front-of-the-house training

Simply put, the front of house is where customers interact with customer-facing employees. Also known as the FOH, the area may include hostess stations, dining rooms, counters, and patios depending on the size and scope of the restaurant. Those who work in the front of house, such as servers or bartenders, are tasked with communication, customer service, and hospitality, and are typically expected to dress, look, and act according to the restaurant's standards.

Another way to think about it: the front of house is any part of the restaurant where guests are permitted to be.

This is where the first impression will happen. Make sure your guests are impressed by a clean and organized space here. The entry area should capture your restaurant's feel while being a well-planned transitional space to the rest of the restaurant. 

When the restaurant is busy, you'll have guests packed into this space. We've all had bad experiences in restaurant waiting areas, so don't let that be true for your guests. If they must wait, it ought to be pleasant. Make sure to include chairs or benches to make guests comfortable, and offer menus so they have something to read and can plan out what they want to eat. 

This is the first thing guests should see in the waiting area. A host or hostess should be available here at all times for interfacing with guests, and the stand itself should be organized and tidy. 

This is where most of the magic will happen in your front of house area. Guests spend most of their visit to your establishment here, so ensure that the area is clean, organized, welcoming, and enticing. Important: make sure tables and chairs are laid out in a way that makes them accessible to all customers. 

Much like the main dining room, this area benefits from organization and attractive decor. The outdoor patio can be a bonus way to seat more guests and increase revenue. Consider outdoor furniture to help with extreme weather — umbrellas to keep the sun off of customers, or outdoor heaters to keep folks toasty during winter. 

This one explains itself. Make sure your restrooms are spic and span before service begins in order to keep guests feeling safe and comfortable. Task staffers with keeping it stocked and clean during shifts, and complete a deep cleaning at the end of service. 

Old tech and awkward workflows slow your front of house employees down, especially your servers, bartenders and managers. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to place an order—your restaurant POS should be easy to use, easy to navigate and so intuitive that your FOH staff need very little training to understand how it works.  

Speed makes a big difference, too. Nothing is more frustrating for a server or bartender who’s been working their tail off to keep up than to be dragged down by a sluggish payment terminal. When you have to process six different credit cards to close out one table, slow-performing technology can quickly land you in the weeds.  

A unified POS and payments system automatically records transactions in your POS system, which speeds up the payment process, eliminates the need for manual entry and reduces the risk of human error. And at the end of a long day, the last thing your managers want to do is manually reconcile POS sales with credit card statements. 

The importance of front of house employee training cannot be overstated, as your guests’ impression of your restaurant is often defined by the service they receive. Your new hire training should be thoughtful and thorough, but even your veteran staff members need continuous training and coaching to be their best.  

There are many ways to advance your front of house employees’ knowledge and skills, including quick coaching sessions you can easily fit into the day. You could register your FOH staff for courses (in-person or online), host wine and beer training sessions on off days, or simply gather the FOH staff together pre-shift to go over new products, menu items or service issues you want them to concentrate on. 

From your steps of service to your menu, there’s a lot to learn and remember as a front of house restaurant employee, especially your servers who field the most questions from guests. Make life easy for them with a training manual or quick reference guide they can rely on when they don’t have the answer.

Imagine what a game changer it would be, if rather than having to interrupt the chef in the heat of service—and they can get salty when you do that—your server could easily access a document that clearly lists the ingredients and any food allergies in each dish. 

Front Of House Structure is a no nonsense restaurant training program designed to increase sales the effective way and to refine service. 

In staffing the front of the house, the dining room of a restaurant, you are not only hiring people who will do a very important task but people who will have the principal relationship with your guests. In fact, some of your guests may judge their entire experience based on the personality of the person who serves them. So it's not only what they do and what their experience is but who they are when they do their job.

Dale Drewsbury is restaurant manager at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Scotland's only two-Michelin star restaurant. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie is situated in Gleneagles hotel, home of the 2014 Ryder Cup.  Watch Dale as he talks us through his role, his relationship with Andrew Fairlie and Stevie McLaughin the head chef. Dale explains how he trained as a chef, and his love for food that lead him to choose front of house in his role.