The operational plan for a cafeteria restaurant should be geared toward the nuts and bolts of preparing food that customers can serve themselves, replenishing dishes as they are drawn down, and providing minimal service to enhance the dining experience and make the payment process smooth.
Customers come to cafeterias in part to eat as quickly as possible, so the operational plan should emphasize speed without compromising either the food or the service.
The menu for your cafeteria restaurant should be appealing but simple. Choose dishes that are relatively easy to serve, such as biscuits or sausage rather than lasagna or stews. Avoid high end items such as steak or duck. Rely on standbys that hold up well on low heat over time, because your food will need to be hot-held.
Evaluate the food cost for each menu item by adding up the ingredients in a batch and then dividing the total cost by the number of servings that batch will make. Determine the labor cost by estimating or observing the production time for the batch and then multiplying the labor hours by the average hourly wage you plan to pay. Your food costs should add up to no more than one-third of the retail price you expect to charge for the item, and your labor costs should add up to no more than another third.
There is some wiggle room in calculating the direct costs of food and labor. If you can design menu items and charge prices that allow you to spend less than 33 percent on food, you can spend a little more on labor. Similarly, if your labor costs are relatively low, you can spend more on ingredients – as long as your prime cost (food and labor combined) doesn't add up to more than 66 percent.
Just as the production systems for your cafeteria should be streamlined to create an affordable menu, your purchasing should reflect the simplicity and straightforwardness of the cafeteria concept. You can save money and limit waste by incorporating the same ingredients into multiple menu items. Try to purchase as many of your ingredients as possible from a limited number of vendors to pare down your ordering process.
Incorporate a balance of fresh and shelf-stable ingredients. It's easiest to maintain inventory levels of items whose shelf life isn't an issue, such as frozen and canned foods. However, fresh ingredients are more appealing – so they should certainly be part of your mix, especially items such as seasonal produce that will elevate your menu and give customers good reason to return.
A cafeteria restaurant can get by with a smaller staff than a full service operation, but you still want to have enough workers on the floor and in the kitchen to make sure the food is stocked promptly and customers can pay quickly as they move through the line. Identify the times you expect to be busiest, and schedule extra workers during those hours. Cross-train staff so they can work in the kitchen to help stock up during periods when little help is needed on the floor.
All of your cafeteria restaurant's systems should be geared toward moving customers through your operation as quickly as possible without making them feel rushed or compromising the quality of the food. Keep runners busy replenishing food as it gets depleted; have enough servers working to keep your line flowing.
Time your kitchen processes so you always have fresh food hot and ready when needed. Set up your operation with as many cashiers as necessary to avoid long lines. Build systems for keeping your facility clean and tidy. Schedule dedicated staff for wiping down tables and clearing dirty dishes.
Gartenstein, Devra. "Operational Plan for a Cafeteria Restaurant." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/operational-plan-cafeteria-restaurant-13053.html. 27 March 2019.