Chapter 8 - Lay Out Your Restaurant for Profit

Value of a well planned layout | The problem of spare allocation to dining room and kitchen areas | Opinions of other consultants | The basic menu pattern as a major tool of analysis | Use of templates | Factors to consider in location of equipment within departments | Basic factor determining the location of departmental areas | The solution to traffic problems in the kitchen and dining room areas | Space requirements for the dining room | Determination of seating capacity in a cafeteria | Determination of seating capacity in a table service operation | The relationship of departmental function to departmental location

The value of careful planning and layout of food service operations has been demonstrated many times in the past. A well-planned layout invariably conserves high priced floor space, controls and promotes increased production through a compact, logical arrangement of the right equipment in the right place, increases employee efficiency and employee morale, and lowers payroll costs by successful application of design and layout principles.

The first problem that must be solved in layout is the allocation of space to the dining room and kitchen areas. Contemporary articles dealing with space allocations invariably recommend from 20% to 40% of the total space available be allocated to the kitchen and the remainder to the dining room area. Unfortunately, one of the factors that deter­mines space allocations to different areas is the distribution of total space available. There is a great deal of difference in area allocation when the total area is a square or when it forms a long rectangle. Moreover, an establishment that has two floor levels in which to house its operation will have considerably more leeway in assigning space than one with only one floor level.

Other factors also influence total space allocations. Legal regula­tions and union demands are good examples. In one state, fire codes may specifically prohibit placing heavy duty cooking equipment nearer than 18 inches from the kitchen wall. In another state, existing fire codes permit the placement of equipment as near as 6 inches from the wall. Similarly, in one state union demands may require the erection of shower stalls, employee lounges and libraries, whereas an operation located in another city or state or under the jurisdiction of an unaggressive union will not have to meet these demands.

It is important to note, therefore, that even if two operations are completely comparable in terms of type of operation, extent and variety of menu, anticipated volume of sales, and planned seating capacity, and where the total space is identical in amount and distribution, the percentages of total space allocated will still vary according to the impact of legal regulations, union demands, and arbitrary decisions of management.

Moreover, a detailed study of blueprints and space allocation data from nearly 200 of the nation's finest food service operations clearly demonstrated that space distribution based on percentages of total space were not only very misleading but in most cases completely unreliable.1 Unfortunately, there is no general rule or magic formula that will enable a prospective owner to determine the number of square feet that should be allocated to the various departments in his operation.

Mr. N. Bert Person, consulting engineer of St. Paul, Minnesota, wrote:

Although there are a few basic ideas which apply to every plan, experi­ence will show there are no two operations which are designed alike.

Many combinations of important factors create such diversified results.

One of the first, if not the first, thing to consider is the location of the restaurant and the type of food service decided upon by the owner or operator. Both of these factors influence the menu which in turn de­termines the kind and quality of food service equipment required. This naturally must be considered when determining floor space area.

Other leading designers, food facilities engineers, architects and consultants, such as Arthur Dana, Harry Freidman, L. I. Graham, John W. Hargrave, George Henderson, Frank T. Hilliker, L. J. Reutlinger, Fred Schmid, Walter J. Smith, and Sam V. Wells testified that "the number to be fed, the time allotted for eating, the type of service and menu are all necessary factors in determining the layout and the equipment.

"There is no cardinal rule or percentage figure that can be used universally for all types of food service in determining the allotment for space. Any attempts by an inexperienced person to use percentage figures or so called 'short cuts' to produce a layout would prove most inefficient."

The basic menu pattern therefore is a major tool of analysis not only in equipment selection but also in equipment layout and employee effectiveness. The scientific procedure used to allocate space to departments is outlined briefly as follows:

1.  Determine a basic menu pattern.

2.  Estimate sales on menu items.

1 Dukas, Peter. "Food Service Space Allocations," Institutions Magazine, August 1951, p. 72.

3.  Consider food purchasing policies regarding frozen, pre-cooked, pre-fabricated, or prepared food item, reliability and location of food supply sources, frequency of deliveries, and perish­ ability of food items.

4.  Ascertain the size, number and type of equipment needed to process the menu items. (See preceding chapter)

5. Compute from specifications of equipment the amount of space required to house the equipment.

6.  Determine layout equipment departmentally according to food flow analysis and frequency of use.

7.  Calculate daily and peak food purchasing requirements based on 2 and 3 above.

8.  Determine allocation of floor space to dry and refrigerated storage.

9.  Estimate the dining room space by analysis of peak patron loads and average seat turnover during those periods.

10. Allocate service area space by considering menu, peak load requirements, patron needs, and type of service offered.

11. Determine the number of employees needed and their dis­tribution in the various departments from study of hours of operation and peak production and serving requirements.

12. Calculate the amount of floor space needed for work and traffic aisles by studying equipment layout and employee duties.

The basic menu pattern and the methods used to determine the proper size, number and type of equipment has been discussed in the preceding chapter. After the necessary equipment is selected, the logi­cal procedure is to determine the amount of floor space required to house the equipment. This determination can easily be made by re­cording the exact dimensions of each piece of equipment from the pur­chase specifications. From this record of equipment dimensions cut a set of templates scaled at ¼ or ½ inch to one foot, depending on the total space available.

The best procedure to analyze space requirements entails the draw­ing of a plan showing total space available and structural features. This plan is generally scaled Vs. inch to one foot and will be used to judge the efficiency of space allocations and the departmental layout of the entire operation.

Place the equipment templates on a template representing the de­partmental area in which the equipment will be used. The specific loca­tion of the equipment within the department will depend on the following factors:

1. The number of times and duration of periods each piece of equipment will be used. Place equipment that is used more often in the most convenient and accessible area to the operator.

2.  Local and state regulations concerning factors such as fire, health and safety factors.

3. Accessibility for repairs, maintenance, and sanitation. Place equipment so that maintenance men can properly and easily service the machine, and in a location where employees can keep the unit and the area near the equipment clean and sanitary.

4.  Existing plumbing, heating, and electrical connections. Occasionally full advantage can be taken of various supply lines that have been installed prior to the new owner's occupancy. Where it is possible to take advantage of this factor, do so. Quite often, however, the oper­ator may disregard these lines on a departmental level, whereas he should not on the equipment level. That is, if he plans to locate his heavy cooking equipment in a departmental area that has supply lines, then he should try to locate the individual pieces of equipment to take advantage of this fact. If, on the other hand, he plans to locate the heavy cooking department in an area that was not used for cooking, he can properly disregard the supply lines.

5.  Structural features. Physical features of the building that form main supports or bracing of the building should of course be taken into account. Other features, such as decorative columns that can be torn down, may or may not be considered, depending on the proposed layout.

6. Handling of food. The equipment should be located within a department so that food moves in a direct line from storage or pre-preparation units to processing or service units. There are many good examples of this: locate a potato peeler adjacent to a sink, the sink near a vegetable steamer and the steamer near the mixer. In an opera­tion requiring only one cook's refrigerator, locate the refrigrator near the broiler, also next to a sink with a work table between the sink and the refrigerator.

Another idea to provide more landing  space and better maintenance in  the kitchen. (Courtesy of Institutions Magazine.)

7. Transportation of food. Arrange equipment so that employees do not have to transport heavy containers of food an unnecessary num­ber of feet.

8. Work stations within department. In any department place equipment so that each worker has all the equipment that he will use to perform his duties immediately before him. This eliminates cross traffic of employees and enables the owner to close one or more sta­tions independent of the remaining stations. For example, in a straight line arrangement of cooking equipment, place broilers, fryers, griddles on one end of the line; ovens and rangers on the other end. With this arrangement, one employee is a short order cook; the other for all roast, kettle, and range top items. Each has his own equipment easily accessible.

If an operator plans to do a large volume of business for the three meal periods—breakfast, lunch and dinner—consideration should be given to allocating work space for equipment according to the meal periods. A breakfast station, for example, could be set up so that a minimum of employees could work in a compact efficient area proc­essing only the necessary waffles, griddle cakes, eggs, and other break­fast items. All other cooking stations would be closed.

9.  Work space. A thirty-inch work aisle is the minimum for most types of food service operations. If work space is narrower than 30 inches, employees and equipment are in each other's way. Near equip­ment that is heated the work aisle must be at least 40 inches. The exact depth of the work aisle will depend on the equipment and uten­sils used and the number of employees. Check equipment requirements carefully. Can doors on equipment be opened fully without causing an obstruction? Are the work aisles deep enough so that long utensils such as roast pans can be placed into the oven compartment or simi­larly confined areas easily?

After the equipment and the work space has been roughed out on the departmental template, the departmental templates are placed on the total floor plan so that allocation of total space is properly organ­ized and checked. The basic factor that determines the location of the various departmental areas is the sequence of handling food. Ideally, food should move in a direct line to the customer: received, then suc­cessively refrigerated or stored, prepared, cooked, brought to the service area, and served to the customer in a continuous straight line. The ideal operation should consequently work as follows.

1. Receiving area.	The employee checks, weighs, receives the goods and turns, placing the food items in storage area.
2. Storage area.
3. Preparation area.	The   preparation   employee  removes the food from storage, trims, cuts bones, de-scales—pre­pares the food item and places it in daily stores.
4. Cooking or Processing area.	Cooks process the food and place it on the service counter where it is picked up by the waiter or waitress who turns and places the food on the customer's table.
5. Service area.
6. Dining room area.

Unfortunately, this ideal is never realized. Certain food items will move sideways and occasionally backwards before they can be moved forward. The basic principle of departmental location within total area, however, remains valid* realistic, and important. Each time that an employee takes unnecessary steps to perform his duties, the oper­ator is paying him for walking, not producing. Each time that food moves sideways, diagonally or backward, the flow of service is inter­rupted, the quality of food deteriorates; seat turnover per hour be­comes smaller, and the cost of doing business increases at the same time as customer dissatisfaction increases.

Evolving from the concept of proper departmental location accord­ing to sequence of handling food, minimum motion of employees, is an important factor to consider. In terms of cross-traffic, that of employ­ees in the relationship to other employees and to the customers must be carefully planned.

In the kitchen areas, employee traffic aisles should be clearly distinct and separate from work aisles. Wherever possible, traffic aisles should be at right angles or parallel to work aisles. In food pick-up areas, food stations should be arranged so that the food server can pick up the necessary food items in accordance with a prearranged sequence with no back tracking. In some operations stations can be located in this manner to pick up cold items first and hot items last. In other operations, pick-up stations may be located according to the plan of the menu. For example, the water dispensing station can be located in the dining room near the customer, the appetizer and soup station, the short order station, the roast and vegetable section and the dessert sta­tion may be set up in that order so that the servers move from right to left in a continuous line to pick up their orders.

Traffic bottlenecks in the dining room can be largely eliminated by considering the following factors:

1. Plan employee traffic so there are as few intersections with customer traffic as possible. There is no reason for employees to obstruct the path of a customer in any operation.

2.  Bring as many of the food and utensil items as possible in or near the dining room area. Almost all operations have service stations in the dining room for water, glasses, coffee, cups and saucers, silver­ ware, and napkins. Not many have planned their dining rooms so servers can also obtain various juices, soups and crackers, dessert, and other food items without moving to the kitchen.

3.  Plan the dining room layout so that the kitchen area is centrally located and adjacent to the dining room. Wherever possible, eliminate significant differences in the distance of one dining room station to the kitchen and other dining room stations.

4.  Eliminate a great deal of employee traffic by installing labor saving equipment in the dining room. Equipment such as the tele­phone, walkie-talkie, and microphone enables the waitress to place an order without leaving the dining room area. The teleautograph not only places the order for the server but also gives management a writ­ten record of all food ordered. This information can be classified ac­cording to individual sales, value and description of food sold.

A chart of work flow sequence is a distinct aid to the enterprising owner. In the dining room the work sequence follows a general pat­tern: after the patrons are seated, the server brings the menu and the water to the guest. As soon as the guests place their menus down on the table or otherwise signal the waiter or waitress, their order is taken, the server walks to the kitchen, places the food order and returns to the station to see if other customers have arrived. After a few minutes, depending on the type of food item, the server returns to the kitchen to see if the order is ready. If the food is not ready, server may wait in the kitchen or return to the dining room. Later, when the entree is finally obtained, the server will eventually walk again to the kitchen for a dessert or beverage. If the servers are untrained, this procedure can go on and on, accumulating higher and higher labor costs and unproductivity.

A work flow chart will show the number of times a waiter or wait­ress enters the kitchen, moves away from the table to obtain material to serve guests and the length of time taken by each movement. Obvi­ously, any piece of equipment that will eliminate any action will save money for the owner and increase service to the restaurant's patrons.

If the service station is centrally located, equipped with menus, water, coffee, dessert, soup, napkins and silverware, and dirty dish bussing sections, the servers will not have to move more than a few feet to serve customers instantly. If the food items are coded, time can be saved in writing the order. If a teleautograph or other information transmitting device is used, it is not necessary walk to the kitchen to place an order. If each server is given a code number and a set of inconspicuous signal lights are installed, the cooks can signal the servers, eliminating the need for walking to and from the kitchen to see if the order is ready. As each piece of labor saving equipment does its job, the number of customers each server can handle is increased, the seat turnover per hour is increased, hot food comes out from the kitchen hot, cold foods are fresh and appetizing and service to the customer is increased and the number of servers needed for any meal period is reduced.

When the first stage of remodeling the Indiana Memorial Union food facilities began, designers were faced with a common problem—building support columns. However, they made ingenious use of these natural obstructions by curving the counter around one column and placing all hot food at this point, thus creating a by-pass. (Courtesy of Institutions Magazine.)

Space Requirements for the Dining-room

A very rapid method of estimating the number of square feet per seat in the dining rooms of most food service operations is to multiply the number of seats by the number of square feet shown in the table below.

Banquet                                    8-10 sq. feet (depending on average check)
Short order operation               12 sq. feet (average check .35-7CW)
Table service restaurant            14 sq. feet (average check $1.25-$ 1.85.
                                                May vary because of structural obstacles,
                                                absence, or presence of complete service
                                                stations in dining room.)
Cafeteria                                  14 sq. feet (average check .85-$ 1.25)
Deluxe table service                  16-18 sq. feet (average check per person
                                                over $2.25)

This method is used to give the individual operator an approximate idea of the space requirements in his dining room. In actual practice, when the number of tables, seats, stools, or booths have been deter­mined, the operator with or without the aid of the seat manufacturer should make a scale drawing of his dining room and superimpose to scale the dimensions of the various pieces of furniture and fixtures he plans to purchase.

To Determine Seats Required in a Cafeteria

This depends on the speed of the cafeteria line, the duration of the peak period, the seat turnover during this period, and a safety factor.

The number of persons that can pass through a well organized line in a commercial cafeteria is 7 to 9 per minute. A good operator can reach 7 a minute; an exceptional operator about 9; the average oper­ator anywhere from 3-6. In a straight line set up, the exceptional operators do not attempt to pass more than 9 people per minute. Time after time experience has shown that as the speed of the line reaches or increases beyond 9 people a minute, not only do the customers complain of being rushed, but more to the point, the average check per person decreases materially.

Only in the island type cafeteria where people can move from one food station to another without forming a line is it possible to increase the number served per minute. In this instance, although the average check falls considerably, the seat turnover and the number of people that can be served per minute (16-18) increases.

The seat occupancy in commercial cafeteria is about 25 minutes. Variations from this standard will depend on the average check per person, the training of service and dining room personnel, the type of customer, and the atmosphere deliberately created by management to induce guests to leave or to encourage them to remain and gossip.

To illustrate this procedure of determining seating capacity in the dining room, study the example shown below:

A cafeteria operator plans to have 7 guests moving through his line per minute. His average check is $1.10, and his seat turnover is 2 per hour. The peak period of business is from 12:15 to 1:15 and he wants a 10% safety factor included in the seating capacity determination.

The formula for computing the number of seats required is:

Speed of line per minute times no. of
minutes in peak period
                                                                         + 10% safety factor
Seat turnover peak period

Consequently, substituting figures

          

7 times 60                  420
 + 10% =        + 10% = 210 + 10% = 231 seats
2                             2

To Determine Seats Required in a Table Service Operation

The dollar investment in tables and seats in a table service operation as in any operation will depend on the relationship between the amount of expected profits, the required sales volume, and amount of investment. (See chapter on location) For example, if the desired profit before taxes is $10,000 and the prospective operator, based on his past experience, anticipates operating at a 10 per cent profit before income tax, the required annual sales volume is $100,000 dollars.

The next step is to determine the number of operating days in the year and divide the annual sales volume by the number of operating days. The procedure will give the average daily sales volume needed to make the desired profit. Since sales every day do not follow a straight line for example, $300 dollars Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the average daily sales figure must be adjusted upward to reflect peak volume days.

This procedure is followed by an analysis of the menu and the traffic. The menu study determines the average menu item price, and consequently the average check per person and the seat turnover for each period. Analysis of the traffic and past experience provides the operator with an approximate idea of the percentage of total sales volume that he will obtain during the various meal periods of his peak day. To the figures obtained from this study if a safety factor of 10 to 15 per cent is added, depending on the size of the restaurant, the seating capacity of the restaurant may be accurately determined.

To Illustrate:

Desired Profit                                                                             $10,000
Net operating profit percentage                                               .10
Sales needed                                                                    $100,000
Number of operating days                                                              333 ⅓
Average sales per day                                                  $300.00
Estimated peak sales day                                                           $380.00
Dollar volume of business
            anticipated                                Lunch 40%               Dinner 60%
Dollar volume each meal
            period                                         “     $152                   “     $228
Average check                                        “    $1.00                   “    $1.50

Number of guests served:

During each peak meal period   152                           152
Seat occupancy each period                   40 minutes                  60 minutes
Length of meal period                               1 hr. 20 min.   2½ hrs
Seat turnover                                            2                                2.4
Number of guests served each
            meal turnover                              76                              63.3
Number of seats needed at
            peak meal period                        76
Plus 15 per cent safety factor                  11.4
Total seats needed                                  87

Relationship of Function to Location

A rule evolving from the concept of locating departments according to the sequence of handling food is the rule regarding function. Each department has a major activity to perform. The department con­cerned with this activity should be analyzed and properly located so that it can perform its special function most effectively. To do this consideration should be given to the relationship between the function of one department and of the others. By locating each so that activity of one supplements the activity of the others with speed and efficiency, the more common mistakes in layout planning will be eliminated.

To illustrate this procedure, the dishwashing department's function is to receive soiled dishware, glassware, trays and silverware from the dining room area, wash these articles, and arrange for their distribu­tion to the service area. Associated with these activities is the problem of performing this function with a minimum loss of time, energy and with a minimum of breakage. It seems apparent that the greater the distance between the dishwashing area and the dining room and serv­ice areas, the greater amount of labor time and energy will be used transporting clean and soiled articles to and from this department. In addition, since the articles are handled a longer time over a consid­erable distance, the amount of breakage incurred will be increased. Consequently, in most operations, the dishwashing department should be located adjacent to the dining room and near the service area.

There are cases where factors such as total space available, high rental of first floor levels, or the need to serve a number of decentral­ized serving areas make it impractical to locate the dishwashing de­partment near or adjacent to either the service or dining room area. In these instances the exact location can be determined by considering the factor that creates the problem and its subsequent effect on the function of the dishwashing department.

If, for example, there is a definite need to conserve the high cost first floor level area, the dishwashing department may be moved to the basement level and conveyors and subveyors installed. On the other hand, if the problem consists of providing several service areas with the necessary glass, silver and dishware, the dishroom may be located adjacent to the busiest dining room and equipment installed to trans­port clean and soiled ware to the service areas.

Each department of the kitchen can be similarly located. The receiving area should be adjacent to an easily accessible vendor's entrance to the building and near the dry and refrigerated storage areas. The vegetable preparation areas should be next to the vegetable storage areas and the vegetable processing equipment, such as steamers and steam kettles; the pot and pan washing section should be near the cooks' and bakers' station. The butchers' department should be near the meat refrigeration area and the meat processing area. Each depart­ment performs a special function. The efficiency of the total layout will depend on the degree that each department is located so as to per­form its own activity efficiently and supplement the functions of other departments.

The use of departmental templates representing the dimensions of the departmental areas is a very ample way to check the efficiency of the total layout. By placing these cardboard templates on the blueprint, not only can the entire layout be visualized, but a great deal of time and unnecessary expense saved because any proposed change in de­partmental location merely entails shifting these templates.

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