Restaurant Training

Train your staff on service, sales, and more.

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Overview

With every guest, your staff should strive to not only meet expectations, but exceed them. Our restaurant training content is based on Service That Sells!®, training developed by restaurant owners for restaurant owners. With a focus on increasing sales and improving service, our training prepares your staff for success.



Sample Restaurant Training: Responsible Alcohol Sales

Service & Sales Excellence


In a restaurant, service and sales go hand in hand. Without sales, service can’t exist, and without service, you can’t sell anything. Our Service & Sales Excellence restaurant training shows your servers how to improve service and increase sales with real-world restaurant techniques they can use on their very next shift.

Teaching Servers to Sell

Our Teaching Servers to Sell restaurant training course transforms order-takers into salespeople. When servers have the tools they need to suggestively sell, guests have a more enjoyable dining experience, sales improve for the restaurant, and servers make more money. Everyone wins! Topics in this course include restaurant sales basics as well as advanced strategies to increase check averages. 

Mastering Product Knowledge

You can’t sell what you don’t know! Our Mastering Product Knowledge restaurant training course is focused on increasing sales through excellent product knowledge. It teaches servers the importance of knowing the details of every item on the menu. As servers’ product knowledge improves, so does their confidence in making suggestions that will enhance the guest experience, improve sales, and increase tips. 

Service that Wows

Service is your restaurant’s invisible product. Guests will choose to come back to your restaurant instead of going to the competition based on the service they experience. The Service That Wows restaurant training course helps servers and other front-of-house employees understand the importance of providing exceptional service to every guest on every shift. 

Sell More Appetizers & Desserts

The most effective way to increase restaurant sales is through suggesting and selling extras such as desserts and appetizers. Our How to Sell More Appetizers & Desserts restaurant sales training course offers specific strategies and example dialogue to help servers provide better service, raise check averages, and increase tips.

Cycle of Service


With every guest who walks through the door, your staff should be striving to not only meet expectations, but exceed them. Our restaurant service training follows the Service That Sells!® Cycle of Service plan, breaking down a guest’s visit into separate “Moments of Truth” that cover the entire dining experience, from the moment guests pull into the parking lot until that final moment when they walk out the door.

Making Guests Feel Welcome

Making Guests Feel Welcome is the first step in the Cycle of Service. This restaurant training course covers the Moments of Truth that occur when guests first arrive at your restaurant. As part of the service team, employees need to understand that these first critical interactions set the stage for exceptional service throughout the dining experience.

Greeting & Seating

Next up in the Cycle of Service is Greeting and Seating. Providing exceptional service is the responsibility of every employee at the restaurant, starting with the host or greeter.  In this restaurant training course, employees learn how to handle the Moments of Truth related to tasks such as understanding guest expectations, answering guest questions over the phone, managing the wait, and seating guests.

Bussing Tables

Bussing tables is another important step in the Cycle of Service. Every member of the restaurant team plays a critical role in exceeding guests’ expectations and ensuring guests leave with a positive impression of the restaurant. This course covers the busser or service assistant’s role in cost control and guest service as well as specific best practices for bussing and cleaning tables. 

Generating Sales

Generating sales is the next critical step in the Cycle of Service. Servers are responsible for many Moments of Truth that happen during this portion of the dining experience. In this restaurant training course, employees learn how several aspects of a server’s job all lead to making sales, including preparing for a shift, completing side work, and accurately taking guests’ orders. 

Wrapping Up the Guest Visit

A bad impression at the end of the Cycle of Service can undo all the effort made during the visit to create an exceptional dining experience. In this restaurant training course, employees learn how every member of the team plays an important role in concluding the guest visit in a way that leaves a positive impression and creates guest loyalty. 

Succeeding as a Team

In the restaurant business, there’s no room for the expression “it’s not my job” when everyone is focused on providing exceptional service. Teamwork is what keeps the Cycle of Service rolling. Our Succeeding as a Team online restaurant training course shows employees how teamwork ties together all the Moments of Truth that make up a guest visit. 

Responsible Alcohol Sales Training


Restaurants and bars that sell alcohol have a legal obligation to do so responsibly. Staff training is a critical component of any alcohol sales program. Our Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service teaches servers and bartenders how to follow alcohol sales laws while delivering excellent customer service. Real-world scenarios show employees how to implement what they learn. Required training approved by the states of  CA, ME, MI, NY, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, or VT. Click here to preview our responsible alcohol sales training program for restaurants.

Responsible Alcohol Sales

Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service Training

Our Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service online training program is broken down into these easy-to-understand sections:

Understanding Your Legal Responsibilities

Recognizing Legally Acceptable ID

Refusing Service to Minors

Understanding Alcohol’s Effect on the Body

Recognizing Signs of Intoxicated Guests

50 Signs of Intoxication

Refusing Service to Intoxicated Guests

Back-of-House


There’s a reason the back of the house is also referred to as the “heart of the house.” To increase sales and improve service in the front of the house, operations must be running smoothly behind the scenes. Our restaurant training for your kitchen staff covers facility care and safety topics specific to back-of-house operations.

Interior Facility Care

Your customers have high expectations for cleanliness in your restaurant, and you must have that same level of expectation from your staff. Our Interior Facility Care restaurant training course includes topics on cleaning floor mats, restrooms, and coolers, as well as dishwashing and sweeping and mopping floors. 

Exterior Facility Care

Your customers begin forming impressions of your business before they even walk through your doors. The Exterior Facility Care online training course helps employees of all levels understand the importance of exterior care as well as the proper techniques to keep your exterior looking its best. 

Knife Handling

Proper knife handling is critical to back-of-house operations. Training all kitchen staff on knife safety and knife skills can reduce accidents and improve overall restaurant safety. Our Knife Handling restaurant training course helps employees of all levels understand how to properly use knives to complete their back-of-house tasks.

Human Resources


When you’re in control of what’s happening behind the scenes with your staff, you’re creating an environment where your team can excel with guests. Human resource issues such as sexual harassment, FMLA compliance, diversity and violence in the workplace can have a critical impact on your business. To attract, hire, and retain a strong workforce, you must provide a productive and safe work environment. With separate training curriculum for managers and employees, our Restaurant Human Resources series helps everyone in your company understand, prevent, and handle important HR issues.

HR Restaurant Training for Employees

Our HR Restaurant Employee curriculum covers critical issues related to maintaining a productive work environment, including topics such as FMLA, ACA Healthcare Marketplace, harassment prevention, diversity, violence in the workplace, and more. The courses in this restaurant training program provide a solid foundation for new employees and also serve as important refreshers for all employees. 

HR Restaurant Training for Managers

The HR Restaurant Manager training curriculum covers a restaurant manager’s responsibilities related to creating a productive work environment for all employees, such as diversity, harassment prevention, violence in the workplace, FMLA, and more. Managers at all levels should complete this training.

Operations


The restaurant business is show business, and that means that there is a lot happening behind the scenes to support the main attraction. For restaurants to be successful, staff must be trained on restaurant operations topics such as compliance, safety, and security. Our Restaurant Operations series provides critical training on topics that help keep your restaurant safe and secure for employees and guests alike.

Restaurant Compliance

Our Compliance training is designed to cover employee and manager compliance responsibilities related to the restaurant industry. This is critical training for employees new to the industry, but can also be used as a refresher course for employees at all levels. Topics include GHS HazCom, ADA, and PCI compliance.

Restaurant Safety

Safety must be a priority for any restaurant. Keeping employees and guests safe requires everyone on your staff to be trained on important safety topics. Our Safety courses cover a variety of topics including robbery deterrence, first aid, fire safety, safe lifting, severe weather preparedness, skimming prevention, and much more. 

Security Awareness

Our Security Awareness training helps restaurant employees of all levels understand the security risks restaurants face in this digital age. This training curriculum was designed to educate managers and team members as to the daily dangers they face and the steps they can take to help protect themselves and the company. 

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