability to work efficiently. There is no formal training or experience required to be a prep cook.

 

Server

A server is responsible for taking the customer’s orders, reporting the orders to the kitchen, and calculating the bill. They, therefore, need to have a good memory and excellent communication skills. There is no need for experience at this particular job or educational requirements. However, a high school diploma will be an added advantage.

 

Host

A host is responsible for greeting customers as they walk into a restaurant, take them to their seats, and distribute the menus. A positive attitude would be required since the host gives the customers the first impression of the restaurant. Therefore, they need to be highly organized, smart, work well under pressure, and have excellent communication skills. They should have an ability to provide high quality customer service even in a face-paced environment. A host does not require any experience nor educational training; however, a high school diploma or equivalent is an added advantage.