As part of the reopening plan for Minnesota restaurants, Governor Tim Walz’s guidelines require restaurants to take reservations for all guests who wish to sit down and dine at your eatery. This can cause confusion and some challenges for certified food protection managers at establishments that don’t normally rely on reservations to know when guests are coming. We’d like to give you a few tips and outline a few procedures you can put into place to ensure you’re following the guidelines and providing a smooth dining experience for guests and staff.
Certified Food Protection Managers and Reservation Guidelines
We know that table seating will be limited during the phased reopening of Minnesota’s restaurants. During these phases of limited seating, reservations will be required, and that could actually help restaurants follow other guidelines as well as control the flow of business in their restaurant. Let’s take a look at some things you may wish to consider when planning a strategy for taking reservations:
- Personally touch base with guests who leave messages
- Take orders when reservations are placed
- Provide a time limit for table occupation
- Make sure your contact details are available to the public
It’s important to confirm reservations with guests who request a reservation either via phone message or e-mail. With limited seating available, this can prevent a table from being double booked. The reservation guideline has been put into place so certified food protection managers can avoid the unnecessary gathering of groups of unrelated guests, and overbooking your establishment could create a scenario where social distancing in waiting areas cannot be enforced.
Taking orders, or a partial order, when reservations are made can help speed up service. Since you have a small amount of serving options available, you may have a limited time in which to serve guests before the next reservation arrives. If you know what your guests will be ordering in advance, you can begin preparing meals once they are seated. You may also wish to have an end time for reservations. You know your restaurant best, so create a time limit that doesn’t rush your guests but provides adequate time to sanitize and prepare the table for the next reservation.
Finally, provide a way for guests to find you. Make sure that your Google Business listing is up to date and all information on dining apps and popular websites is accurate.
