Tacos el gordo: Tacos El Gordo El Original, first opened its doors in 2007 and has been proudly serving the Pacoima/San Fernando community since.
The restaurant originally opened with 40 seats, was recently upgraded and expanded to 80 seats.
Restaurant managers are team members responsible for keeping restaurant operations running smoothly by providing excellent customer service. They cover several vital duties, such as hiring employees, managing teams and making important decisions. If you manage a restaurant, there are several tips you can use to improve your skills and lead your restaurant to success. In this article, we explain 22 tips for managing a restaurant.
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Here are several tips for managing a restaurant successfully:
1. Research your restaurant niche
Understanding key information about your restaurant niche can help you identify gaps in the market that you can take advantage of to make your restaurant more profitable. Look for ideas that entice customers to choose your restaurant over the others and work on building a unique dining experience. Develop a plan to attract a specific audience and show the value of your business.
2. Appreciate and value your employees
Employees are an asset to your restaurant. To help recognize and reward them, you can introduce programs that help them feel appreciated and valued, such as “employee of the month.” It’s also essential to take your time to know each employee personally and get feedback. Provide constructive criticism and encourage employees to connect and learn from each other.
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3. Learn the work by experiencing it yourself
To help your employees improve their performance, work with them. Instead of giving instructions, show by example and take part in the experience. By knowing how the kitchen operates or the challenges servers face, you’re in a better position to solve them efficiently. When you work with your employees, they feel respected and likely to emulate your behaviour. They may also give you feedback that can help improve your management.
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4. Focus on customer satisfaction
Managing customer expectations is a priority for any profitable restaurant. The goal of a restaurant manager is to keep the customer experience positive. Prepare yourself and your employees for customer interactions every day, such as dietary issues, last-minute reservations and complaints. How you handle a customer situation often determines whether the customer returns.
5. Plan ahead by setting job expectations
Planning is key to managing a restaurant. Anticipate needs and problems along the way. Being proactive allows you to develop strong problem-solving skills, leading better management. To set job expectations, know what each employee is best at and place them in their respective roles. Besides working as a team, let your employees know you value and appreciate great food and service.
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6. Design a profitable menu
Take time to design your menu. Apart from having signature dishes, you might consider making your menu more seasonal to keep things fresh or working with local suppliers and farms who grow veggies, herbs and fruits. This may boost your reputation within the community, which builds customer retention.
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Have a few team members involved in the menu, with at least one experienced member working on the prices. Make your menu attractive with different categories for individuals and families. A well-designed menu shows your brand’s personality, business goals and customer value, which helps drive profits.
7. Invest in advertising
Advertising is essential in the food service industry. You can establish a budget and focus on smart advertising that fits your restaurant’s needs. For more profitable advertising, start by researching your target market. Know who your customers are, where you can find them, food trends in your area and peak seasons for sales. This data helps you know where and when to advertise your restaurant.
8. Display a positive attitude
A positive attitude drives a good mood in the entire restaurant, customers included. Focus on keeping employees and guests comfortable and calm. When you’re proactive and cheerful, you can make sober decisions, stay consistent, communicate effectively and manage your team efficiently. A positive attitude also helps resolve issues, reduce damages or losses and keep the restaurant running.
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9. Be innovative
Innovation is essential when running a successful restaurant. Stay committed to success and innovation through your staff, customers and the overall running of the restaurant. To remain competitive, seek innovative ideas from experts, employees, partners and other parties and implement them. Make work easier for you and your employees to allow them to focus on the most critical parts of their jobs.
10. Make yourself approachable
Make your team comfortable in their working space by developing healthy employer-employee relationships. Let your team come to you for guidance, ideas or complaints. Get to know every employee in person and make it a habit to interact with your customers. Guests may feel valued when the manager takes their time to appreciate their presence, seek their feedback or show care.
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11. Work with a mentor
Mentors can provide excellent restaurant management tips as they are more experienced in the food service industry. Whether it’s your first year as a manager or you’ve been working for several years, you can benefit from a mentor, as they often know the major challenges and solutions in the industry. Depending on your experience level, find a mentor who can review your work, share advice and respond to your questions.
12. Support, train and mentor your employees
Having a team that you can rely on anytime helps reduce costs, minimize wastage and increase profits. Supporting, mentoring and training your employees to become better employees also helps them feel included in the team. To achieve this, you can hire trainers to train your employees and conduct regular staff meetings to keep employees updated on restaurant changes. Give your employees benefits and incentives, stay in contact with them and provide positive encouragement where necessary.
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13. Create a system for tracking sales
Part of a manager’s job is increasing sales and cutting costs. Apart from tracking costs, you also keep up with bar and food inventory, payroll costs, customer count and much more. You can use a point-of-sale (POS) system that allows you to access up-to-date reports, manage menus, predict future trends and manage online ordering. You can also use other management systems to track sales and other expenses, which saves time and makes analyzing business growth easier.
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14. Host events and give discounts
If you’re managing a relatively new restaurant, hosting events is one of the best ways to generate revenue. If you have semi-private dining areas that can hold large groups of people, you can advertise and give discounts for these spaces. Events bring people to your restaurant, which can increase profits. If you have a website, add a page for events information and include photos and videos of previous events.
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15. Connect with other businesses
Networking can be a great way to find partnership opportunities, learn from like-minded managers and exchange ideas to improve restaurant management. Apart from restaurant managers, you can also connect with other people in the foodservice industry in your community to learn a few leadership strategies. Know the farmers who supply fruits and vegetables to your restaurant and check malls and other large markets to learn how they run business.
16. Delegate some tasks
Delegating tasks that other people can handle allows you to focus on the most pressing issues. Start by delegating day-to-day tasks to some of your trusted employees. This motivates your employees to be more productive, as they believe you can trust them to deliver quality work. They also learn how to run restaurant operations, which creates opportunities for them to take more challenging responsibilities later.
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17. Show accountability
Lead your team by owning your own mistakes. Your employees learn from you and your mistakes. By showing accountability, your employees learn the importance of being accountable for their mistakes, moving past them and finding solutions. They also learn to approach you when they have a problem. If you make a mistake, discuss the mistake you made, apologize and discuss ways to prevent such mistakes in the future. This can help create a culture of accountability.
18. Celebrate success
Employees often need encouragement to remain engaged. Thanking your employees for working efficiently, appreciating an employee for handling a customer dispute professionally or awarding staff lunch to all your employees can motivate your employees to keep performing. They see value in their work when you appreciate and celebrate their success. Call celebratory meetings after a productive month and celebrate with your employees and let them know you appreciate their efforts.
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19. Improve your problem-solving skills
It’s crucial to develop and strengthen your problem-solving skills to help you handle significant crises and emergencies. Running a restaurant involves satisfying your customers, employees and other parties involved. When faced with a challenge, find a straightforward solution as fast as possible that satisfies all parties. Research some of the most common restaurant problems so you can learn how to solve them. You can also focus on finding long-term solutions or ways to avoid the problem from recurring in the future.
20. Emphasize the value of communication among employees
Communication is an essential component for any business, especially a restaurant where employees depend on each other. Let your servers communicate with the chefs to know the special dish for the day and any other dishes they would like to promote that day to improve organization and eliminate confusion. Apart from ensuring that your employees connect well with one another, the means of communication in the restaurant are equally important.
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21. Invest in modern technology
There are many modern commercial appliances designed to streamline preparation, cooking, serving and preserving food. These appliances can be valuable to your employees, as they can make their work more efficient. You can also use technology to market your services, organize your work and hold virtual meetings with your employees.
22. Take care of your health
It’s essential to take care of your physical, mental and social health when managing a restaurant. Eat a balanced diet, exercise and manage stress to help drive a positive attitude at work. When you’re healthy, you can think clearly and solve challenges professionally.
Conclusion
“When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.”
Always have faith in your ideas. If you want to achieve something that is a force for good, there is no reason why you can’t do that.
There’s no point in waiting for someone else to find you, and ask you if you want to take your genius, secret vision and make it into something.