Beverage Restock Checklist

Read the walk-in, beer cooler, and bar low-boy thermometers. All cold-holding must be 41°F or below per FDA Food Code. A reading above 41°F is the most common critical violation on an unannounced health inspection — log the actual number, not a checkmark.

Any unit reading above 41°F is out of compliance. If out of spec, move product to a working unit, tag the failed unit, and trigger the service call before continuing the restock.

Call the refrigeration vendor on the emergency contact sheet. Relocate any TCS product (dairy, juice, citrus) to a working low-boy or walk-in. Document the time product moved — anything held above 41°F for more than 4 hours must be discarded.

Older dated bottles and cans move forward; new delivery goes to the back. Pull anything past its use-by date — citrus juice, dairy-based mixers (Bailey's, horchata), and house-made syrups are the usual culprits.

Pull from the liquor room against the bar par sheet — vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey wells first, then call and premium. Use a sealed-bottle-for-empty-bottle exchange so the inventory log stays clean for MarginEdge or R365 reconciliation.

By-the-glass whites and rosés go in the BTG cooler; reds to the speed rack at room temp. If a vintage rolled over since the last menu print, flag the change for the menu update step — pouring a 2022 against a menu listing 2021 is a common guest correction.

Check keg levels by weight or by pour count from the POS. Swap any keg under 15% — running out mid-service is worse than the spare. Confirm CO2 and nitrogen tank pressure; under 600 PSI on CO2 means it's time to swap.

Hit par on every SKU in the bottle cooler. Pay attention to seasonals and the N/A beer line — N/A beer demand has roughly doubled and these are the SKUs most often left under-stocked.

Confirm the state ABC license, federal TTB basic permit, and food service permit are posted at the bar and unexpired. An expired license found on an ABC walk-through is an immediate suspension in most states.

Refill the bar reach-in to par with tonics, club soda, ginger beer, cold-pressed juice, and bottled still and sparkling. Front-rotate older product (FIFO) — soda is the SKU most often found past code on inspection.

Whole bean, decaf, espresso, loose-leaf and bagged tea, hot chocolate, matcha. Anything under 1.5x daily usage gets added to today's distributor order. If today is a delivery day, confirm the drop arrived against the PO before counting.

Cocktail napkins, paper and reusable straws, stirrers, coasters, picks. Polish glassware at the same time — water-spotted Burgundy stems are the #1 BTG return at most full-service spots.

Lemon and lime wheels, orange twists, mint, basil. Cut to spec and store covered in the bar reach-in. Citrus on a TCS-relevant garnish: held above 41°F more than 4 hours = discard.

Simple, ginger, demerara, grenadine, and any batched cocktail on the menu (Manhattans, negronis, espresso martinis). Date and label every container with prep date and 7-day use-by — undated house product is the most common bar citation on inspection.

Test with a strip: quat 200-400 ppm, or chlorine 50-100 ppm depending on house chemical. Log the reading. Inspectors test the strip themselves — a sanitizer reading that doesn't match yours is a critical violation.

Pull a 2-oz sample from each tap. Check for foam, off-flavor, or cloudy pour. Lines are typically cleaned every 14 days — if it's been longer or the pour shows sour/buttery notes, escalate to a line clean before service.

Book the line-cleaning vendor for the next opening day before service. In the meantime, take the affected tap offline and 86 it on the POS so servers don't promise it to guests.

Sample each button on the soda gun and the BIB tower. Watery output = empty bag; flat output = CO2 line issue. Brix-test the cola line if guests have flagged sweetness in the last week.

Sanitize bar top, speed rails, drain boards, and the back-bar shelf in front of the bottles. Use the sanitizer bucket from the three-bay test, not a spray bottle of unknown concentration.

Walk the BTG list, cocktail list, and draft list against what's actually behind the bar. Anything out gets 86'd on Toast or the house POS before service so servers can't ring it in.

Pre-shift lineup with servers and runners: tonight's cocktail feature, new BTG additions, the 86 list, and any allergen note on the bar program (egg white in sours, dairy in espresso martini, nut orgeat). Allergen-aware manager on shift required in MA, IL, MI, NY, RI.

Manager confirms restock complete, dispensing checks passed, license posted, and FOH briefed. This sign-off is the audit trail if a temp issue, license question, or guest complaint surfaces later in service.