Hot meals. Shorter wait times. Happy customers. Increased sales.

At my favorite pancake house on a recent visit, I was seated next to the kitchen.  I faced the grill and could see the plates piling up on the shelf with the overhead heat lamp.  Of course my food was lukewarm when I finally got it, but there were so few servers I didn’t have the heart to give mine a hard time.

Back when I was a restaurant manager, I would run the food, during busy times.  What does that mean?  

I would quickly remove the plate from the hot lamp, garnish the various items, and walk them over to the table.  I would come back and get the next order until there were no more plates waiting on the shelf under that lamp.  

Something that simple is so good for sales.  The food is served hot.  The customers are pleased.  The likelihood that upselling a dessert and coffee will be met with happy grins is almost guaranteed.  That is customer satisfaction right there.  Customer satisfaction equals repeat business, free word of mouth advertisement, and happy employees.

Add a runner during your lunch or dinner rush.  Make a seating chart so the runner knows where to take the food.  Create a picture chart of the garnishes that go with each meal, i.e. powdered sugar on french toast, butter on pancakes, etc. Watch as this added position transforms your business.  Before the runner leaves their short shift, they can stock up the garnishes, freshen up the salad and soup area, fill up the straws and other paper products, and help clean up the tables.

Let Aflashout help you get a food runner today.