Switching from buffet to self-service, or serving in your restaurant

Are you thinking of switching from buffet to self-service, or serving in your restaurant?

Many restaurateurs fear for their guests’ reaction of eating from the buffet during these Corona times and would, therefore, like to switch to self-service or to regular waiter serving.

In general, there are a lot of public guidelines from the Food Standard Agency that buffet restaurants follow closely, but it’s clear that none of these guides knew of Corona when they were made, and many restaurateurs these days think about how the guests will react when the restaurant has to open again.

Corona does not infect through the food, but primarily through sneezes and coughs, and since buffet-serving is a place where many people can get up close, the Food Board recommends pt. not that you do not make buffet meals.

Of course, it may be difficult to change your business, as well as your habits and methods, but it is about following your guests’ wishes and safeguarding against the risk factors that have come with Corona. If a buffet restaurant should prove to be one of the difficult areas to bring guests back to, fortunately, there is help to get.

For example, if Instead of wanting to do self-service, a guest call system can be an invaluable help. Guests order at example a counter, and with the help of a buzzer or pager, the guest is called to pick up his food when it is ready. Easy and effective.

If you want to serve, a waiter call system can make it efficient and easy to communicate with the kitchen, and the guest gets his food as soon as it is ready. Either served by a waiter or runner who brings out the food.

Another advantage restaurants can have in going from buffet to serving or self-service is that it can reduce food waste, as one can better manage one’s raw material consumption and purchases.

The buffet means many times that food has been on the buffet for a long time, and subsequently must be thrown out for health reasons. Food produced in a kitchen is simply taken out of the fridge when needed, so it can last longer and you can thus plan your purchases differently.

It is clear that changing your restaurant from buffet to serving or self-service, may require you to rethink your habits and working methods in both the kitchen and the restaurant to get the best work and guest flow.

Discover Systems has 20 years of experience in helping restaurants achieve the best serving conditions for the benefit of guests, restaurant owners, waiters and other restaurant staff, and we also advise on a transformation from buffet to serving or self-service restaurant. Our pager systems provide the best start to such a transition and will make it easier to turn your buffet restaurant into a self-service or serving restaurant.

Benefits of reshaping the buffet restaurant into serving restaurant or self-service restaurant can be;

• Getting guests back after this Corona time
• Less food waste
• Plate serving may also mean less use of plates, cutlery etc
• Possibility of adding new dishes with higher price / profit to the menu (steak, grilled fish etc)
• Servers have better opportunities to upsell.
• The market for serving restaurants is significantly higher than for buffet restaurants *

* Ref. HORESTA – Madindex 2017 – only 21% prefer buffet restaurants