Community Contest - How do you prepare for the Busy Season?

[jenni]

Hi everyone! 👋

I wanted to share some great news! From March 15-31, we want you to reply and share how you and your team get ready for the busy season in this post. By doing so, you’re automatically entered for the chance to win $1,000 to support your restaurant's busy season preparations! Terms Apply.

We'd love to get to know you and hear how your restaurant team prepares for the busy season. Reply and tell us more about you below!

• Name
• Restaurant Name
• Location
• How long have you been a Toast customer?
• What are your best tips on preparing for the busy season?

[AlishiaM]

Hey, all!

My name is Alishia, and I work for Gafner Hospitality Group. We've got 4 separate concepts in Longmont, CO, and we've been using Toast for a little over a year, recently converting all of our restaurants from Aloha.

For all of our locations, busy season means open patios -- more sections, tables... and more staff needed! Our scheduled staff increases by 15-30% (depending on the location). We start our hiring push in early April, taking the time to choose the best candidates for the positions and being careful to spread our training out over the next 6-8 weeks, so that every new employee gets the attention they need in order to be successful.

We spend a lot of time cleaning, setting up, and decorating outdoor spaces, which includes de-winterizing some pipes and other equipment -- part of the process means routine maintenance. Many, MANY umbrellas get purchased for shade. Where Toast is concerned, updating all of our floor plans for the outside tables (which seem to change every year in arrangement), checking our item routing for the added service bars, and making sure all hardware components (especially the handhelds) are in working order are all part of the annual checklist.

We're looking forward to a killer season!

[chefsterlingp]

I'm Sterling and I am the Chef de Cuisine for Pieri Hospitality Group in Conshohocken , PA. We've been using Toast since August 2022. 

We use the Product Mix funtion to pull sale numbers for individual items sold during a specific time period to determine what items are selling the best. We use this information to market the items that may be selling a bit slower to pick up steam on those items specifically. 

I use the price fluctuation charts to keep an eye on changing prices to source similar items (while still high quality) at a lower price to increase profit. I also have access to 2 other restaurant Toast accounts within our groups so I'm able to monitor their pricing and sourcing as well. 

Toast helps us manage inventory as well as cost all of our items before we run new menu items and specials.  

[adamsspringsgc]

My name is Megan Mullins, and I am currently running Adams Springs Golf Course, Bar and Restaurant remotely. As a recent college graduate from the University of Oregon (recent as in a week!) I have been helping out my small family business on top of completing my major requirements. Operating a restaurant is extremely hard work (as we all know), and something that we all crave at Adams Springs. The fast pace lifestyle for individuals in order to keep the business running, is so worth it. 

I never thought that my education would help transcribe into what is important in running a business, especially seeing the fast changed that needed to occur in 2020 due to Covid. As a product that is easy to use, Toast has helped us transition to a business practice that we never expected. It is easy to allow employees to access the data needed, and especially help our kitchen staff update the menu items regularly.

In the upcoming season, we find pride in creating weekly specials within Toast for customers to be able to try new things. In doing so, we will use all aspects of Toast to better transition our menu items to aid customers with selecting a meal that is perfect for them! We enjoy looking at the number of products sold to provide information to the customers that it is in high demand of others, helping them with their decision making for their taste buds! 

[jenni]

Thank you to everyone who shared all of your great tips on how you and your teams prepare for the busy season. A big congratulations to @NealPamsbar on being the winner of our March Community Contest! Everyone stay on the lookout for future events.

-Jenni