Holidays and large events can be huge money-makers for restaurants. We've all seen the special promotions for Thanksgiving meals or special menus advertised leading up to Valentine's Day. They're great opportunities for restaurants but also for customers who want to celebrate by having their meal catered or by going out to eat. But in order to have a successful event, restaurants need to make sure that they are prepared for any and all possibilities when it comes to the big day. There is more involved than simply coming up with and advertising specials and decorating the space to reflect a holiday atmosphere. Below are 8 things restaurants can do to prepare for major holidays.
Create a prep list for the weeks leading up to the holiday. Celebrating a major holiday is similar to hosting a large event. This means that like with a large event, the planning needs to start early. Several weeks out is when menu items, decorations, schedules, etc. begin to be nailed down. Once this is done, a prep list can be made for the few weeks directly before the event or holiday so that when the day arrives, everything is ready. This prep list should include all tasks that need to be tackled regardless of how big or small or who will be handling the tasks. These tasks should include everything from inventorying the food needed, what needs to be bought, decorations, and who the tasks can be outsourced to like the head chef or floor manager.
Create a special menu for the holiday. This is optional as creating a specialized and/or pre-fixe menu does not work for all restaurants but it can be helpful to have. Servers and staff members will likely be running around all evening and having a special menu with a few items picked to embody the holiday or a handful of popular dishes off the regular menu can reduce how much they will need to remember and cut down on wait times in the kitchen. Another option for creating a specific menu for the night would be to choose dishes with overlapping or complimentary ingredients as this can also be helpful when ordering inventory prior to the event.
Improve upon the previous year. It is important to know what has gone right and what has gone wrong in the past so you can continuously improve your restaurant's operations in the future. Make notes as to how a holiday went so that you can easily look back when preparing for the next major holiday or the next year and remember what worked and what did not. Was there enough staff? What dishes were most popular? Did the kitchen have enough of each ingredient? Being able to answer these questions can help with the planning and preparation for the next holiday as appropriate adjustments can be made ahead of time.
Have a sit-down meeting with your staff. Having a meeting with your staff to check in is a good idea to have on a regular basis but can be especially important to have leading up to a major night. To ensure that everyone attends, make the meeting mandatory so you can go over the schedule, address any questions, concerns, conflicts, etc., and make sure everyone is on the same page. Be open to suggestions and allow staff to share their thoughts too as they may have suggestions on how to improve service, streamline the dining experience, or improve other aspects of the dining out experience for customers.
Be transparent with employees about what to expect. It's no secret that most major holidays are family-based and that those working in the foodservice industry often give up that family time in order to work and provide it for someone else. Leading up to a major holiday, it's a good idea to clearly lay out the expectations with staff early on so they know what is coming up and what will be expected of them. This is also a good idea to do early as any conflicts and concerns can be addressed before the big day.
Go over training and procedures with staff prior to the holiday. This can be included as part of the sit-down meeting or can be held separately in smaller groups. But it is a good idea to remind staff of what to do in case of various scenarios as well as go over any changes to the regular layout of the restaurant, normal procedures, etc. This should run the gamut of what they might encounter the day of the holiday--irritable guests, drunk tables, medical emergencies, being short-staffed, run out of ingredients, etc.
Have back-up plans in place. It is always better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Have a list of contingency plans in place in case something goes wrong on the day or night of the holiday event. This can include no-shows, someone calling in sick last minute, running out of certain ingredients, etc. Because it is inevitable that there will be a few people who do not show up for their shift or who call out the day of, consider hiring a few extra people specifically for the holiday or cross-train a few staff members so that they can fill in in other areas if there is a staff shortage. Speak with the head chef so that if there is a shortage of certain main ingredients, someone can either run to a nearby store to pick up more or so that the menu can easily be adjusted to accommodate that loss.
Don't forget to show appreciation for your employees. This is very important because without your employees, there would be no big holiday event. Surrounding a major holiday, many employees will be working longer and harder than normal instead of spending time with their own family and friends. Because of this, it's important to make sure they know that their hard work and sacrifice isn't going unnoticed and unappreciated. A small gift, cash bonus, a party, or catered meal afterwards are a few examples of how you can show your appreciation for the hard work your employees have put in to make sure the holiday was a success.