Front-of-House Opening Checklist

Sweep the front walk, wipe door glass and handles, and check the sidewalk for cigarette butts and trash. The entrance is the first thing a guest sees; smudged glass and a dirty mat read as an unclean kitchen.

Stage clean menus (food, drink, dessert, kids), the printed reservation list, the seating chart with section assignments, working pens, and the wait-list clipboard. Pull any menus with food stains or torn corners and replace from the back stock.

Pull today's cover count and flag BNB notes — birthdays, anniversaries, allergies, regulars, large parties. Cross-reference against the floor plan so the host knows where to seat the 7pm six-top before it walks in.

Print a test ticket from the host terminal and confirm the kitchen printer also fires the test. A dead printer at open kills service for the first 30 minutes — catch it now, not when the first ticket drops.

Use sanitizer at the correct concentration (200-400 ppm quat or per your three-bay setup) and a clean side towel — not the bar rag. Pay attention to chair seats and banquette piping where crumbs collect.

Polish silverware and water glasses with a lint-free cloth before placing. Spotted glassware and waterspotted forks are the most common guest complaint logged in the first 15 minutes of service.

Top off shakers, wipe sticky bottle necks (ketchup, hot sauce, soy), and pull anything dated or low. Empty shakers mid-service are an avoidable table-touch.

Bring the well, call, and premium liquor up to par. Note any 86s for the floor — if the Bulleit Rye is out and won't arrive until tomorrow's PFG drop, the team needs to know before pre-shift.

Cut lemon and lime wheels and wedges, orange peels, and any cocktail-specific garnish (cucumber for Pimm's, Luxardo cherries restocked, olives drained). Date and cover; citrus held more than 24 hours dries out and tastes flat.

Wine glasses, rocks, highball, coupe, and pint glasses staged at each bartender's station. Polish anything coming out of the dish pit before it hits the rail — water-spotted stemware is a re-fire.

Pour a 2 oz taster from each tap. Check for foam, off-aroma, or cloudy pour — all signs of a blown keg, warm line, or dirty line. Lines should be cleaned every 2 weeks; flag any tap that's overdue.

Top off cocktail napkins, paper straws (or compostable per local ordinance — CA, NJ, and several cities ban plastic), check presenters and pens, and stage check spindles. Running out mid-rush sends servers walking instead of selling.

Roll enough sets to cover the expected cover count plus 30%. Rolled silver should be polished, not just dried — spots on a knife mean a re-roll and a comp on someone's table.

Walk the line with the sous chef. Get the day's 86 list (out-of-stock items), the feature specials with prices, and any modifications running short. Post the 86 list at the host stand and every wait station.

Call out the allergen-aware manager on shift (required in MA, IL, MI, NY, RI and others). Walk the team through any items with hidden allergens — soy in the house dressing, shellfish in the stock, peanut oil in the fryer. Read VIP and reservation notes from Resy/OpenTable so the host and server are aligned.

Confirm each server's section, opening side-work assignment, and cut order. If side-work runs more than 30 minutes continuous or 20% of the shift, the FLSA 80/20 rule kicks in and the tip credit can't be claimed for that time — track it.

Walk both emergency exits — paths clear, doors unlocked from inside, exit signs lit. Test the three-bay sanitizer bucket with a test strip; quat should be 200-400 ppm, chlorine 50-100 ppm. Log the reading on the daily sanitation sheet — health inspectors check this log.