Restaurants & food service SOP templates
Food safety, opening/closing, the line, the floor, and the till. 6 ready-made role templates and 26 hand-written rules — check what applies to your company and PayTree assembles the SOP instantly.
Role templates included
Line Cook
Covers how this role executes the menu to spec at speed, keeping the station stocked, clean, and at temperature.
Prep Cook
Covers how this role gets the kitchen ready to win service: the prep list done, labeled, dated, and stored right.
Server
Covers how this role owns the guest experience from greeting to goodbye — timing, accuracy, and grace under pressure.
Dishwasher / Steward
Covers how this role keeps the kitchen's bloodstream flowing: clean plates, clean tools, clean floors, safe chemicals.
Host / Cashier
Covers how this role first face and last impression: seating flow, waitlist honesty, and a till that balances.
Shift Manager
Covers how this role runs the shift end to end: staffing, food safety, guest recovery, cash, and the keys.
A sample of the rules inside
Every rule is a single, concrete instruction someone can follow on day one — written by people who know how this work actually goes wrong.
Food safety
- Wash hands for 20 seconds on arrival, after breaks, after touching your face/phone/trash, and between raw and ready-to-eat foods; glove changes follow the same triggers.
- Keep cold food at or below 41°F and hot food at or above 135°F; log line and cooler temps at open, mid-shift, and close.
- Cook to safe internal temperatures (poultry 165°F, ground meats 155°F, whole cuts 145°F) and verify with a clean, calibrated thermometer.
- Separate raw from ready-to-eat at every step: dedicated boards, tools, prep areas, and storage — raw always below cooked in the walk-in.
+ 3 more rules in this section
Opening
- Walk the space: coolers at temp overnight, no signs of pests, equipment on and heating to temp.
- Work the prep list against expected covers; date-label everything as it's made.
- Set the line: full backups, clean tools, thermometers in place, sanitizer buckets fresh (and tested).
- Front of house: tables set, menus clean, floors done, restrooms checked and stocked, till counted and signed.
During service
- Fire tickets in order and call the board loud enough to be heard; no plate leaves the pass without a check against the ticket.
- Greet tables within 2 minutes, get drinks in first, and check back within 2 minutes/2 bites of food landing.
- Fix food problems immediately and without argument — replace or re-fire first, then tell the manager what happened.
- Clean as you go: wipe stations, change boards, restock during lulls — closing starts during service.
+ 2 more rules in this section
From checkboxes to a document on the wall
- Pick a role — its sensible defaults come pre-checked
- Add your company's own rules anywhere
- Instant, structured SOP: purpose, procedure, safety, policies, escalation
- One-click branded PDF; optional AI polish that keeps every rule you chose
Templates are starting points, not legal or compliance advice — review them against your local rules before relying on them.
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