What a restaurant operations consultant actually does, when an operation genuinely needs one, and how to tell a structural engagement from expensive advice.
A procedure a new cook can't follow alone, at the station, at 7pm is not a system — it's documentation. The eight-element structure, the five failure patterns, and the four tests that tell you it's working.
Most service problems that owners describe as staffing problems are actually flow problems. The team is not slow. The path between the pass and the table is badly designed, and every plate pays a small tax on the way out. The relationship between the kitchen and the dining room is the single most expensive piece of geometry in a restaurant. It sets ticket times, it sets how many covers a station can carry, and it sets how much energy the floor team has left at 8:30 on a Satur
