Daily Specials and Menu Update Checklist

Set aside a dedicated cutting board, tongs, sauté pan, and color-coded gloves for the allergen-free build. Cross-contact at the plating step is the most common anaphylaxis vector — same fryer oil, same board, or unchanged gloves are all citation-level failures.

Sum the recipe-card unit costs for protein, starch, veg, sauce, and garnish. Use current invoice pricing — produce can swing 20% week-over-week and last month's recipe card will under-cost the plate.

Target food cost percentage on specials should match or beat the menu average. If the plate cost is $7.20, a 30% food-cost target sets the menu price at $24. Round to the restaurant's price ladder ($23 / $24 / $26) rather than odd cents.

Build one full plate to spec before service. Executive chef or sous tastes, checks portion weight against the recipe card, and signs off. Photograph the approved plate as the line's reference for the night.

Add the special as a new menu item with the priced amount, modifier groups, allergen tags, and the prep station route. Verify it prints to the correct expo printer before opening — a special routed to the wrong station is a Friday-night ticket-time disaster.

Use the approved plate photo. Tag any local sourcing (farm, brewery, fishery). Update Google Business Profile post so the special shows in search and Maps for tonight's diners.

Cover the components, the price, the allergens, the wine or cocktail pairing, and the count available. Servers should taste a portion at lineup — they sell what they've eaten.

Only run when the special carries a top-9 allergen and a clean-build path is required. Sous walks the line through the dedicated board, tools, and glove change at the call of an allergy ticket.

Run the Toast or Square sales-mix report for the special: covers sold, revenue, comp/void rate, and attach rate to entrée mix. A special that sold under 10% of entrée mix didn't land — log the reason (price, description, server push).

One sentence each from sauté, grill, expo, and the floor lead: was the ticket time sustainable, did the plating hold up, did guests push back on price or description? Log to the running specials journal.