GRAPPA BISTRO CLEANING – LEARN THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN YOUR RESTAURANT!

THE IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN CONDUCT ON DINING EXPERIENCE

What is it that makes a great dining experience for your customers? We all know that the quality of the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant contribute heavily to their enjoyment of the meal. What we may not think of quite so much is how the kitchen and the behavior that goes on in there is going to have a direct effect on the customer’s enjoyment.

Cleanliness Is Very Important

Restaurant owners and servers know to keep clean tables whether have customers, but what about a clean kitchen. If you make sure that your kitchen is clean, then that means there is less chance of foodborne illnesses affecting your customers. It also means there is less likely to be any cross contamination or anything unappealing on the customer’s plate. A clean kitchen also keeps pests away and reduces the risk of pests getting out into the dining area and bothering the patrons.

A clean kitchen is a safe one and one where the staff are happier to work. You can improve the interactions between customers and staff members by ensuring the kitchen stays sanitary and clean-looking.

Professional Behavior Reduces Frustration

Kitchen conduct directly affects the customer’s experience with the waitstaff. If you have happy waiters and waitresses who are felling supported and productive, then you are more likely to have happy customers. If the waiters don’t have to stand around for a long time to get the food, if they are being treated well by the kitchen staff and if there are few to no frustrations for them to deal with in the kitchen area, then they are more likely to be pleasant toward the customers.

It can be difficult for a waiter to have a disagreement or unpleasant experience in the kitchen and then put on a happy and friendly face for the customer moments later. If you keep kitchen conduct professional, then you are creating a more positive environment for your waitstaff, and that directly affects how pleasant the dining experience will be for your guests. The end result of having satisfied customers starts all the way in the kitchen and can be affected by more than just the quality of the food.

Keep Things Organized

The wait staff are sometimes stressed out and hurried, especially if they are serving multiple guests at once. If they forget orders, mix up drinks or have too much going on, then they will not be doing the guests any favors. If you can keep your kitchen organized, well prepared, full of well trained staff and running smoothly, you reduce the frustration for the waitstaff and help them to keep their heads on their shoulders better.

Your waitstaff may struggle to maintain an air of friendliness or to remember the requests of their customers if they are being hurried or have to deal with disorganization in the kitchen. By making sure everyone is properly trained and working together well, you can help to create excellent environment in the kitchen that carries over to the customer and that makes for a satisfied guest.

A CLEAN BISTRO IS A HEALTH CONSCIOUS BISTRO

So you want to keep your kitchen and restaurant looking spotless for your customer? Well, we have a few tips that will help you stay on track. Use these every day to ensure that you prevent foodborne illnesses, reduce the spread of germs and make your restaurant more pleasant for guests and employees.

Keep Hygiene a Top Priority

Cleanliness in the restaurant and kitchen start with you and your employees. If your people are washing their hands regularly, keeping loose hair tied up in a hair net or other restraining apparatus and wearing clothes that are not too loose or dirty, then you’ll have a much easier time keeping the kitchen and restaurant clean. There are state guidelines that every restaurant must follow, as well as federal guidelines that ensure that your place of business is not penalized by the FDA. On top of that, you can establish your own standards as an employer that keep the level of cleanliness very high.

Clean Equipment Regularly

Most restaurants do a good job of wiping down and sanitizing food preparation surfaces, but they often forget about cleaning the equipment they cook and prepare food with. This can include drink machines, meat slicers, fry vats and other tools that aren’t always easy to put into a sink of soapy water and clean out. These will need to be properly sanitized and wiped down on a regular basis to reduce the risk of spreading germs. Follow manufacture guidelines as to how to clean these pieces of equipment and then set up a regular cleaning schedule for your staff to follow as well.

Store Food in a Secure and Safe Place

You want your food to be kept at the right temperature when it is not being serviced and prepared. Make sure the freezer and refrigerator areas are clean and well maintained. If the temperature doesn’t stay at the right level for very long, then you can end up with an entire supply of spoiled food.
You also want to make sure that any kitchen storage areas for food are kept clean and well maintained. Any hot storage locations need to be sanitized each day, and food needs to be rotated out of those areas when it has been there for too long. It is always better to throw away food that is potentially contaminated or spoiled rather than to run the risk of serving it to the customer. Your restaurant’s reputation is on the line.

Clean Spills Immediately

In a busy kitchen, spills are going to happen. That’s just a fact of life, but you will want to deal with these spills right away. It’s tempting to leave them until the end of work time or when you have more time to deal with them, but cleaning up spills immediately ensures that slipping hazards are minimized and that there is less to attract pests. You are also creating a heathier, safer and pleasanter environment for your kitchen staff.

The Places In Your Restaurant You Might Forget To Clean

Keeping your restaurant spotlessly clean is not just good for business. It also ensures that you pass inspection. However, there may be some neglected areas of your restaurant that are not getting the cleaning that they need.

Soda Dispensers

Whether you dispense the soda for your customers or they fill their cups for themselves, it is important to make certain that the soda dispenser is cleaned regularly. Gunk can build up and contaminate the drinks, causing illnesses and creating an unsanitary environment. The dispensers should be cleaned on a schedule so that they stay looking clean and free of germs. The companies that sell soft drinks to restaurants actually publish their own guidelines on how often the dispensers shoulder cleaned and how they could be kept sanitary. Jerry from House Cleaning And Maid Service says that generally they should get a good scrubbing at least once per week.

Can Openers

You might not think of the can opener as a restaurant item that even needs to be cleaned, but it can get bits of food on it at times. If you use the can opener on any cans with liquid in them, it is highly likely that some food will run onto the can opener. A quick wipe down is usually all that is needed, but if the can opener is not thoroughly cleaned from time to time, it can develop bacteria and become a safety hazard. It could also rust and degrade faster if it is not kept clean and dry.

Restaurant Menus

This is another item that you don’t think of as something that would get dirty, but you should consider all the people who handle your restaurant menus every day. Some restaurants can get away with paper menus that are tossed out after each use, but if you have laminated menus or plastic menus, those will accumulate germs and will need to be at least wiped down with a disinfecting spray and a rag. Menus can actually be the biggest germ vector in the entire restaurant because of all the contaminants that find their way onto them, and if the waiter touches them after the customer without washing their hands, they can spread bacteria all throughout the restaurant.

Ice Machines and Tools

The ice machine may look clean, but it can be a harbor for bacteria as well. Ice machines collect germs just like any other part of the kitchen, and they can spread those germs into the beverages and around the kitchen. The ice machine, ice scoop and any other tools used to handle ice need to be cleaned regularly (and vinegar seems like an excellent solution), because what gets into them will find its way into the digestive system of the customers. If you are not sure if you can keep up with all of this cleaning, you may want to hire a cleaning service to do it for you. They can be thorough and clean on a schedule that ensures your restaurant stays looking its best.

You won’t always see the health problems that find their way into your restaurant, but through regular cleaning, you can keep many of them to a minimum.

KEEP RESTAURANT TABLES CLEAN, SANITIZED, AND SAFE.

Restaurants will have different needs in regards to their cleaning schedules and what it takes to keep their environment sanitary, but one part of the establishment that needs to be kept clean all the time is the tables. It is vital that your restaurant tables be sanitary, because that affects the appearance and ambiance of the restaurant as well as how healthy it is for patrons to use the tables.

Schedule Cleanings

One of the best things you can do to keep your resultant tables clean as much as possible is to schedule regular cleanings. This won’t be the same schedule for every kind of restaurant, though.

For sit-down restaurants with waiters and door greeters, the tables can be cleaned after every guest. There is supposed to be a measured space between each guest’s time at any given table with this kind of restaurant, and you should use that to clear the table of dishes and wipe it down with a cloth and a sanitizing agent to keep things healthy for your patrons.
Fast food restaurants and those with dining areas that allows guests to seat themselves will need to have a different schedule. What usually works best is to have the tables cleared every hour or so, with more frequent cleanings during the busiest hours. This helps keep the tables relatively clean at all times and ensures that there are some appealing spaces for patrons to use all throughout the day.

Always Sanitize

You may not see the germs on your restaurant’s tables, but they are still there. You need to not just be wiping the tables clear of visible debris but also using a sanitizing agent when you clean the tables. This can be as simple as spraying the table down with a cleaning agent or dipping your cleaning rag in a soapy solution. This ensures that germs are killed and that your patrons can enjoy a clean table and not worry too much about any food that falls onto the table and yet is still consumed.

Finish Off by Drying the Table

If you are going to give your patrons a pleasant dinging experience, then make sure you leave them with a dry table after you clean it. You’ll need to have two cleaning cloths on hand, then- one to wipe down the table (cleaning debris and sanitizing) and one to dry the table. This makes the table safe for your patrons to rest down paperwork on or their hands and sleeves without worrying about getting anything wet.

Be Sure to Clean under the Table

Show attention to detail by cleaning underneath the table as well. This means cleaning the floor area of any food debris and cleaning up any spills that may have occurred. It also means wiping the underside of the table. Your patrons will sometimes rest their hands underneath the table, and they don’t want to encounter any dirt or debris there when they do.
Use these tips to ensure a clean and enjoyable dining experience for all of your restaurant’s customers.

KITCHEN CLEANING CHECKLIST

When you go to clean your kitchen, you’ll want to ensure that you don’t miss anything. Daily, weekly and monthly cleanings should all be different as well. There may be some cleaning jobs you need to do each day, whereas others will only need to be done every so often. With that in mind, we have put together a list of cleaning jobs that need to be done in the kitchen to help you get more organized and ensure that everything is cleaned and nothing is forgotten.

Daily Cleaning

Each day, there are jobs that need to be done to ensure that your kitchen stays looking great and smelling fresh. Doing these jobs will keep pests away, create a sanitary kitchen environment and make your kitchen more pleasant to work in.

• Take out trash
• Wipe counters
• Wash dishes or run dishwasher
• Sweep floors
• Wash out sink
• Change out rags and kitchen towels as necessary
• Clean up any spills
• Clean dish drainer

Weekly Cleaning

These jobs are going to be a little more time consuming and will require some extra effort, but it will be worth it to ensure that your kitchen sparkles with that extra clean shine. These are still important jobs that have to be done to maintain a clean environment, but they don’t have to be done as often as the daily jobs. You may want to do some of them more often, as your needs require. For instance, if you have a very busy kitchen where you are making elaborate meals a few times a day, you may need to do some of these tasks a couple times a week or even every day. Use our list as a guide and not as rules of law, because every kitchen has its own, distinct needs.

• Deal with leftovers in the fridge
• Get rid of spoiled food
• Clean the sponges (soak in hot water and sanitizer)
• Mop the floor
• Clean behind small appliances
• Clean inside small appliances
• Clean exterior of all appliances
• Disinfect the faucets and sink

Monthly Cleaning

There are some other jobs that only need to be done every few weeks or once a month. As with the weekly tasks, some of these may need to be done more often depending on how you use your kitchen, how much work you do and what kind of work you do in the kitchen. If any of these areas appear dirty or in need of attention, then don’t wait for the end of the month to start on them.

• Clean out the oven
• Clean the inside of the fridge and freezer
• Defrost the freezer
• Clean under appliances
• Clean inside cupboards
• Take an inventory of the fridge and pantry (determine what you need to buy and what needs to be discarded or eaten soon)
• Clean inside of dishwasher as needed

This may seem like a lot of work to do, but when you spread it out like this over the course of the month, it doesn’t seem that bad. As you get used to going through your list each month, the work will go faster and you will get it done more easily.

HANDY COMMERCIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT CLEANING GUIDE

The commercial equipment used in your restaurant may not be as easy to clean as the dishes, but it is just as important that it get clean. We have a few tips to help you make these integral parts of your kitchen germ free and appealing to work with, but keep in mind that some of them require regular, rigorous cleaning. If you don’t have the manpower or time to get everything cleaned as often as it needs to be, then consider hiring a cleaning service to lighten your workload.

Check the Grease Traps

It’s easy to remember to clean the work surfaces, but how often do we think about the internal parts that need some cleaning? Many commercial restaurant items have grease traps that catch runover. These can experience a buildup over time, and they might overflow if they are not cleaned regularly. Depending on how busy your restaurant is and how large your equipment is, you will need to clean out the grease traps daily or weekly. Gauge how often they need to be cleaned. If you only clean them once a week and the traps are 50% full or more, then you should clean them more often. This will help keep your workspace sanitary.

Use the Right Cleaning Methods for Stainless Steel

A lot of modern restaurant equipment is stainless steel, and that’s the preferred material for much of the larger equipment. You can ensure this lasts for a long time by cleaning it properly. Use a wet cloth with some mild detergent to give your stainless steel an appealing shine. Always ensure that you wipe in the same direction as the finish. There may be times where the buildup on your equipment is too tough for this cleaning method, and in those cases, you can use baking soda or some kind of powerful commercial cleaner. Just be sure to wash the cleaned area as soon as you are done working there. This will help to prevent any damage to your equipment.

Use Prevention Cleaning for Your Oven

One of the hardest parts of any commercial kitchen to clean is the oven. That’s because most people simply take too long to clean theirs, letting gunk build up over a long period of time and waiting until the oven is simply disgusting before they do any cleaning. If you have your oven cleaned on a weekly basis, though, then it will stay looking clean and will always be much easier to keep clean. This is true of all your commercial kitchen equipment. If you just practice preventative cleaning, you will have much easier time with each cleaning session.

Put the Cleaning on a Schedule

To avoid falling in the trap of forgetting to clean something because you got busy doing something else, make a detailed checklist of what needs to be cleaned and how often. Place this checklist where everyone can see it so that it will be a constant reminder of the work that needs to be done.

THE TOP BISTRO RESTAURANT CLEANING TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Cleanliness in your restaurant doesn’t just make the place more appealing. It also protects you from litigation, safeguards your customers from sickness and helps your reputation. It is vitally important that your restaurant stay clean at all times, and here are a few tips that will help.

Make a Checklist

It can be easy to forget some of the cleaning jobs that need to be done. Depending on the size of your restaurant, the list of things to clean daily and weekly can reach into the dozens or hundreds. You can keep track of what is done and what needs to be done by creating a checklist. Leave a space to have each item marked off as it is done. This way, multiple people can be working on the checklist and not work over one another. You’ll avoid confusion and ensure that everything is done properly this way.

Clean Out Drink Machines Often

Many restaurants actually forget this cleaning task. They may only clean out the drink machines when they appear dirty, but that could be long after slime has started to build up inside the machine. If you wait too long to clean drink dispensers, you can be contaminating drinks and making your customers ill. Fight off this problem by having someone assigned to cleaning the drink machines at least once a week. This will allow for very little buildup and will ensure the drinks come out sanitary and delicious every time. Cleaning the drink machines effectively means emptying them completely and using soapy water to ensure all germs are neutralized.

Establish a Pest Control Plan

Why wait for someone to spot roaches, ants or rats in your restaurant? You can set up pest repellents around your restaurant and have a regularly scheduled pest control expert to come in and keep your place pest free. Try to have them come outside of regular business hours, because customers don’t want to see pest control where they eat. Doing this can help you avoid the problem of having pests running around your kitchen or dining area.

Train Staff to Clean Work Areas

All of your staff should be well trained in how to clean the areas where food is cooked, packaged and otherwise prepared. These are where germs are going to get into the food and contaminate it, so you want them extra clean. Train new staff as they come in for how to keep a clean workspace and then make sure the staff is trained on a regular basis (every six months or every year) to keep their training up to date and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Cleaning Is More Important Than Keeping Customers Happy

You may have to take longer to serve a customer because you are doing things properly and keeping a clean restaurant. That can make your customers unhappy, but it is better to have an unhappy customer than to have your restaurant shut down due to a failed inspection. If you don’t have time to clean everything yourself, consider hiring a cleaning service for some of the more involved tasks, but put cleanliness first on your list of priorities.