Guide · Daily operations
How to run a restaurant day to day
A full dining room won't tell you whether every dish was available, whether orders actually reached the kitchen, or what needs fixing before tomorrow. Here's a simple opening, service and closing routine for managers. Zeat puts your menu online and handles the order flow so everyone works from the same, clearer information. Your register, purchasing and staffing decisions still need their own checks.
Updated
What a daily routine gets you
Before opening
A team that's ready to go
Roles, known reservations and 86'd items are shared before the first table sits down.
During service
Orders you can track
The floor, kitchen and bar share changes without asking guests to repeat their order.
If nothing changes
The same mistakes tomorrow
Stock-outs, delays and cash discrepancies get recalled from memory, with no owner and no follow-up.
Open with a confirmed menu and clear roles
Before the first guest arrives, pull the floor, kitchen and bar together for a quick pre-shift meeting. Confirm who greets, who takes orders, who handles special requests and who keeps an eye on tables that are waiting. Check what's available, today's prices and any time-limited specials. If you already know an item is out before you open, tell the team and take it off the menu.
With Zeat, the manager can update the mobile menu guests see when they scan the QR code. Test it from a real table, and check any printed menus or menu photos you've shared online too. If two different prices are floating around, your server ends up negotiating the difference instead of serving, and that friction repeats at every table.
Track every order all the way to the pass
Say a table orders two dishes and a drink and asks for a modification. The server repeats back what's changing and confirms the price before sending the order. Orders can be placed by the guest or by staff and tracked through to the kitchen and bar. Ask to see the exact flow with your own menu items. No tool replaces checking allergies and dietary requests directly with the kitchen.
Assign one person to watch wait times and let a table know when a dish is running late. Log every re-fired order with its cause: a misunderstood option, a sold-out dish, an incomplete ticket. Without a log, the same problem always looks like a one-off. With a clear cause, you can change the instructions or the menu.
Keep sales, payments and costs in separate columns
At the end of service, reconcile the orders you recorded against the payments actually confirmed through each payment method you accept. Voided orders, comps and unpaid tabs should be listed separately. Count the cash drawer against your starting float and documented expenses, and never edit sales to make a cash shortfall disappear.
Sales aren't profit. Track ingredient costs, waste, labor and other overhead separately. Rising sales can hide rising food costs. Use a recipe cost card for each dish to check your prices. The daily check-in is mainly there to flag what needs a decision tomorrow.
End every shift with a handoff that gets things done
At closing, ask the team for three facts: one item that ran out, one order that caused a problem and one question guests kept asking. For each, write down who will act and by when: an order to place, a menu description to clarify, a kitchen instruction to update. Whoever runs the next shift confirms the open items before the doors open.
Each week, review a few metrics you can compare over time, such as covers, stock-outs and re-fired orders. Depending on the features you use, the Zeat menu and order flow can make some of this easier to see. Supplier invoices and costs still need to be reconciled in your own records. That way, you don't pile on screens that never lead to better decisions.
Free template to copy or print
Daily shift report
Record sales, payments, expenses and discrepancies after every shift.
Restaurant: __________
Date: ____ / ____ / ______
Shift: __________
Manager on duty: __________
Checked by: __________
For every shift, record: date, manager on duty, covers, recorded sales, voids, comps, confirmed payments by method, items that ran out, discrepancies and the next day's action item. Keep your receipts. For cash: starting float + cash received − cash paid out − cash refunds = expected cash; over/short = counted cash − expected cash.
A purely hypothetical example: $1,500 in sales, of which $600 in cash, $700 in confirmed mobile wallet payments and $200 in confirmed card payments. With a $150 starting float and a $40 documented cash expense, expected cash is $150 + $600 − $40 = $710. If you count $702, record an $8 shortage and review the transactions. This example doesn't mean Zeat reconciles payments automatically.
Sources and further reading
See Zeat in action
Run a real table through Zeat, start to finish
Bring three items from your menu, one sold-out item and one modified order. We'll show you what the guest, the floor and the kitchen see, then go over the register and payment points to check for your restaurant.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start if I want smoother service?
Confirm roles and available items before opening, track re-fired orders during service, and finish with a shift handoff that gives every action item an owner.
Which numbers should I check at closing?
Keep recorded sales, confirmed payments and the cash drawer separate. Add covers, stock-outs, comps and any discrepancies the team needs to explain.
Does Zeat replace my POS and accounting?
We don't claim it does. Zeat puts your menu online and handles ordering and order tracking. Confirm with us which register and payment features you need.