Restaurant and Food Service Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Restaurant Managers, Food and Beverage Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TH-019

Before you join: Participants should have some experience working in a restaurant, hotel food and beverage outlet, café, catering operation or similar customer-facing food-service setting.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Restaurants and food-service outlets operate on narrow margins while guests expect prompt, consistent and safe service. Managers must coordinate front-of-house service, kitchen production, purchasing, staffing, food safety and financial control during busy trading periods. Small failures in portion control, scheduling, stock rotation, table management or complaint handling can quickly affect profit, guest reviews and repeat business. This course addresses the practical management disciplines required to run a controlled, commercially focused food-service operation.

Participants learn to set operating standards, map the guest journey, manage service flow and use service recovery methods. They build skills in HACCP-based food safety control, recipe costing, menu engineering, purchasing specifications, inventory control and waste reduction. Financial sessions focus on restaurant profit and loss statements, prime cost, contribution margin, break-even analysis and daily trading reports. The course also covers staff scheduling, pre-shift briefings, coaching, restaurant marketing, reservation controls and digital reputation management.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with restaurant cases, group analysis, service simulations and management decision-making tasks. Participants work with realistic trading data, menus, staffing patterns, supplier records and guest feedback. They leave with a Restaurant Operations Control Pack containing reusable templates for service standards, food safety checks, inventory, labour planning, financial reporting and a 90-day improvement plan. The course suits managers responsible for restaurants, hotel food and beverage outlets, catering operations, cafés, institutional dining and multi-site food-service units.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply guest journey mapping and service blueprints to improve restaurant service delivery
  • Implement HACCP controls, allergen procedures and food safety monitoring records
  • Calculate recipe costs, food cost percentages, prime cost and contribution margins
  • Use menu engineering analysis to improve menu mix, pricing and profitability
  • Control purchasing, receiving, stock rotation, inventory variances and food waste
  • Prepare labour schedules and station plans from cover forecasts and service standards
  • Coach restaurant teams using structured observation, feedback and performance actions
  • Develop a 90-day restaurant improvement plan using operating and financial measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence interpreting restaurant sales, cost and labour reports
  • Practical methods for reducing waste, stock losses and uncontrolled food costs
  • Stronger ability to lead pre-shift briefings and manage busy service periods
  • Reusable tools for handling guest complaints and improving online review performance
  • A documented improvement plan for progressing into senior food-service management roles

For your organisation

  • Improved consistency in service sequence, table management and guest recovery
  • Tighter control of food costs, beverage costs, waste and inventory variances
  • Better labour deployment against forecast covers and trading demand
  • Reduced food safety and allergen risk through documented control procedures
  • Clearer daily and weekly management reporting for faster operational decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a restaurant operating model, management responsibilities and measurable service standards.

  • Restaurant concept statement linking target guests, occasion, offer and price point
  • Service-profit chain relationships between employee capability, guest value and revenue
  • Market positioning using competitor mapping, catchment demand and daypart analysis
  • Revenue centres, cost centres and accountability in restaurant operating structures
  • Managerial spans of control, shift leadership and escalation responsibilities
  • Daily management system using pre-shift briefs, line checks and handovers
  • Operating policies translated into measurable standards and staff routines

Participants can design and manage a consistent guest experience from reservation to departure.

  • Guest journey mapping from reservation enquiry through payment and departure
  • Service blueprint separating frontstage actions, backstage work and support processes
  • Sequence-of-service standards for greeting, ordering, delivery, clearing and farewell
  • Table management using reservations, walk-ins, waitlists and accurate turn-time estimates
  • Seven-step service recovery method: listen, apologise, solve, thank, document, follow-up
  • SERVQUAL dimensions used to diagnose reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles
  • Suggestive selling through needs questions, pairing recommendations and ethical upselling
  • Accessibility, cultural awareness and inclusive communication during guest interactions

Participants can manage food safety, hygiene and allergen controls through documented operating procedures.

  • HACCP flow diagrams identifying hazards from receiving through service and disposal
  • Critical control points, critical limits, monitoring records and corrective actions
  • Temperature danger zone controls for cooking, cooling, reheating and hot holding
  • FIFO rotation, date labelling and stock segregation preventing cross-contamination
  • Allergen management covering ingredient verification, communication, preparation and service
  • Personal hygiene standards, illness reporting and handwashing compliance checks
  • Cleaning schedules distinguishing cleaning, sanitising, verification and documented sign-off

Participants can assess menu profitability and establish controlled recipe and pricing practices.

  • Menu engineering matrix using popularity and contribution margin classifications
  • Recipe costing from yield tests, portion sizes, edible portions and supplier prices
  • Standard recipe cards specifying ingredients, methods, plating and portion controls
  • Menu mix analysis by item sales, food cost and gross profit
  • Psychological menu design using placement, descriptions, anchors and price presentation
  • Daypart menus aligned with production capacity, guest demand and speed
  • Dietary and allergen information maintained through controlled recipe changes

Participants can establish purchasing and inventory controls that protect quality and reduce losses.

  • Approved supplier criteria covering quality, price, delivery, traceability and payment terms
  • Purchase specifications defining grade, pack size, trim, freshness and substitutions
  • Par-stock levels calculated from usage, lead time, safety stock and storage
  • Receiving checks for quantity, temperature, condition, dates and invoice accuracy
  • Perpetual inventory records reconciled with physical counts and variance reports
  • ABC inventory analysis prioritising control effort by annual consumption value
  • Waste logs separating spoilage, preparation loss, overproduction, returns and theft

Participants can interpret restaurant financial results and take action on key profit drivers.

  • Restaurant P&L interpretation across sales, cost of sales, labour and overheads
  • Prime cost calculation combining food cost, beverage cost and direct labour
  • Food cost percentage tracked against theoretical cost and actual usage
  • Contribution margin analysis supporting menu prices, promotions and sales targets
  • Break-even covers calculated from fixed costs, average spend and contribution margin
  • Daily flash reports comparing sales, covers, average check and labour hours
  • 13-week cash forecast built from receipts, payroll, rent and supplier payments

Participants can plan restaurant service operations, staffing and shift controls against expected demand.

  • Forecasting covers from reservations, historical patterns, events, weather and dayparts
  • Labour scheduling matched to forecast covers, service standards and legal breaks
  • Station charts allocating sections, sidework, mise en place and closing duties
  • Pre-shift briefings covering reservations, specials, shortages, targets and safety risks
  • Kitchen-pass coordination using ticket times, call-backs and expo quality checks
  • Queue management measures tracking wait time, abandonment and table turns
  • Opening and closing checklists controlling readiness, security, cleaning and cash

Participants can recruit, train, coach and manage restaurant teams against defined standards.

  • Role profiles defining outcomes, service behaviours, authority limits and measures
  • Structured interviews using behaviour-based questions and scoring guides
  • Onboarding plans covering induction, food safety, station training and sign-offs
  • Four-step training method: explain, demonstrate, practise, confirm competence
  • Performance coaching using observation, feedback, agreed actions and review dates
  • Progressive discipline applied consistently to attendance, conduct and performance issues
  • Team motivation through recognition, fair rosters, communication and development paths

Participants can increase demand and average spend while protecting margin and service capacity.

  • Restaurant marketing plan linking target segments, proposition, channels and measures
  • Revenue management through reservations, deposits, cancellation rules and table duration
  • Average check growth using pairing, bundles, premium choices and staff prompts
  • Digital reputation management using review response standards, ownership and trend logs
  • Local area marketing through partnerships, events, offers and referral arrangements
  • Promotional calendar balancing demand periods, capacity constraints and margin targets
  • Campaign results measured through covers, spend, redemption and repeat visits

Participants can use operating measures and structured actions to improve restaurant performance.

  • Daily control dashboard combining sales, labour, waste, service and safety measures
  • Balanced scorecard measures linked to financial, guest, process and people goals
  • Root-cause analysis using five whys and fishbone diagrams for recurring failures
  • Corrective action register assigning owner, deadline, evidence and effectiveness review
  • Weekly operations meeting agenda reviewing exceptions, decisions and follow-through
  • Risk register covering food safety, staffing, cash, reputation and supplier disruption
  • 90-day action plan prioritising improvements, milestones, resources and measures

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Restaurant service standards and guest journey map
  2. HACCP monitoring and allergen control checklist
  3. Recipe costing and menu engineering workbook
  4. Purchasing, receiving and inventory control templates
  5. Daily restaurant flash report and labour scheduling model
  6. 90-day restaurant performance improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Restaurant Managers — need stronger control of service, labour, costs and daily trading performance
  • Food and Beverage Managers — oversee restaurant outlets and require consistent operating standards
  • Assistant Restaurant Managers — prepare for wider accountability for shifts, teams and financial results
  • Hotel Outlet Managers — manage guest experience and profitability within hotel food-service operations
  • Catering Managers — control production, service quality, food safety and workforce deployment
  • Entrepreneurs and Owners — need practical systems for managing an independent restaurant or café

Skills and tools covered

Restaurant operations controlFood cost managementGuest service designFood safety controlLabour schedulingMenu profitability analysis

Tools and standards

HACCP, SERVQUAL, Menu Engineering Matrix, Balanced Scorecard

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce restaurant management methods, followed by case work based on hotel outlets, independent restaurants, cafés and catering operations. Participants analyse menus, trading reports, staffing plans, stock records and guest feedback. Group exercises test decisions on service flow, food safety, scheduling, purchasing and complaint recovery. Simulations recreate pre-shift planning and busy-service management. Each participant translates course methods into a practical 90-day action plan for their own operation or a selected restaurant case.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have some experience working in a restaurant, hotel food and beverage outlet, café, catering operation or similar customer-facing food-service setting. They should understand basic restaurant terminology, such as covers, reservations, menu items, food cost and shift duties. Experience supervising staff or handling daily service is useful but not essential. No accounting qualification, culinary qualification, prior HACCP certification or advanced spreadsheet skill is required. The course explains financial and control methods using restaurant-based examples and working documents.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Some experience in a restaurant, hotel outlet, café, catering operation or food-service setting is expected. You do not need formal culinary training, an accounting qualification or prior HACCP certification.

Bring a laptop if possible, along with examples of menus, service procedures, trading reports or operational issues you can discuss. All course materials and working templates are provided.

It is intended for restaurant managers, food and beverage managers, assistant managers, outlet supervisors, catering managers and owners. It is particularly useful for people moving from service supervision into full operational responsibility.

This course focuses on managing the restaurant as an operating and commercial unit, rather than teaching cooking techniques. Food safety is covered as a management control area alongside finance, service, staffing, purchasing and sales.

Participants can use the supplied templates to review service standards, food costs, waste, labour deployment and guest feedback. The final action plan helps identify priority improvements, owners and measures for the next 90 days.

The course provides approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, restaurant cases, group exercises, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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