A first-week checklist for new joiners in restaurants and cafes

A new captain joins a casual dining restaurant on a Friday. Table 14 orders a paneer tikka with no onion. He punches the KOT, forgets the note, and the tandoor chef sends it out as usual. The guest, who follows a Jain diet, is polite but does not return. Nothing in the new captain's week had covered allergy and diet flags.

Restaurants and cafes hire fast and lose people fast. The first week decides whether a new hire stays long enough to be useful. Here is a sheet you can copy, followed by notes on who fills it and what changes between a fine-dining room, a cafe, a bakery and a cloud kitchen.

Name, role (captain, steward, commis, line cook, barista, cashier, dishwasher), start date and reporting person: ______.
Uniform, apron, hairnet and shoes issued, with sizes noted: ______.
Staff meal timing, locker and break rule explained: ______.
Floor map or kitchen map walked: table numbers, pass, walk-in chiller, dry store, dish pit: ______.
POS login given, KOT flow and void rule shown: ______.
Allergy, Jain, vegan and no-onion flags drill done: ______.
Hand-wash, glove and chopping board colour rule shown and repeated back: ______.
Opening and closing checklist read, buddy signs: ______.
Shift swap and leave rule explained, including festival weekends: ______.
Day 5 chat done: what felt rushed, what was unclear: ______.

1. 1

   Day 1 afternoon, before service

   Arrive early for the pre-shift meeting. See the specials, the 86 list (items sold out), the allergen board and the reservation book. No one is thrown onto the floor in the first hour.

2. 2

   Day 1 to 2 as a trailing shadow

   Walk behind a buddy. The captain follows a senior captain. The commis stands next to the line cook. The barista watches the espresso machine, steam wand cleaning and the milk fridge log.

3. 3

   Day 3 supervised first tasks

   A steward carries plates and clears. A commis does mise en place for a single station. A cashier handles billing with a supervisor beside the POS.

4. 4

   Day 4 and 5 under light watch

   Give a section or a station for half the shift. The buddy listens and corrects at the pass, not in front of guests.

5. 5

   End of day 5

   Sit with the manager for ten minutes. Ask what slowed them. Note it for the next sheet.

Show the burn and cut points before anything else. The tandoor mouth, the deep fryer basket, the slicer guard, the wet tile near the dish pit, the walk-in chiller door that can be opened from inside. Ask the joiner to point at each one. A new dishwasher who slips on a greasy mat in week one will not be back in week two.

• Knife handling: carry point down, call 'behind' when passing, never catch a falling blade.
• Hot oil: no water near the fryer, two hands on the basket, lid kept within reach.
• LPG point: where the shut-off valve is and who closes it at night.
• Fire blanket and extinguisher: location read out aloud.
• Staff first aid box: who holds the key, where it sits.

Teach first in, first out on the shelves of the walk-in. Every container gets a date label, a prep time and the initials of the cook. Many new commis skip the label because they think it slows them down. The sheet should include a line that the buddy checks three labels at random on day three.

• Fine dining: wine service basics, cutlery layout, the captain's order of service and guest name recall.
• Casual dining: table turn targets, KOT discipline, handling of birthday cakes and group bills.
• QSR chains: station timers, fryer oil change schedule, drive-thru headset and the bin routine.
• Cafes: grinder settings, milk fridge temperature log, counter display refresh, cash drawer.
• Bakeries: oven loading, proofing times, early 4 am start and display tray rotation.
• Food courts: cash reconciliation with the mall, brand standard checks and queue flow.
• Takeaway and cloud kitchens: packing standard, aggregator tablet, rider handover and order accuracy.

The buddy fills it daily. The shift manager reads it every evening and the owner or area manager reviews on Friday. A joiner who feels watched and supported stays. A joiner who feels left alone to sink or swim often leaves within the first fortnight.

Do not skip the sheet in a rush. The busiest week of the year is when your new hires need it most. Festival weekends and long holiday tables are when a mistake costs most.

The sheet pairs with pages on onboarding at a cafe and at a food court outlet, which describe the full thirty-day arc. For the wider picture, visit the restaurants and cafes hub. To get a version designed for your outlets, share your details on the requirements page.