How To Train Restaurant Employees: A Comprehensive Guide

Running a restaurant is no walk in the park, which is why knowing how to train restaurant employees could make or break your business. When you’ve got customers to please, food to perfect, and a team to manage—you want to make sure your employees know what they’re doing!

Restaurant employees work in various roles to ensure the smooth operation of a restaurant. They range from front-of-house (FOH) employees who interact directly with customers to back-of-house (BOH) team members who handle food preparation and kitchen operations.

A well-managed, well-trained team can make the difference between a bustling eatery and a ghost town.

How can training restaurant employees benefit your business?

You’ve probably heard the saying, “A happy team makes for happy customers.” But it’s more than just a feel-good mantra. Effective restaurant employee training is necessary not only for your team to do their jobs, but to feel supported, boost morale, and offer the best restaurant experience to customers.

Here’s how your business can benefit from well-trained restaurant staff:

• Consistent service and performance: When your team knows what’s expected of them, they’re more likely to deliver consistent, high-quality service. This consistency builds customer trust and encourages repeat business.

• Employee preparedness: Proper training ensures that your staff are ready to handle any situation, from a busy Friday night rush to a customer complaint. Prepared employees are confident employees, and that confidence translates into better service and smoother operations.

• Enhance workplace safety: Safety isn’t just about avoiding accidents—it’s about creating an environment where your restaurant staff feel secure. Regular safety training and clear protocols can prevent injuries and reduce the risk of costly legal issues.

• Improve customer satisfaction: When your team feels valued and supported, they’re more likely to go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. This can result in glowing reviews, positive word-of-mouth, and increased revenue.

• Reduce turnover rates: High turnover rates are the bane of the restaurant industry. But with effective training, you can create a work environment that employees don’t want to leave. This not only saves you the hassle and cost of constant hiring but also fosters a sense of stability and team cohesion.

Why do you need a restaurant training program for staff?

You may wonder how much time and resources you should invest in training when you’re not sure how long your employees will stick around. But top-notch training pays off in the long run. A comprehensive training plan helps you:

Increase employee productivity.

You can’t expect employees to meet your expectations if you don’t use a training program to define and explain your performance standards. When training new hires, specify what productivity looks like for your restaurant so you’re setting clear guidelines about what success looks like to you. Here are some examples:

• How many guests they should serve per shift
• How many customer checks they should handle per shift
• Upsells (and how much they’re worth in dollars) per shift
• Server errors per customer (how many mistakes a server makes with an order)

Avoid team conflicts.

The restaurant industry involves fast-paced, high-stress work that inevitably leads to team conflicts. Knowing that, how many kinds of conflicts can you anticipate and address preemptively in your training program? Don’t wait for disagreements between team members to arise. Training can help you get ahead of:

• Employee interdependence conflicts: These arise when one person can’t do their job until another employee has done theirs. For example, a server has to wait for a busser to clean off a table before they can seat and welcome the next customers.
• Problem-solving conflicts: This often happens when two staff members can’t agree on a solution to a problem.
• Personality conflicts: These happen when two employees have clashing personalities and find it challenging to work together and get along, even on the best of days.

Reduce employee turnover.

With one of the highest turnover rates of any industry, you may worry that your restaurant will suffer the same outcome. But you can combat turnover by making your restaurant an ideal place to work—and training your staff well so they enjoy doing their jobs and stick around. Adequate training helps reduce turnover by:

• Making employee goals specific and clear
• Giving managers a better understanding of their employees’ roles
• Creating a more skilled team, so you’ll want to keep them around

Improve guest experience.

Your guest experience should be at the center of what you do. But for new restaurant hires—especially servers, hosts, bartenders, and managers—it can take time to learn what good customer service looks like without any first-hand experience. With an interactive training program, employees have the chance to:

• Role play during their orientation and training
• Shadow one of your more experienced employees for the first few days
• Work a couple of supervised shifts
• Lean on a mentor for the first month

Generate more sales.

Your customer-facing staff members play a particularly important role in bringing customers into your restaurant and keeping them coming back. For instance, customers who had a positive dining experience tend to share their feelings via Google reviews and word of mouth, spreading the good word about your restaurant. Well-trained servers upsell by:

• Making relevant suggestions and recommendations
• Educating customers on daily specials and the menu
• Encouraging customers to get a full bottle of wine rather than individual glasses
• Bringing by a dessert menu before customers ask for the check
• Offering guests coffee or after-dinner drinks

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How to effectively train restaurant employees.

Training your restaurant employees isn’t just a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process that requires time, effort, and the right strategies. Here’s how to get it right.

• Onboard new employees. First impressions matter. Your onboarding process should set clear expectations and provide new hires with the tools they need to succeed. Tools like Homebase can help you share a welcome packet that covers essential policies, procedures, and role-specific knowledge, so your employee feels welcome from day one.
• Use continuous training programs. Even though providing onboarding materials is important, training shouldn’t stop after onboarding. Implement continuous training programs to keep your staff updated on new procedures, menu changes, and industry trends. Regular training sessions can help refresh skills and introduce new ones, ensuring your team stays sharp.
• Offer role-specific training. Not all roles require the same training. Tailor your training programs to the specific needs of each role within your restaurant. For example, servers might need more customer service training, while line cooks might benefit from advanced culinary techniques.
• Use technology in your training. Gone are the days of boring, paper-based training manuals. Use online modules and Learning Management Systems (LMS) to create interactive and engaging training programs.
• Peer-to-peer training. Sometimes, the best teachers are those who’ve been on the front line. Implement a buddy system where new hires can learn from experienced staff. This not only provides practical, on-the-job training but also fosters a sense of camaraderie and mentorship within your team.

What topics should you cover in restaurant employee training?

For your training program to really provide value for your employees and customers, it needs to be as detailed as possible. Here’s some of the information we recommend including:

Etiquette and dress code guidelines.

For the most part, you can determine your etiquette guidelines based on your restaurant atmosphere and style. If you run a casual dining restaurant, for example, you may put more focus on the food and less on formal server etiquette like serving guests from the left.

Choose your dress code similarly. You may decide your servers should wear all black or the same color aprons.

Here are a few general etiquette and dress code guidelines you may want to include in training for restaurant staff:

• Shirts, pants, and shoes should always be clean and free of rips or holes.
• Always seat any guests present, even if their entire party hasn’t arrived yet.
• Instead of saying, “I don’t know,” when a guest asks a question, say, “I’ll find out,” or “I’ll ask the chef.”
• Never touch a customer, even if you’ve spilled something on them.
• Never blame your coworkers for issues with a meal or experience. Just address the problem.
• Always be attentive to a guest that needs assistance, even if they’re not seated at your table.
• Be friendly and welcoming to customers.

Customer service.

Customer service training is essential for any hospitality business, especially front-of-house employees. But every restaurant also has to define what excellent customer service looks like for their specific establishment.

So, let’s take a look at some examples of restaurant training points for bussers, servers, and bartenders.

Bussing

• Know your tables well and always pay attention to the parties sitting at them.
• Watch the door or hosting area so you know as soon as guests arrive.
• Try to keep tables as clean and clutter-free as possible throughout meals. Clear appetizer dishes before main courses arrive.
• Make regular rounds of your tables to see if they need anything. Refill water and drinks when necessary.
• Check in with your server regularly to see if they need any assistance.

Serving

• Don’t let your table wait too long for service when they arrive or after they ask for the check.
• Greet customers warmly.
• Always bring guests’ dishes at the same time. Don’t let one guest wait while others begin eating.
• Don’t touch the rim of any glass when serving or taking away drinks.
• Always be on the lookout for small things customers may need, like more napkins, condiments, another menu, or drink refills.
• Always ask if a guest is finished before cleaning a plate.
• Recognize regulars and try to remember their favorite orders.

Bartending and wine service

• Greet guests at the bar in a friendly way and make small talk with them.
• Become familiar with your menu items and brands and know what you’re selling.
• Make suggestions for customers who aren’t sure what they’d like to order (and suggest a mid-priced option rather than cheaper or more expensive wines, liquors, and spirits).
• Keep the bar clean, organized, and free of glasses and clutter.

Compliance and food safety.

Compliance is incredibly important in any small business, but especially when you own a restaurant. You should familiarize and train your entire restaurant staff on how to:

• Follow food safety regulations: Walk your new staff members through the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Code recommendations for safe food handling practices that prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses. You’ll need to do this to make sure you pass regular health inspections.
• Create a safe work environment: Educate your employees on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety regulations they need to follow to keep a hazard-free workplace.
• Promote an inclusive workplace: Emphasize the importance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines for creating a discrimination-free workplace.

Restaurant-specific knowledge.

Here are some of the basic day-to-day procedures you should cover in your restaurant training. It’s best to keep these tasks on a checklist everyone can reference easily, especially cleaning policies.

Opening and closing procedures.

Opening procedures:

• Turn on your lights.
• Turn on your music.
• Make sure everyone clocks in for the day.
• Make sure you have receipt paper stocked in your register. Restock if necessary.
• Open your register and count out the money for the day.
• Sweep or vacuum the floors.
• Make sure your server stations are fully stocked with glassware, silverware, and napkins.
• Fill your water pitchers.
• Check your upcoming reservations for the day. Take note of any special requests.
• Make sure all servers know the daily specials and how to talk about them to customers.
• Make sure your bathrooms are clean and soap and paper towels are stocked.
• Turn on or put up your open sign.

Closing procedures:

• Turn off or take down your open sign.
• Wipe down and sanitize menus, tables, booths, booster seats, and high chairs.
• Refill salt, pepper, and condiments.
• Empty water pitchers.
• Dry off any freshly cleaned dishes.
• Fold napkins and tablecloths.
• Take out the trash and replace garbage bins with new bags.
• Sweep, wipe down, and sanitize bathrooms.
• Print or email out your end-of-day report for the manager or owner.
• Make sure all registers are closed out.
• Close all card batches for payment processing.
• Sweep, vacuum, and mop floors.
• Make sure no food is left out of the refrigerator.
• Make sure your refrigerator is set to 40℉.
• Leave relevant notes for staff members that’ll come in the next day.
• Make sure all employees clock out.

Food handling and storage procedures.

Print out these federal guidelines for food safety, put them in your training manual, and place a copy on display in the necessary areas:

• A general guide to food handling and sanitation.
• Food safety guidelines by food type.
• Food safety guidelines in a disaster or emergency.
• Food storage and cooking charts.

These points are especially important when implementing training for kitchen staff. And make sure your kitchen manager checks this food safety recalls and outbreaks page regularly to stay on top of any recent alerts from the US Department of Agriculture and the FDA.

Cleaning and sanitation procedures.

• Be careful not to cross-contaminate foods. For example, you can’t use the same utensils for raw chicken and vegetables without sanitizing them.
• Never leave foods out that should be refrigerated or frozen.
• Know how to store your foods. Raw and cooked vegetables should be on top in your refrigerator, with cooked meats underneath, then raw meats further down, and poultry at the very bottom.
• Staff should wear hairnets if necessary and learn best practices for how to wash their hands.
• Employees should wash their hands after going to the bathroom and when dealing with raw meat. With that in mind, make sure your “All employees must wash hands” sign is clearly displayed in both the bathroom and kitchen.

Scheduling and restaurant management tools and technology.

You probably use a point of sale system and payment terminals to process customer payments, not to mention technology that helps you manage your team’s schedules, timesheets, and communication. Make sure your team knows how to use all the tools that they’ll use on a daily basis.

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Is investing in restaurant employees worth it?

Let’s cut to the chase—is investing in your restaurant employees worth it? Absolutely. The return on investment is significant. Well-trained and well-managed employees provide better service, which leads to happier customers and increased revenue. They’re also more likely to stay with your restaurant, reducing turnover costs and maintaining team stability.

Investing in your staff isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for any successful restaurant. By using tools like Homebase, you can streamline your operations, boost employee morale, and create a thriving work environment. So get ready to give your restaurant staff all the tools they need to succeed.

Ready to simplify your restaurant management and boost your team’s productivity? Sign up for Homebase now and discover how our all-in-one platform can help you manage your scheduling, payroll, and team communication effortlessly.

Restaurant staff training FAQs

What should be in a restaurant training manual?

Your restaurant training manual should give a brief background of your restaurant, provide an overview of your core values, and cover your policies and processes around these topics:

• Etiquette and dress code
• Customer service standards and practices for bussing, serving, bartending, and wine service
• Compliance and food safety procedures
• Restaurant-specific knowledge, including your opening and closing procedures, food storage and handling, and cleaning and sanitation
• How you’ll handle advancement opportunity training
• The technology you use in your restaurant, like your POS system and time tracking software

What type of training is most important for restaurant servers?

The most important types of training for restaurant servers are etiquette training (especially for fine dining restaurants), customer service training, and menu training.

With menu training in particular, the waiter needs to understand what ingredients and preparations go into every dish, especially if the menu changes regularly. This is also crucial so they can avoid serving guests any food items with potential allergens.

What is the best way to train restaurant staff?

The best way to train new restaurant staff is to create a comprehensive training program where you’ll:

1. Have an orientation where you’ll go over the training manual and menu
2. Train team members on individual tasks like food safety, serving, bussing, and hosting. Ideally, you’ll do this in an empty restaurant first so you can walk them through the details slowly and do some role-playing.
3. Have your new employee shadow more experienced staff for a few days while they learn the ropes. The goal should be to have the new staff member work independently with supervision.
4. Assign a mentor for the new employee’s first month while they’re still getting the hang of the job.
5. Conduct regular reviews to track your new hire’s progress.