1.

Do It Right From the Start

While food quality is incredibly important, it is the experience diners have from the
minute they walk in the door to the minute they exit that counts. Restaurants
should remember to keep the customers needs at the forefront of every dining
experience. Here are a few tips for accomplishing this:

Speak Appropriately

Greet your diners the minute they walk in the door.

Use respectful titles sir, maam and miss work well.

Dont interrupt.

Listen intently and pay attention to what they want.

Be thoroughly versed on your menu. Ask questions and repeat their orders to make
sure you get it right.

Etiquette Matters

While the etiquette often depends on the restaurant type, proper etiquette may be
maintained in pizza parlors as well as fine-dining restaurants.

Who do you serve first? If theres a guest of honor, serve them. If not, begin with
the women, then men, then children.

Serve and clear food from the diners left. If you have to reach in or interrupt, be
polite.

Serve, pour and refill drinks from the right.

When serving food, have a system so you know which plates go to which diner.
Dont call out entres if possible.

Never make diners feel like you want them to leave. The servers tip is not more
important than the diners comfort.

Dont make your diners ask for the check. Clear plates, bring the check and process
it in a timely manner.
2. Dont Make Them Wait

If your diners have to wait too long for their first round of drinks, appetizer or meal,
it really wont matter to them that your bartender makes the best martini or the
chef prepared the best steak. Your diner is already irritated and hungry.

You can call this the negative turning point. Remember that it can be hard to win
back your disappointed customer. Avoid disappointing them at all costs. Make sure
you have enough staff on hand so they never have to wait too long. If your diner
orders a meal that takes a bit longer to cook, let them know in advance. Be
forthcoming and informative.

Youve probably heard the term speed of service. You might even have a speed of
service goal built into your policies. Speed of service is vital to a good dining
experience no matter your restaurant type. Your diners probably have expectations
about how long theyll have to wait. Serving tacos? Theyll expect those quickly.
Serving steak? They may mentally grant you extra time to prepare it.

Your goal is to accommodate your diners with exactly the same quality food and
service every day and at every time of day.

3. Fix Problems Immediately

Your third step in delivering excellent customer service is your finesse at dealing
with customer problems and complaints. No matter how hard you try, something is
going to go amiss some time or another. Whatever the problem, your goal is to
please the customer.

It is vitally important that you deal with problems immediately. Dont let your
customers anger linger while waiting to work his way up the management chain.
Here are a few tips for dealing with customer problems:

Listen intently to their problem without interrupting.

Own the mistake. Acknowledge that, yes, there is a problem. Let them know you are
very sorry.

Stay calm, especially if you dont agree with your customer.

Maintain eye contact and watch your body language. Make sure your body isnt
telling a different story than your words.

Ask your customer what theyd like. Try to negotiate a solution that is acceptable to
both of you.

Always empathize, dont blame.

Apologize again!

Solve the problem quickly and without drama.

4. Use Customer Comment Cards

Show your diners you value their opinion. Exceptionally effective restaurants want
their customers opinions the good, the bad and the in-between.

When you give them the opportunity to leave a comment, you show them that you
care and are always looking for ways to improve your food and your service. Your
customers comments can help you learn about areas that need improvement. The
comments can also show you where you are excelling. Youll see what your
customers see and in the end be able to provide them even better service.

Youll build better customer relationships and enhance your restaurant at the same
time.

5. Incorporate Technology

Lastly, well discuss an out-of-the-box way to deliver excellent customer service at

your restaurant. Incorporating technology will, of course, depend on your restaurant
type, but some form of technology can be worked into many restaurant business
models.

Online Ordering

The ability to instantly order from your online menu provides easy access for your
customers. It allows them to conveniently browse and then order from your menu.
Oftentimes theyll spend more money ordering online as theyll be tempted to try
more. You can use prominent calls to action to encourage a larger order.

Dont forget the mobile-friendly responsive website. If your customer cant order
online with ease on their mobile phone, its time for a new website.

Table and/or Kiosk Ordering

Your casual dining customers will find this ordering system quick and easy. Theyll
also appreciate the convenience and the speed.

Offer Free Wi-Fi

According to research from industry data and analysis firm Technomic Inc., 65% of
consumers in 2014 expected restaurants in the quick-service segment to offer free
access to Wi-Fi in their restaurants.

Games at the Table

Parents of young children are often exhausted after a long day at work. Give the
parents a break while occupying their children. Consider handheld gaming devices
at the table, a TV/media room for kids (and the old stand-by coloring books).

Food safety practices in serving meals

Preparing and serving foods for large crowds may require certain precautions,
whichordinarily is of no concern on daily basis when preparing and serving meals for
the family.The following are concerns:

Planning the menu for safe food service

1.The menu must be carefully planned according to the limitations of the

kitchenwhere the preparations will be done.-The menu items must take into
consideration what is available in order to make iteasier to control food safety and
sanitation.2.The quantity to prepare must be limited to the available facilities. This
means thatthe number of people to be invited must be conform to the limitations of
thekitchen facilities,

3.

The menu must take into considerations the capacity of the one preparing
theitems.Avoid menus that must all be done in the last minute. When chaos occurs,
there isthe danger cross contamination because of the number of different foods
sittingon the counter all at once.

4.

Avoid food items that require a lot of hand usage during preparation. Canaps
andfancy food shapes require the use of the bare hands.

5.

Very complicated recipes using a lot of ingredients are not practical to cook forlarge
crowds. The simpler the dish, the better. Roast, baked, fried and simplecasseroles
are best. Sauces must be limited to simple gravy or au jus.6.Avoid serving uncooked
meats, fish or any seafood such as kilawin or sashimi. It issafer to serve only cooked
foods

Cooking the food

1.When cooking for a crowd care must be taken to maintain the aesthetic quality
offood. Cooking in quantity often results in mashing the food, if not resulting
touneven cooking.

2.

When preparing food in advance, it should not be cooked halfway, and

thencontinued the next day. Cooking must be completed otherwise there is danger
ofbacterial growth when the proper internal temperature of the food has not
beenachieved.

3.

All food that will be served raw as in salads must be washed and sanitized. Choiceof
dressing should be limited to plain instead of creamy types.

4.The cook must be free from any infections and must observe proper washing
andcleaning of hands. Proper attire includes a clean apron, well-groomed hair
andmanicured short nails.
5.

Cooked foods must not be left on the counter longer than the 2-hour limit. It mustbe
kept at the proper temperature while waiting for the others to be cooked.

Serving the food

1.

Hot foods

must be kept hot at 140 degrees F while

cold foods

must bekept cold at 40 degrees F. chafing dishes have been used to keep hot foods
hot.The

chafing dish

is like a double boiler. The lower pan holds hot water that iskept hot with the flame
underneath. This source of heat prevents scorching ofthe food when heated, at the
same time can keep it at a hot temperaturesdesired. The same chafing dish can be
used to keep foods cold, by placingcrushed ice instead of hot water. When foods are
to be served for a crowdwhere not everyone will eat at the same time, chafing
dishes are practical tokeep foods hot or cold.

2.

Foods that were kept in the refrigerator must

not

be taken out until 2 hoursbefore the party. In general, the longest time food should
be left to stand atroom temperature is 2 hours.3.Each dish should be provided with
its own serving spoons or flatware. Theseshould be kept on small plate provided
near the dish, rather than left stuck inthe food.4.Foods should be cut up in serving
pieces to make it easier for the guest to helpthemselves and to make serving the
entire crowd faster.5.Food garnishes are nice to use, but it should be limited to
those which requirevery little handling.

6.Replenishment of the food on the table must be done systematically.Preferably, do

not mix fresh batch with food that had already been out too long.

Replenishment is done by taking out the entire empty or half emptycontainer and
replacing with a new container of food.
7.Protection from flies must be taken into consideration. Leaving the foodcovered
when not in service may help. Someone may also be assigned to keepdriving flies
away if this becoming a nuisance.

8. When serving appetizers and dips, guests should be provided with small platesto
put enough dip for themselves.9.Food dishes must not be placed too close to each
other.-Space must be provided between the dishes to allow guest to put their
platedown while serving.