What is the restaurant organization & duties of restaurant manager??

Restaurant  Organization 

A restaurant is a place where food and drinks are sold and served to customers. Some restaurants are licensed to serve alcoholic beverages along with food. The service of dishes and drinks is carried out by a team of wait staff under the direction of the restaurant manager according to the standards set by the restaurant. 

It is important to identify the role of each wait staff and supervisor in the brigade for optimum productivity and to prevent duplication of work, overburdening of staff, and confusion.

 Before we look at the role of each designation, it is necessary to understand how the organization levels are worked out and how the restaurant operation is managed. 

The restaurant is divided into various sections, each having four to five tables seating up to 20 customers. 

The station in a restaurant refers to a group of tables assigned to one waiter and his assistants. Ideally, one station consists of 20 covers.

 It may be more or less depending on the level of service standards, seating policy experience of wait staff, and profile of restaurant. 

High class fine dining restaurants have 12 covers and self-service restaurants, where waiters only serve water and clear the tables, have around 35 covers in a station. In a moderate restaurant where service standards are good aunty a station comprises 20 covers, which we take as a norm.

 Two stations normally share sideboard or each station may have one sideboard depending on the size of sideboard and space available

Restaurants may have more stations depending on the total seating capacity. A restaurant will 160 covers will have 8 stations, each with 20 covers. Each station will be attended by star waiter and his/her work is supervised by the head station waiter who controls 4-5 station waiter which means he/she is responsible for the service of 80-100 covers.

 Hence, 160 cover restaurants will have 2 station head waiters who directly report to the head waiter. The head waiter supervises all activities of the restaurant during operations and makes sure guest complaints, if any, are handled promptly and professionally. 

The head waiter reports to the restaurant A good restaurant manager manager. In an owner-operated restaurant, the owner is the manager and assigns complete authority to the head waiter.

 The following is the traditional organization structure of a fine dining luxury restaurant which may have some or all of the designations 

The various designations in a restaurant organization are as follows:

Directeur du restaurant (the restaurant manager) 

The entire operations of the restaurant are under control of the restaurant manager. He/she must have a thorough knowledge of the latest trends in catering operations, guest psychology, and maintain good rapport with guests. He/she is responsible for the following:

 Preparing budget for a financial year (from Ist April to 31st March)

Developing and implementing sales promotional activities

Setting up service standards for all dishes and drinks served in the restaurant

Menu planning for daily operations and special occasions

 Recruiting staff and training them

Establishing good relationships with guests

Handling guest complaints

Evaluating performance appraisal and identifying training needs

 Analysing sales to know fast moving dishes, least preferred dishes, most preferred cuisine case of multi-cuisine restaurant, seat turnover, average revenue per cover, which help him in his

decision-making process

 Purchasing and maintaining restaurant equipment-furniture, linen, cutlery, crockery. glassware,

and other special service equipment

 Ensuring adequate supply of condiments, proprietary sauces, disposables, and so on

Maintaining stock record of restaurant equipment 

Ensuring good team spirit among the wait staff

Maintaining cleanliness and hygiene of service area

 Coordinating with other departments of the hotel