4 Common Restaurant Challenges—And How to Overcome Them

By Megan Prevost

Every restaurant hits a roadblock at some point. From the Michelin-starred to food trucks with Michelin tires, every food-service business will run into obstacles or challenges from time to time. While problems can make you feel discouraged and overwhelmed, many common restaurant challenges can be overcome with a little help.

How to identify challenges at your restaurant

One of the best ways to stay on top of problems is to add comment cards to the tail end of the guest experience. Whether cards are dropped at tables along with the check or attached to a receipt, comment cards are a time-tested tool to directly collect guest feedback.

You'll want to take most comments with a grain of salt; however, make sure to pay special attention to recurring feedback. These are the issues that are worth your time. Are there multiple complaints about the pickup time of a specific menu item or about the speed of your service? Repeat feedback is your canary in the mineshaft that signals potential trouble ahead. Fixing even small recurring problems will keep them from snowballing into larger ones and will remove an issue that is resulting in negative customer feedback.

Common restaurant challenges

1. Menu challenges

Designing a menu may seem like a no-brainer, but menu design is one of the most critical elements for setting the stage of a dining experience. Without a well-thought-out menu, you risk creating obstacles to your guests’ meal enjoyment.

Think about the amount of information you want to disclose when people read your menu. A minimalist description has been a significant trend over the past several years, with a dish’s name followed only by a short list of a few featured ingredients. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, and it has the added benefit of being a visually sleek presentation, but it may not highlight potential allergens or how a dish is cooked.

If the feedback from your guests says that your menu is difficult to read, consider doing a redesign. Make sure to focus on the specific complaints. If there’s a common allergen that guests keep bringing up, find a way to signify dishes that are allergy-friendly or are easy to modify.

2. Slow service

If you have a lot of complaints that the service is slow, do your servers have a clear understanding of what's expected of them? If not, you may need to create new systems for them to follow.

For example, in many restaurants, there is an expectation that tables are greeted within two minutes, drinks are on the table within ten, appetizers are out within fifteen minutes of drinks, and entrees are out around twenty minutes after appetizers. There should also be regular table check-ins roughly every five to ten minutes. This formula can be tweaked to work at both upscale or casual environments.

To ensure that servers are able to maintain time guidelines, schedule annual or biannual mock training sessions with management. No matter the level of experience of a server, it never hurts to refresh a skill set like minute-to-minute time management.

If there are certain menu items that tend to take longer to prepare and serve, try to come up with a solution that will keep customers happy. Should servers communicate better with diners on when to expect the dish to be served? Or can the workflow in the kitchen be adjusted to speed things up? Sometimes, when a situation can’t be improved, the best option may be to remove a problem item from the menu.

3. Problems with disposable products

Disposable items can become a recurring and unnecessary expense very quickly. Since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, many restaurants have made the shift to disposable products to ensure cleanliness and safety for guests and staff alike. Disposable menus, utensils, napkins, etc. have become a standard in the past two years.

One common restaurant challenge is that disposable products can also “cheapen” a restaurant in the eyes of some guests. Consider finding creative solutions to address this common restaurant challenge. For example, in many places, disposable menus have been replaced with QR codes that lead customers to a web version of the menu. Or, instead of using paper napkins, if you can safely return to using linens and store your used linens in a way that ensures cleanliness, it can go a long way toward making your restaurant feel upscale.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• 10 Tips for Sitting Down to a Business Dinner in China
• 10 Tips for Home-Based Businesses
• 6 Reliable Tactics That Can Discourage Employee Theft
• 5 Rules for Effective Communication
• What Should I Do If My Tenant Breaks the Lease on My Rental Property?

4. Don't overlook problems with your staff

While the challenges you receive on comment cards are important to deal with, don’t discount staff morale and unity as a concern. When your staff approaches you with their problems, take them seriously. Some restaurateurs feel there’s always more help to hire, but the truth is that your business lives and dies according to the quality and morale of your staff.

Organize events for staff to bond as a group, conduct periodic re-trainings on standards, and make sure everyone feels welcome to talk to you if there is a conflict with another staff member. When employees know they can go to you and that they are valued and taken seriously, they’re more likely to stick around and want to grow and improve in their job.

If someone is asking to expand their role and seek new opportunities, outline what they need to do for that growth to take place. Don’t stand in an employee's way; cross-trained staff members are incredibly valuable for both the day-to-day operations of your business as well as staff cohesiveness.

RELATED: How to Deal With Distressed Clients