The Two Busiest Hours

Sound familiar?

• Assumes the lunch rush breaks because of headcount, so only ever thinks about hiring.
• Doesn't know the maximum covers the kitchen can push in an hour.
• Never counts the people who look in and walk away, so that loss doesn't exist.
• Runs the same long menu at lunch, afraid that cutting dishes loses customers.

Each chapter answers one question

1. Chapter 1: Am I short of staff, or short of a station?

   During the two busiest hours, where is my restaurant's real bottleneck?

   Every restaurant thinks it is short of staff; most are short of a station.

2. Chapter 2: Should my best dish survive the lunch rush?

   Which dishes should not be on the lunch menu?

   At peak hours, the scarce resource is not customers but kitchen minutes.

3. Chapter 3: Does the line need better cooks, or fewer steps?

   During the rush, who is having to do two jobs at once?

   Peak hours do not need better staff; they need staff who walk less.

4. Chapter 4: More dishes, or faster tables?

   How many turns can one of my tables serve in two hours?

   Lunch revenue is seats times turns, not the number of dishes on the menu.

5. Chapter 5: Why does adding a sales channel slow my kitchen?

   Are my three channels competing for exactly those two hours?

   Every channel added is another queue, and they all share one kitchen.