Restaurant Opening Checklist

Read the walk-in thermometer and confirm 41°F or below for cold-holding compliance. Record the reading on the temp log — gaps in the log are the documentation problem when an inspector or guest complaint arrives. If reading is 42°F or above, flag for the maintenance step below before any product moves in or out.

Freezer should read 0°F or below; reach-ins and low-boys 41°F or below. Record each unit on the temp log. Reach-ins running warm by mid-morning is the most common indicator of a failing gasket or condenser before full failure.

Use a quat or chlorine test strip per the sanitizer in use. Quat target is typically 200-400 ppm; chlorine 50-100 ppm. Log the ppm reading. Sanitizer below spec means dishes leaving the pit are not actually sanitized — a critical-violation finding on inspection.

Each hand sink needs hot water, soap, and single-use towels. Missing soap or towels is an automatic citation in most jurisdictions and forces the station out of service until corrected.

Check hood vents, dish machine wash and rinse temperatures, ice machine output, and any reported issues from the closing manager's notes. Log anything out of spec for the maintenance follow-up below.

Log the issue in the maintenance system with unit, symptom, and time observed. For walk-in or freezer out of range, move TCS product to a working unit and document the transfer time — the 4-hour rule starts when food first leaves safe holding.

If a piece of equipment going down means menu items can't fire — fryer, salamander, ice machine — push the 86 to the POS and the pre-shift lineup notes so FOH knows before doors open.

Light pilots, bring flat top to service temp and verify with surface thermometer, check fryer oil clarity and skim or filter as needed. Salamander and broiler up to temp before line check tasting.

Sous or lead line cook walks each station against the par sheet. Note any prep that's short for the projected covers. Pull use-by dated items forward FIFO; toss anything past code with date and reason on the waste log.

Sous tastes sauces, soups, dressings, and proteins held from yesterday. Anything off goes to waste; anything short goes on the 86 list. The 86 list goes to expo, the GM, and into the POS so servers see it at lineup.

Detergent, rinse, and sanitizer charged on the dish machine; racks staged. Sanitizer buckets dropped at each station with fresh wiping cloths submerged. Test strip the buckets — same ppm spec as the three-bay.

Roll silverware to par, fill water pitchers, refresh condiment caddies, polish glassware, check restrooms top to bottom, vacuum traffic lanes. Track side-work assignments by section so closing tip-out reflects actual work done.

Hosts pull Resy / OpenTable / SevenRooms for the day. Mark VIPs, allergies, anniversaries, large parties, and special requests on the seating chart. Cross-check seating against any closed sections from call-outs.

Bartender pulls liquor and beer to par, restocks well, cuts citrus and garnish for the shift, polishes barware, checks draft line pressure and pour. Confirm the liquor license is posted and current — expired postings are an immediate ABC violation.

Floor manager walks the dining room: tabletops level and aligned, candles or sconces working, menus clean with current inserts, music at service volume, HVAC at service temp, entrance and host stand inviting.

Cover features, 86 list, large parties, VIPs, the day's training point, and the sales goal. Post section assignments. Keep it under 10 minutes — a 25-minute lineup eats prep and breeds resentment.

Confirm the allergen-aware certified manager on duty (PCFP, AllerTrain, or state equivalent — required by MA, IL, MI, NY, RI, and others). Walk the team through today's allergen-flagged dishes and the substitution paths. Reinforce allergen-ticket protocol: dedicated tools, dedicated surface, glove change, no shared fryer oil.

Any tipped employee on their first shift needs the FLSA tip-credit notice in writing before the shift starts. Without the notice, the tip credit is invalid and the employer owes full minimum wage for those hours. File the signed acknowledgment in the employee folder.

Collect the signed tip-credit notice from each new tipped employee and upload to the employee folder. This is the document a wage-and-hour audit asks for first.

Toast / Square / Aloha terminals up, kitchen printers firing, expo printer firing, card readers paired. Run a test check and a $0.01 test card transaction. Confirm online ordering and delivery integrations (DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub) are accepting orders.

Count each drawer to the assigned starting bank with the assigned bartender or server present. Both sign the count sheet. Per-employee variance log starts here — chronic shortages on the same drawer flag in the close.

Lights up to service level, music at service volume, host at the stand, doors unlocked. Confirm with BOH that the line is fired and ready before the first ticket.