Restaurant Operations System
Business problem
A family-owned restaurant in Jersey City lost day-to-day management coverage and began experiencing inconsistent service, missed preparation, unclear ownership, scheduling friction, and weak backup routines. The problem was not simply that tasks were being forgotten. Without visible standards, staff had to repeatedly search, ask, estimate, and react during service.
My role
I observed opening, service, bar, kitchen-support, and closing workflows, gathered requirements from the owner and staff, and mapped where responsibilities became ambiguous. I then converted the findings into tools that could be used and checked during a shift.
What I produced
- One consolidated opening and closing checklist organized by service dependency
- A short trainee guide and role-based reference sheets for faster onboarding
- Quantitative par levels and readiness targets for tables, bar stock, rollups, plates, garnish, and backups
- Weekday and Friday/Saturday closing logic aligned with different kitchen hours
- Shift priorities, storage guidance, ownership, and staff sign-off rules
Why the standards matter
Setting an operating standard removes avoidable decisions from a busy shift. Par levels reduce last-minute shortages. Readiness targets make the start of service observable. Role ownership reduces duplicated work and missed handoffs. A short reference gives staff an answer without requiring them to find a manager.
The system creates a measurable foundation for tracking readiness, missed tasks, preparation shortages, service delays, training progress, and guest feedback. These are implementation measures, not invented before-and-after results.
Project status
In progress. The working materials are being refined with the owner and staff as they move into use.
Skills demonstrated
Process observation, requirements gathering, stakeholder communication, service operations, SOP design, information prioritization, change adoption, and operational measurement.