Published 31 Jan 2023
What is a Restaurant SOP Template?
A restaurant SOP template is a document that restaurant owners, managers, and employees use to ensure compliance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Often, a restaurant SOP template comes in the form of a checklist.
Restaurant SOP Report Checklist
Use this easy-to-accomplish checklist to quickly evaluate your restaurant and its service. You can also use this restaurant SOP template to:
- Report issues in your restaurant
- Manage customer service standards
- Ensure cleanliness in all parts of your restaurant
In this article
- Importance of Having Restaurant SOPs
- What Should a Restaurant SOP Template Include?
- FAQs about Restaurant SOP Templates
- SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) for Following Restaurant SOPs
- Featured Templates
Importance of Having Restaurant SOPs
The purpose of having SOPs in any establishment is to explain how to do certain tasks in line with specific rules and regulations. In a restaurant, SOPs are in place to ensure the safety of food, the cleanliness of the kitchen and dining area, and the quality of customer service provided. When everyone in a restaurant knows the SOPs in place, it becomes easier to comply with laws and regulations as all employees would need to do is follow them.
Having restaurant SOPs not only simplifies compliance but also improves communication between employees. A restaurant SOP template specifically allows employees to know what their duties are directly by presenting them in a clear and concise manner. This way, each employee knows what to do and how to report any anomalies on the job based on it.
What Should a Restaurant SOP Template Include?
While each restaurant may work differently depending on its target market and its style, a restaurant SOP template’s format is similar all throughout. What is important is that each restaurant’s SOP template follows the regulations set by the management and the laws of the land.
Usually, a restaurant SOP template will include sections, provisions, or questions on the following:
- Customer service
- Restroom operations
- Music and ambiance
- Restaurant temperature
- Kitchen and dining area cleanliness
- Bar orderliness, if applicable
In other cases, a restaurant SOP template can prompt managers and employees to examine their surroundings and practices better. This can include sections on analyzing the quality of food and drinks, the kind of music played and its volume, and the uniforms worn by staff.
A restaurant SOP checklist can be used at any time during a restaurant’s operations. Some may choose to use it before cooking and cleaning, while others prefer to use it as they go along instead. For others, a restaurant SOP checklist is instead used at the end of tasks to verify the quality and order of their tasks.
FAQs about Restaurant SOP Templates
Technically, all restaurants have SOPs, but they are not all called as such. Often, they are instead referred to as “guidelines,” “standards,” or “requirements.” However, they function the same way as SOPs and serve as rules to follow. Restaurant SOP templates can also be used as they serve the same purpose.
Restaurant SOPs cover not only food-related tasks but also:
- Cleaning tasks
- Hygiene practices
- Customer service standards
- Timeliness of service
- Comfort room maintenance
- Facility maintenance
Ideally, restaurant SOPs are in employee manuals and in visible places in work areas such as the kitchen. However, it would also be helpful to include them in handheld devices and your restaurant SOP template so they are easily accessible anytime and anywhere.
SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) for Following Restaurant SOPs
Ensure restaurant SOPs are followed and complied with using a restaurant SOP template that can be used as printable PDF or used on a digital restaurant management app such as SafetyCulture. SafetyCulture is a cloud-based inspection tool to help you conduct restaurant inspections to ensure all SOPs are followed and complied with using smart, responsive checklists.
Perform restaurant inspections at any time and in any part of your restaurant with SafetyCulture on your Android or iOS device and upload all checklists in the cloud for easy inspections on the go. Get started with creating your own checklists with SafetyCulture’s intelligent form builder, wherein you can use predetermined response sets per question, add logic fields to prompt for a deeper analysis, and more.
You can also download one of SafetyCulture’s restaurant SOP templates from the Public Library for free and just edit it as you see fit. Alternatively, you can convert your existing restaurant SOP templates and other checklists for SafetyCulture use.
With SafetyCulture, you can also:
- Export your restaurant SOP template as a Word or PDF file for offline use
- Create and scan QR codes for quicker inspections
- Address Issues by assigning Actions to specific staff to do so
- Improve communications and raise a Heads Up to quickly share information across the whole team or organization
- Integrate other workflow apps such as Microsoft Suite and Google Suite applications
- Connect temperature monitoring sensors to your checklists for easier monitoring
- Generate analytical reports based on completed restaurant SOP checklists to view data at a glance
Featured Templates
Daily Restaurant Cleaning Schedule Checklist
Use this checklist to conduct inspections in your restaurant daily. This ensures you and your staff ensure cleanliness in the restaurant’s waiting area, dining area, restrooms, and kitchens. Inspect your restaurant regularly with this cleaning schedule checklist.
General Food Safety Checklist
A general food safety checklist is used to ensure that food is properly stored, handled, and prepared. Use this checklist to monitor compliance with food safety procedures to reduce the risk of fines and business shut-down.
Hotel Security Risk Assessment Template Checklist
Conduct hotel risk assessments using this checklist. Use this checklist to identify threats, the possibility of risks, and whether a hotel is suitable for certain kinds of guests or not.
Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
Use this General Kitchen Cleaning Checklist to help you maintain a clean and sanitized restaurant. Conduct your inspections using this checklist to evaluate if employees wear hygienic clothing, if food is properly handled, and if the kitchen is cleaned and sanitized properly after use.
General Bar Checklist
A general bar checklist is used to monitor bar operations and ensure proper procedures are being followed. Bar managers can use this to track task completion and manage quality in their bar.
Restaurant Customer Satisfaction Survey Checklist
This checklist is for collecting and understanding customer satisfaction and feedback towards a restaurant. This will give a brief evaluation of the restaurant premise, ambiance, service staff, food quality, and overall customer experience.
SafetyCulture Content Specialist
Roselin Manawis
