Gearing Up for the Holiday Rush

As you find yourself in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you may be in a bit of a holiday haze. Don’t get too discombobulated, though! Christmas is a HUGE season for restaurants in Missouri, so it’s a great time to take advantage of the holiday traffic, festive moods, and even traveling guests for the holiday. At Fast Fix LLC, we know what a strain the holiday season can place on our customers, so we have a few tips to help you prepare for the holiday rush, and of course, a few ways we can help as well!


Introduce Holiday Menus

Did you know that at least one-third of consumers say that they see out seasonal menus during the holiday season? From Hanukkah to Christmas and beyond - specialty menus can help set your restaurant apart during the holidays. You can create a prix fixe menu, or you can add appetizers, entrees, desserts, or cocktail specials throughout the season.

Promote Gift Cards This Season!

The holidays are the PERFECT time to promote the gift cards to your facility, so make sure that you have ordered (and re-ordered) the gift cards for your restaurant. You can set up a big display at the front of your restaurant, and even package them in a box or gift bag with bows and ribbons. Really want to catch attention? Try offering a promotion with the gift card! This can help you boost business in the post-holiday winter months as well.

Prepare Your Staff

Make sure that you remind your staff to fill out holiday request forms WAY in advance so that you aren’t stuck with half your staff taking off the same days. These are your busiest days coming up, and you don’t want to be understaffed at this time.

You also want to remind your team about how to appropriately handle the larger crowds. This is a great time to go over policies and procedures for handling situations in your restaurant as well! With it fresh on their minds, it will be easier for them to address situations correctly should they arise.

You may also want to plan on overstaffing for the holiday season. Many facilities take on holiday help, or at least over schedule more than you would usually need. It’s easier to let people go home once the rush slows than to try and call people las minute when it’s getting crazy. Another great way to boost staff is to call former employees who left for college and see if they will be home during the holiday season and want to get some extra hours!


Check Your Supplies

Don’t ask questions, just do this. It’s always better to have too much supply than too little. Your restaurant should be aiming to provide a joyful holiday experience, and running out of an ingredient that is key to the dish your customers love the most is not filled with holiday cheer. You can look back at past sales and try to order supplies to meet the traffic that could be coming to your restaurant, and even anticipate things being even busier.

Another thing to consider is your dishware. It’s one thing to have your guests wait for a table, ut to make them wait because you need to speedily clean more dishes for their meal is another. Check your dishware inventory and make sure that you will have plenty of turnover. Everyone is going to be busy during the holiday season, and dishes could take longer to get to, don’t make dishes become the emergency.

Have Your Appliances Inspected

Finally, one of the most important things you can do, while it may still be a little slow, is to have your appliances looked out. There is nothing worse than going to turn on your oven and finding that it’s not getting up to temp, or noticing that your dishwasher is leaking all over the room with a huge pile of dishes waiting to be washed. At Fast Fix, we help take your emergencies and turn them into solutions - but even with our emergency services, having appliances break down can be hard on your business. Give us a call and have us look at your commercial kitchen equipment in Mid-Missouri before the holiday rush comes through! Better yet, sign up for our maintenance agreement services and let us keep up with the maintenance schedules for you!

Check out our website below to learn more about our commercial kitchen appliance service company in Mid-Missouri. Our staff is highly trained and ready to be there FAST. One call does it all!


Fast Fix LLC. Restaurant Equipment Service & Repair - 

Walk-In One Call Does It All! 




Fast Fix LLC. Restaurant Services
3362 State Road JJ
Kingdom City, MO 65262

Columbia: 573-544-0456
St. Louis: 636-327-8349


https://www.fastfixllc.com/about
Location: Kingdom City, MO, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The History of Deep Fried Foods

Image
Deep fried foods are a typical menu item, especially in the fast food industry. Who doesn't love some crispy french fries to accompany their burger? From mozzarella sticks to onion rings, fried foods offer some of the best side dishes you can find. Who thought to drop food in hot oil to cook it though? Who invented the first deep-fryer, and when did they become a staple in the restaurant industry? Keep reading to learn more about the history of deep-fried foods from your favorite restaurant equipment repair company in Missouri . The History of Deep Fried Foods The process of deep-frying foods is said to have come about in the 5th millennium BC. The Egyptians that invented deep-frying during this time had no idea how it would change the culinary industry. Fried cakes were one of the first foods to be fried (think donuts). Other cultures began to follow suit. For our ancestors, frying food was a quick and easy way to prepare a meal. Deep frying was also a way of preserving foo
Read more

The History of the Oven

Image
One piece of equipment crucial to pretty much any restaurant is the oven. Ovens have come a long way since ancient times. Before the first oven was invented, people had to cook over open fires. Today's ovens are energy efficient and temperature controlled. In today's blog, F ast Fix LLC is going to take you through the timeline of the evolution of the oven. The First Ovens The first oven recorded in history was invented in 1490. It was built in Alsace, France and was made entirely of brick and tile, including the flue. While there may have been others before this, the French oven is the first to be recorded. Simple ovens were used by the ancient Greeks for making bread and other baked goods. By the middle ages, taller brick and mortar hearths, often with chimneys were being built. Often times, the food to be cooked was hung over the flames in a large metal cauldron. Wood Burning Stoves After the first oven was created, inventors began working to make improvements t
Read more

Cleaning & Maintaining Your Salamander Broiler

Image
Many professional kitchens contain a salamander broiler. This piece of equipment is used for grilling and toasting, melting cheese and the browning of grain dishes. Unlike a traditional broiler, a salamander broiler has belts and grates that are constantly exposed to foods. Therefore, it's very important that this piece of equipment remain clean and well-maintained. Keep reading to learn how to properly clean and maintain this piece of commercial kitchen equipment. Cleaning Your Salamander Broiler  The main issues with not properly caring for your salamander broiler are the sanitation and health risks. Not only does this put your restaurant at risk of a health code violation, but you're also risking the safety of your customers. In addition, the equipment can smoke excessively if it's not kept clean of food remnants. Below are some tips for cleaning your salamander broiler: Be sure to cool the salamander broiler completely before attempting to clean it. This piece
Read more