NCR CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE RESOURCES

Restaurant deep clean checklist to cover all you need for front of house and back of house

This article is part of our blog series, “Reopening your restaurant: What you need to know,” and gives you some ideas for managing and potentially reducing your expenses as you fully reopen your restaurant after the crisis.

Published May 13, 2020

Cleanliness and sanitation have always been essential to running a successful restaurant. But due to the current pandemic, it’s critical. One very important element in the reopening strategy for your business is a complete restaurant deep clean. Done properly, it will help keep your staff and customers safer.  

Make sure to include not just the normal areas that need to be cleaned often, but also areas that might have remained untouched for months – which now need to be cleaned every day. For the restaurant deep clean, leave no stone unturned and no nook and cranny untouched. Once everything is cleaned and sanitized, consider implementing a daily checklist to keep it that way. Below is an example of such a checklist. 

Front of house checklist items could include:

Daily cleaning checklist: 

  All entry door handles, inside and outside 

  All monitors and iPads, POS screens and printers 

  All table condiments 

  All check presenters 

  Coffee, tea and espresso machines 

  All water pitcher handles 

  All trays 

  All table tops between guest 

  Bar top area between guests 

 All ice scoop handles 

  All restroom surfaces—door handles in and out, sink fixtures, toilet fixtures, etc. 

  All tongs for bread/muffins and bread knives 

  All chair backs before and between guest seatings 

For your front of house operations: 

  Enforce use of gloves by your bartenders for any bar prep 

  Use only tongs or skewers for cocktail garnishes 

  Make sure soap and paper towels are available at all restroom and service area hand sinks 

  Place hand sanitizer at your greeter stand 

Back of house checklist items could include

Daily cleaning checklist: 

  All kitchen door handles inside and out 

  All walk in/freezer door handles 

  Sending all knives, tongs, spatulas, etc. through the dishwasher immediately after use 

  Sanitizing cutting boards before and after use 

  Sanitizing prep tables before and after using 

  All mixer, slicer, robo coupe, stick blender, etc. handles before and after using 

  All dish machine handles and buttons before, during and after service 

  Making sure soap and paper towels are available at all hand sinks 

  All ticket rails and expo counter before, during and after shift 

  All printers before, during, and after shift 

  All oven and stove knobs before, during, and after shift 

  All reach-in and drawer handles before, during and after shift 

  Ensuring that there is ABSOLUTELY NO BARE HAND CONTACT WITH READY-TO-EAT FOOD.   

Daily cleaning checklist for managers: 

  All computer keyboards and monitors, copier buttons, etc. 

  All thermostats 

  All phones 

  All office door handles 

  All office counter tops 

  Frequently asking employees to stop what they are doing, and go wash their hands.

  Monitoring all employee activity—any time you see an employee touch their face, hair, cough, sneeze, etc., you ask them to immediately go wash their hands. 

Everything you need to create­ a contactless dine-in experience

Let your guests see the menu, order, pay and tip— all from their mobile phone.

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