The Two Most Important Times of the Day Someone in Charge Has to Be In the Restaurant

Okay maybe it's just me but there is some places that everyone has worked at where the restaurant serves breakfast , lunch , and dinner like the inn where my wife works.

There is perhaps a Restaurant Manager and 3 Supervisors. When my wife opens for breakfast there is always the problem that the night crew has not set up things properly , or done the silver , etc... This causes a great deal of stress for her in the morning. This only happens when no one is present to supervise closing duties to ensure things are done right for the morning shift.

My wife is responsible for setting up the breakfast buffet and other breakfast opening duties. The supervisor saunters in around 8 or 9AM when it would be too late to fix anything or see what hasn't been done the night before. So if someone shows up late or there is problems with getting the food out for the buffet on time etc... it is generally all left up to her to handle. Whereas having a supervisor would be helpful to facilitate things.

I really believe if a dining room is to work the first hour and the last hour has to have a supervisor present at all times. This is when the most things happen. Maybe a guest is becoming a bit obnoxious after too much to drink at the end of the night or in the morning a group is coming in and no one the night before did a proper set up and they changed their time of arrival creating havoc amongst the service staff with no leader present.

Too many places I have seen the managers and supervisors beg off early in the evening or arrive later in the morning only to hear what happened after an event occurred rather than being their at the time it happened to fix the problem. Managers have a tendancy to delegate their job over to others who are inadequate. My wife is more than adequate but she is not a supervisor.

So in my view my suggestion to all supervisors and managers is have someone in charge during the pre-opening and the closing of a restaurant. You will find it to be a much smoother operation and a happy bunch doing the work.