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I recently acquired a building that would serve well as a restaurant... to that effect it was once a restaurant.
After sorting out everything I need to do in order to get a restaurant ready... there is one thing that is nagging at me and I'm very nervous about... WAITSTAFF.
Not only the hiring but the paying. I know traditionally waiters make below minimum wage and their tips get them to minimum or beyond but how should tips be handled?
I lean more towards a tip pool but how should that work... do you pool the entire day or do you pool by shift hours?
In all candor, it sounds like you don't have a clue as to the realities of the restaurant business ...
which leads one to wonder if you're ready to do anything except set yourself up for a big failure in an industry fraught with a very high business failure rate.
Have you ever worked in a restaurant? managed one? participated in the executive decisions about any aspect of one?
I recently acquired a building that would serve well as a restaurant... to that effect it was once a restaurant.
After sorting out everything I need to do in order to get a restaurant ready... there is one thing that is nagging at me and I'm very nervous about... WAITSTAFF.
Not only the hiring but the paying. I know traditionally waiters make below minimum wage and their tips get them to minimum or beyond but how should tips be handled?
I lean more towards a tip pool but how should that work... do you pool the entire day or do you pool by shift hours?
Waitstaff wages vary a lot state to state. You can research tip pooling and find a model that could work for you. Tip pooling isn't always a good option. The best waitstaff typically don't like to pool tips and if you have multiple waiters some won't work as hard as others creating conflict. Additionally, if you don't need busboys then I would advise staying away from pooling tips. Anyone who does not serve the customers can not take money from the tip pool, so legally cooks and dishwashers for example can't take waitstaff tips, unless they personally hand them over. I believe pooling by law has to be by shift.
I've owned a restaurant for 2.5 years and have been fairly successful imo. Ask any questions you want.
I think it depends on the level of the restaurant.
If high end, I think I would pay the wait staff minimum wage and let them keep their own tips. That really is what they are working for. I would pay the busboys more than minimum wage and any sharing between wait staff and bus boys would be up to the wait staff. I would stay out of that part of it
If the $10-$15 plate range, I might consider paying the wait staff double (or more) than minimum wage and not allowing tips and see how that goes. I would probably lean more to what is common in the area though
I assume from your forum name it will be a Mexican restaurant. If you want them to remember you, good food and good service go hand in hand. You have influence in both.
I think it depends on the level of the restaurant.
If high end, I think I would pay the wait staff minimum wage and let them keep their own tips. That really is what they are working for. I would pay the busboys more than minimum wage and any sharing between wait staff and bus boys would be up to the wait staff. I would stay out of that part of it
If the $10-$15 plate range, I might consider paying the wait staff double (or more) than minimum wage and not allowing tips and see how that goes. I would probably lean more to what is common in the area though
I assume from your forum name it will be a Mexican restaurant. If you want them to remember you, good food and good service go hand in hand. You have influence in both.
If the OP is new to the restaurant world, and lacks experience I wouldn't try something uncommon like not accepting tips. It's not common practice, and there are enough people who don't like that model, that imo, a new restaurateur shouldn't try it. It's too risky. People are incredibly judgmental on restaurants, it all depends on how people perceive what you are trying to do. Are you trying to give them a living wage, or are you trying to take advantage of them? That question isn't for you, but for every customer who walks through your door, and you have no control over what they think of what you are doing. I live in a city of 200,000, and not a single restaurant doesn't accept tips and pays their employees a "living" wage. That wage model is still being experimented with, and you being new to the restaurant world, you shouldn't experiment with it. You will likely be fighting just to survive, and you won't need any more distractions.
Staffing is one of the most difficult parts of owning a restaurant. If new employees are not experienced you will have to train them. And if you are not experienced, that makes it even more difficult.
There are a lot of questions I would like to ask and helpful advice I would like to give, but I really need to know more about your restaurant; size (number of seats), bar, food type, do you have experience, service provided (fine-dining, casual, up-scale, self-service, carryout, dining-in, delivery, etc.). All of those questions greatly effect the answers to how to staff your restaurant and how you should pay them.
You have a lot of work to do before you can run a restaurant, legally anyway. Check with your local Small Business Development Center; name can vary by State.
Stop the insanity........find a restaurant similar to what you want to open. Get a job there....any job from dishwasher to line cook to host/hostess. Learn the business while getting paid then decide if this is something you would ever want to attempt!
If you actually own the building then the best thing to do is find a person who will rent it and open a business, then sit back and collect the rent check.. thats much easier than all the hard work and risk
Owning a zoo sounds like a fun idea too, until you realize just how much S*it you have to deal with every day
I recently acquired a building that would serve well as a restaurant...
to that effect it was once a restaurant.
After sorting out everything I need to do...?
I'd suggest that you LEASE the space to a restaurant operator.
Then you can have your nihgts and weekends for your self.
If the space has the exhaust hood, cooking equipment, storage and scullery
all sorted out and passing code... you can get a premium $/sf from someone
who actually knows how to operate a restaurant.
See a real lawyer about writing the lease you'll need and liability issues.
I'd suggest that you LEASE the space to a restaurant operator.
Then you can have your nihgts and weekends for your self.
If the space has the exhaust hood, cooking equipment, storage and scullery
all sorted out and passing code... you can get a premium $/sf from someone
who actually knows how to operate a restaurant.
See a real lawyer about writing the lease you'll need and liability issues.
100% agree
plus the grease trap and other things you'll need...rent that space and let another person take it over
a lot less headache
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