Published 26 Sept 2025
Article by
4 min read
What is a Restaurant Cleaning Checklist?
A restaurant cleaning checklist is a document designed to maintain hygienic and organized areas of a restaurant facility. It helps identify defects and damages that require immediate rectification. Being unable to perform restaurant cleaning inspections can cause an unsanitary business that may lead to regulatory fines and, worse, business closure.
Importance
Having a dedicated checklist for restaurant cleaning is an important aspect of running one. With a restaurant cleaning checklist, you can ensure that all areas are safe, the ambiance is great, the facilities are operational, and the staff is implementing food safety procedures.
Documenting all restaurant operations and cleaning procedures can also help you stay organized with maintaining your restaurant. By having records you can easily access anytime and anywhere, you can track and identify problems in your restaurant and learn how to better address them. Additionally, having documentation of your restaurant cleaning operations can also help you stay compliant with certain food standards, health regulations, and more.
Restaurant Cleaning Crucial Areas
Restaurant businesses aim to promote a clean and hygienic environment to keep high-quality services. Maintaining cleanliness in the following areas help ensure the health and safety of employees and patrons as well as stay compliant with regulations.
Kitchen – is the most significant area of a restaurant where food is handled, prepared, and processed. Keeping it clean and sanitized helps to avoid food contamination, health risk incidents, and insect invaders.
Storage – is where raw materials or manufactured goods are kept. Maintaining it clean and organized helps to track food stores to avoid spoilage and overstock.
Dining – is one of the factors to consider in providing high-level customer service. A clean, safe, and secure environment promotes the overall appearance of the restaurant and decreases unsatisfied customers.
Restroom – is an added factor to the restaurant ambiance and presentation. Sanitizing it frequently prevents cross-contamination from employees to food products and eating utensils, as well as the spread of diseases. In many cases, a dirty restroom can turn off guests.
How to Write a Restaurant Cleaning Checklist
There are multiple ways to create and use a restaurant cleaning checklist. To create your own, you must first consider the main areas of the restaurant that needs to be cleaned, as mentioned earlier. From there, you need to decide what needs to be cleaned first and how often.
The order in which you clean your restaurant is entirely up to you. However, it is important to note that you and your staff stick to the schedule for this to ensure your restaurant is consistent.
What to Include in a Restaurant Cleaning Checklist
A good restaurant cleaning checklist is one that is easy to follow, understand, and use. While there is no one right way to create one, an efficient restaurant cleaning checklist prompts you to inspect both front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH) areas.
Front-of-House Cleaning Checklist
Wipe down the walls if necessary
Sanitize the tables
Inspect and wipe down the condiments and salt and pepper shakers
Wipe down all the counters
Clean the seats and benches
Run cloth napkins, tablecloths, and wait for staff aprons through the washing machine
Vacuum the carpets
Take out the trash and recycling
Clean the interior and exterior of all the trash and recycling bins
Sweep and mop the floors
Clean and sanitize bathrooms
Back-of-House Cleaning Checklist
Wipe down the walls wherever there are splashes
Clean the grill, griddle, range, flattop, and fryer. Make sure to get underneath the equipment, too
Change the foil lining on top of the ranges, grills, and flattops
Wipe down other equipment, such as coffee makers, microwaves, toasters, and meat slicers
Disinfect prep area surfaces
Clean beverage dispenser heads in the soda fountains. Bars should clean the tips of the soda guns
Wash utensils, small wares, flatware, and glassware and let them air dry overnight
Sweep walk-in refrigerators and storage areas
Take out the trash and recycling
Disinfect the waste disposal area and clean the trash cans
Restaurant Cleaning Checklist PDF Report
Here is an example report of a restaurant cleaning checklist in a PDF format:
