How To Train New Restaurant Employees

When you rush restaurant staff training, you feel the consequences in uneven service and new hires who quit. Good restaurant staff training gives every new employee a clear path to being ready for the floor.

In 2025, an average of 4.2% of accommodation and food services workers quit each month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s more than double the 2.0% rate across all industries. Start with a plan, then work through the eight steps below.

Build your restaurant staff training plan first

A written plan keeps restaurant training the same no matter who’s on shift. First, define “floor-ready” for each role. For a server, that might mean running a section alone and knowing the menu’s allergens.

Front of house (FOH) roles often need a few days of shadowing, while line cooks need longer. Assign one trainer per new hire, and set check-ins at day 1, week 1, and day 30.

Mike Bausch of Andolini’s builds the first week around reading, demos, and practice:

“I like a five-day training regardless and I think training needs to have three components… The best is to have some level of book training with one-to-one followed up by on-site. So that would be: here’s a video and a PDF of how to make a pepperoni pizza. Now I’m going to make it in front of you. Now you make it… until they’ve physically shown that they could do it… and then, ‘All right, for the rest of tonight you’re going to make every single pepperoni pizza.’”

–Mike Bausch, Andolini’s

Chad Mackay of Fire and Vine Hospitality takes a longer view for fine dining servers:

“When we bring a new person in they’re going to go through 10 days of really intense training… They won’t even get a table until after that 10 days and then they’ll start with a table… and then over time they’ll build to two… and so we say it takes about six months to make a server feel pretty good.”

-Chad Mackay, Fire & Vine Hospitality

Put your plan in a restaurant staff training manual so every trainer uses it.

Recommended Reading: How to Create a Restaurant Staff Training Manual

Here’s a sample training plan for restaurant staff to adjust by role:

Timeframe	Focus	What the new hire does	Check-in
Day 1	Orientation	Meets the team, tours, reviews menu	End-of-shift trainer chat
Days 2–3	Shadowing	Follows trainer, helps with simple tasks	Trainer notes gaps
Days 4–5	Assisted shifts	Works the role with trainer nearby	Week 1 checklist review
Week 2	Solo with check-in	Works a lighter section or station	Day 30 check-in booked

1. Conduct an orientation

For employers, holding an orientation is usually the very first step when welcoming new employees to your restaurant. During the orientation process, experienced workers or trainers will present key knowledge about your business, practices, and other relevant information about your staff’s basic performance. Usually, every orientation covers a variety of topics that are considered essential to start working.

The first area covered in the orientation is usually human resources, payroll, and other common compliance information that need to be completed. This process also includes exploring the historical and philosophical practices of customer service. A short tour of the restaurant usually follows, leading to the introduction of key staff members, and then an overview of the menu along with an outline of the weekly scheduling process.

Handle paperwork through digital employee onboarding before day one, so orientation time goes to people, the menu, and the floor.

Recommended Reading: How to Create an Effective Restaurant Onboarding Program

2. Educate the trainees

Following the orientation process, training is implemented to teach the basics of every position. During the training process, trainers will teach and physically instruct new employees about key elements of their everyday activities. Ultimately, for your employees to succeed, building a foundation on education and instruction will help your new workers reach their highest potential. Take this opportunity to prioritize the uniqueness of each position and how they benefit the restaurant as a whole.

Depending on the position, new employees are taught the importance of food prep work along with how the chef and his/her cooks curate the menu. Another key aspect of the restaurant is how bartenders go about their day-to-day processes. Also, one aspect that’s not as glorified is teaching new employees how to bus tables and wash dishes. A common element of every restaurant is teaching workers how to host, greet, and wait after guests.

Restaurant staff training topics change by role. Start with these basics:

• Servers learn the steps of service, allergen basics, and order entry.
• Hosts learn greetings, wait-time quotes, and balanced seating.
• Bartenders learn drink specs, pour standards, and ID checks.
• Line and prep cooks learn station setup, recipe specs, and ticket times.
• Dishwashers and bussers learn the dish machine, chemical safety, and table resets.

For more on FOH, see our guide to restaurant server training.

3. Observe and assist method

One of the most effective ways to train any employee for a new position is to approach it by observing and helping other employees. There’s no better way to learn a new activity than to watch a capable worker do a certain task. This makes way for advanced insight, and not only will your experienced staff be able to train your new staff, but the new employees will be able to recognize common practices and also unused practices that were never taught to them.

The first step in this process is to pair the new employees with experienced employees who are assigned to the same position. The goal is to have each trainee observe and assist the trainer anywhere from a few days up to a week. Before deciding who’s pairing with who, explain to your experienced staff that they should go about their day as they usually do. Tell them to communicate with the newer staff members while answering any questions that they may have. If there is time, some employees may be interested in shadowing other positions to learn what they entail.

4. Connect with your current staff

Use your current employees as resources to learn common activities and trends that go on within the company. These are the veterans that have been through building changes, staff changes, and guideline changes over the years. Usually, veteran employees are the people that understand what’s most important for new staff members.

Take advantage of their experience and talk to them about different and new ways of training new hires. Ask them what common problems, issues or tasks that arise from daily operations, especially within the training program. Take suggestions seriously, as these are what can help create a training program that makes trainees get acclimated to their position at a faster pace. Overall, use the resources that have been provided through experience to your advantage for better results.

Your next trainers may already be on the team. Hopdoddy Burger Bar spots potential trainers early:

“Three days into working at Hopdoddy, we say what’s next for you? And a lot of people say ‘I want to be a trainer… I loved my training experience.’ So we’re already putting them on the path because we’ve identified that hunger in themselves to learn more.”

–Kelly McCutcheon, former VP of people, Hopdoddy Burger Bar

5. Teach trainees every position

Give new restaurant employees training in every position in the complex. Have them spend time working on the food line, behind the bar, and with the dishwashers. Then, have them work with the host or hostess to greet and seat customers. This will help them become more flexible in their duties and will give them a better understanding of what it takes to run the restaurant successfully. The more experience each employee has, the more useful they are for the restaurant as a whole.

At some point, you should give the new employees an initial task for them to experience. Some people like learning by actually doing instead of watching. Usually, new employees like to be busy, and this is the best way to make a new worker experience workday activities. This is also a good way for trainees to work alongside key people they’ll be working with daily.

6. Train for guest service and upselling

Customer service training for restaurant staff starts with written standards for the greeting, check-backs, and manager table touches. New hires should also know each dish’s main ingredients and allergens. If they can’t answer a dietary question, they check with the kitchen.

For complaints, teach a simple process: listen, apologize, fix what you can, and bring in a manager.

Upselling works best as a recommendation, like a drink that pairs with the guest’s order. Our guide to suggestive selling for restaurants has more ideas.

Role-play builds these soft skills fastest. Have a manager play a tricky guest during training shifts.

7. Teach safety precautions

For every restaurant owner, there are specific safety precautions that lawfully they should abide by. Although there will be a lot of important information to cover with your new hires, food and occupational safety should always be a top priority. Emphasize these areas as they pertain to the new hires’ positions and the safety of the building.

Review safety procedures and rules throughout the training process to ensure they are understood. This should include how to handle food, how to store food, and how to clean food preparation areas. Restaurants also use a variety of machines, so knowing and understanding how to avoid mistakes in these areas is essential for safety. Understanding the layout of the restaurant can also help new employees move around the restaurant with confidence.

For food handling, the FDA Food Code is the model many state and local health departments use for their rules.

Food handler cards and responsible alcohol service training requirements vary by state and city. Check your local health department and state rules before a new hire’s first shift.

8. Keep training consistent across shifts and locations

Training drifts based on who’s running the shift. Across two to five locations, that drift shows up as uneven service.

To fix it, write down your standard operating procedures (SOPs), give every trainer the same checklist, and track who has finished what.

7shifts Employee Training combines your LMS with scheduling, payroll, and tip management. Upload your SOPs, handbooks, and menus, and AI helps turn them into courses. Assign them by role, department, or location, with quizzes, acknowledgements, and checklists for tasks like shadow shifts.

Managers track completion, and automatic reminders nudge anyone behind. Opening a new location? Copy your courses over so every store starts from the same standard.

9. Schedule training refreshers

It’s often overlooked that after the training process some employees are just thrown to the wolves. After a new employee officially joins the staff, the training shouldn’t stop there. To reinforce proven methods, hold short training sessions regularly, like pre-shift meetings, to help continue building new skills. This will not only help your new staff recall everything they’ve learned before but will act as an opportunity to upgrade your seasoned staff with new techniques.

Not only will these training refreshers build positive characteristics amongst your new staff members, but they can show them that you care about their employee development. If there happens to be a menu change, a training session should be implemented to spread knowledge amongst the entire staff. Short microcourses or quick quizzes between shifts also work well for menu updates. These training sessions could also be compared to a brainstorming session. This allows the flow of new ideas of how to do certain tasks that might have never been done before. Not only will this create new ways of doing things, but perhaps these refreshers can break veteran staff members out of their old ways and create a more productive workforce.

10. Implement employee meetings

Separate from training refreshers, consistently holding meetings with your employees is a great way to gather information. These meetings don’t necessarily have to only address staff weaknesses or negative things. Use these meetings as an opportunity to foster camaraderie and things your staff can do to improve your business and the customer experience.

Create an approach in these meetings you continue to reinforce your company’s image, message, and ultimately the characteristics that prioritize the value of your customers. Try focusing on the strength of your staff and building off of positive traits. Hold group meetings every two to three months.

You can also use these meetings as employee evaluations or performance reviews. Notice which employees show a decrease in their performance and use it as an opportunity to understand their struggles or how they can improve. On the other hand, take the time to meet with employees who are excelling at their job as a result of their hard work.

How to train new restaurant employees

The keys to building a successful restaurant stems from the importance of having a workforce that believes in their management. Building a place where people enjoy their time will usually generate increased productivity and effort. Training is an essential aspect of every job, and the more effective the training, the easier it will be for employees to get acclimated to their work flow.

Restaurant staff training FAQs

Why is staff training important in restaurants?

Training gives guests consistent service, keeps kitchens safer, and helps new hires feel confident enough to stay.

How long should training take for new restaurant employees?

Plan for a few days to two weeks, depending on the role. Line cooks usually need longer than hosts and servers.

What should a restaurant training program include?

Cover orientation, role skills, safety, guest service, and check-ins at day 1, week 1, and day 30.

How do you keep training consistent across locations?

Use one set of SOPs and courses at every location, and track completion. 7shifts Employee Training lets you copy courses across locations.

What certifications do restaurant staff need?

Food handler cards and responsible alcohol service training are common, but requirements vary by state and city. Check your local health department and state rules.

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