KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 17
An Honest Take on the Restaurant Labor Shortage
Hey Team! I keep seeing the same headline cycle through every trade publication. "Labor shortage." "Staffing crisis." "Nobody wants to work in restau…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 16
What the Best Restaurant Managers Do Differently
Hey Team! After 30 years and 20-plus concepts, I've watched a lot of managers run their floors. Some of them were technically flawless, organized, pu…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 13
Why Saturday Night Is the Only Real Test of Your Training
Hey Team! Saturday night at 8pm is the only real test of your training. Everything before that is just practice. I've been saying this for thirty yea…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 10
Training Staff at a Hotel Restaurant: Three Meal Periods, One Knowledge Base
Hey Team! If you've ever trained staff for a hotel restaurant, you know it's a different animal. It's not just the menu complexity, though that's rea…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 5
How Much Does Bad Menu Training Actually Cost? (Run the Numbers)
Hey Team! Most operators know something is leaking. They feel it in their gut every time a server walks back to the kitchen with a confused look on t…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 5
How Do Restaurants Reduce Menu Errors? (The 3 Failure Modes and the Fix for Each)
Most restaurant menu errors aren't malice or carelessness. They're knowledge gaps. The server didn't know something about the dish. Guest got some…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 5
My Servers Don't Know the Menu and We Keep Getting Comped Items — How to Stop the Bleed
Operator emailed me last week. "My servers don't know the menu and we keep getting comped items. What can I do?" The honest answer, you can fix it…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 5
Restaurant Employee Turnover Is Killing Me — Here's What Actually Stopped It
Every restaurant operator I talk to says the same line, "turnover is killing me." I lived it for 30 years. The Cornell number is $5,864 per replace…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·Jun 3
Interviewing Restaurant Staff: Questions That Actually Predict Performance
Hey Team! I've hired somewhere north of a thousand people in thirty years. Probably closer to two thousand if I'm being honest about the turnover mat…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·May 29
The Restaurant Tech Stack Most Operators Actually Need
Hey Team! I've been in this industry for thirty years. I've opened more than twenty concepts. And I've made every expensive mistake you can make with…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·May 27
The Business Case for Training Tools vs Just Doing Pre-Shift
Hey Team! I want to talk about the math nobody runs. You're doing pre-shift. Good for you, genuinely. Most operators aren't doing it consistently, so…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·May 26
How to Train Staff on POS System Changes (Toast / Square / Clover / Lightspeed)
Hey Team! We did a POS migration at Black Barrel Tavern about three years ago. New system, new flow, new button placement for everything. I walked in…
TRAINING TIP
Terry Psaltakis·May 17
The Pre-Shift Meeting Checklist That Actually Works
Hey Team! Saturday night at Black Barrel, 4:45pm. Fifteen minutes before the floor opens. My GM at the time is running a pre-shift meeting that's ble…
KNOWLEDGE BASE1 min read
Terry Psaltakis·May 11
How Often Should Restaurants Update Their Menu? (And How to Train Around It)
Hey Team! One of the most consistent mistakes I see operators make isn't on the floor. It's in a spreadsheet somewhere, where someone has decided tha…