Watched a kitchen in Austin switch to a new cleaning schedule last month

They moved from a big nightly clean to four smaller ones spread through the day. The head chef said it cut their closing time by almost an hour because the mess never built up. I saw them wipe down the flat top during a slow lunch period, which took maybe five minutes. It made me think about how my own place always has that huge pile of work at the end of the night. Has anyone else tried breaking their cleaning into smaller blocks during service?

3 comments

3 Comments

leo_park211mo ago

My old spot in Houston tried that for a month. We did a ten minute clean every two hours. It sounds good in theory, but it just killed the flow during busy rushes. You ever try to get a line cook to stop and scrub when tickets are hanging? The night crew still had to re-clean everything anyway. I guess it only works if you have the right team and a slow enough pace.

alicej251mo ago

My buddy's cafe in Austin had the same rule last year. They made the baristas wipe down everything at 2pm sharp, even with a line out the door. It just made everyone annoyed and the closers had to do it all over again anyway.

linda_ward1mo ago

Sounds like those places were doing it wrong (no offense to your buddy, Alice). The whole point is you clean during the slow times, not when you're slammed. If you're forcing a clean with a line out the door, you've already missed the window. It's about using those dead five minutes between lunch and dinner rushes smartly, not making a strict schedule everyone hates. When it's done right, the closers shouldn't have to re-clean anything because the work was actually finished.