How to run a full terrace at peak hours
Published
A full terrace is the best hour of the day, as long as you can handle it. When service slips, guests wait, wave, get annoyed and leave without ordering a second round. Here is how to prepare for the rush so the terrace stays pleasant for guests and staff alike.
Start the free trialKnow your peak hours
Every venue has its peaks: morning coffee before work, the after-office crowd, weekend afternoons, football nights, and the hours after ftour during Ramadan. Write them down and plan your staff around them, instead of discovering the rush once it has already started.
Tell the team about special nights well ahead. A big match is prepared in the morning: drinks stock, ice, clean glasses, and tables placed so everyone can see the screen.
A clear zone for every waiter
The number one cause of terrace chaos is 'everyone serves everyone'. Two waiters go to the same table while another table waits twenty minutes. Split the terrace into zones and give each waiter their own tables for the shift.
Number every table clearly and logically, and pin the floor plan behind the counter. A new waiter should find table 14 without asking.
Prepare everything before the rush
The rush leaves no time for searching. Half an hour before, walk the floor: sugar, napkins, ashtrays, water jugs, glasses, trays, change in the till, paper in the printer. At the bar, prepare the most popular juices and check the milk and ice.
Decide before the rush what will not be served. If the msemen has run out, tell the whole team and take it off the menu right away, rather than letting each table find out one by one.
Bar and kitchen: a clear order
Drinks should go to the bar and food to the kitchen without the waiter walking back to repeat the order. The bar and kitchen work in order of arrival, not according to whichever waiter shouts loudest.
Keep a clean pass: one fixed spot where ready orders wait with the table number clearly visible. Every waiter who walks by checks it.
The bill must not block the table
At peak hours, a table waiting for its bill is a table that cannot seat anyone new. Bring the bill as soon as it is asked for, with change ready. For groups, plan a way to split it without maths on a napkin.
On match nights many venues set match prices or a minimum spend per table. If you do, show it clearly and tell guests when you seat them, so there is no argument at the end.
Brief the team in five minutes
Before every big service, gather the team for five minutes: who has which tables, what has run out, which dishes to suggest, and any special event. A waiter who knows all this answers guests instead of running to the counter to ask.
Name one person who watches the whole terrace and helps whichever zone is overflowing. This is often the manager's job.
With Tablilo
With Tablilo, guests order from the QR code on their table. Each waiter picks today's tables on their phone, and calls from those tables (water, the bill, call the waiter) ring on their phone. Drinks go to the bar screen and food to the kitchen screen; a waiting ticket turns green, then orange, then red, and 'Ready' alerts the waiter.
Guests see the bill on their phone and can split it (their own items, equal shares, or an amount they choose). Match mode applies match prices to the whole room, with an optional minimum per table, and switches itself off the next day.
Related features
- Waiter app for restaurants and cafésA waiter app on each waiter's own phone: personal PIN, orders to confirm, table calls and the day's tips. Nothing to install.
- Kitchen display screen (KDS) and bar screenA kitchen display screen on any tablet: drinks to the bar, dishes to the kitchen, tickets that change colour and a 'Prêt' button that alerts the waiter.
- Match mode for cafés: match prices and a table minimumMatch night at the café: match prices for the whole room, a minimum order per table, automatic stop the next day. Turn it on from your phone.
- Split bill for restaurants and cafésSplit the bill on the phone: everyone pays their own items, equal shares or a set amount. Cash, the venue's card terminal or its own online payment.