How to Manage a Fast Food Restaurant (28 Tips)

The graph below shows the global quick-service restaurant industry’s market size from 2012 to 2022.

Check out this article if you plan to open a fast food restaurant. 

What is fast food management?

Fast food management refers to overseeing and coordinating the various aspects of a fast food restaurant’s operations to ensure smooth and efficient functioning. It encompasses a range of responsibilities aimed at achieving the restaurant’s goals, maintaining quality and service standards, and ensuring profitability.

In a fast food restaurant, there are different levels of managers, each with their own jobs. The top manager is General Manager, who oversees everything, sets goals, manages money, and ensures the restaurant follows company rules.

• Under the General Manager, there are Assistant Managers who handle specific tasks like taking care of customers, managing the kitchen, or making work schedules. They help with everyday tasks and keep things running smoothly. You can use a restaurant schedule template to create one that fits your restaurant best.
• Shift Managers or Supervisors are responsible for individual shifts. They manage employees, deal with customer issues, and make sure the food and service meet the restaurant’s standards during their shifts.
• Frontline workers, like Crew Members or Counter Staff, are crucial for serving customers, preparing food, and keeping the restaurant clean. They report to the Shift Managers or Supervisors.

Having good managers at each level is important for a fast food restaurant to work well, make customers happy, and follow the company’s rules.

28 Tips on how to manage a fast food restaurant

The most common problems in fast food restaurant management include high employee turnover, inconsistent food quality, and challenges maintaining a high customer satisfaction level. 

Below, we describe valuable tips on how to run a successful fast food restaurant and how to address the most common issues that appear in the fast food service industry. We grouped them into 4 categories, which are:

• Staff management tips
• Customer service tips
• Menu and operations tips
• Marketing and planning tips

Staff management tips

The first group of tips will help restaurant managers to provide a positive work environment and manage their employees effectively. 

Tip 1. Hire the right team

Select the best-fit candidates for your restaurant. Invest the necessary time in a thorough screening and interviewing process to ensure that candidates possess the requisite skills, experience, and attitude that align with your business needs. 

Check out the list of fast food interview questions to get prepared for hiring your employees.

Tip 2. Minimize turnover 

According to Wes Moss, employee turnover rates in fast-food chains have reached an unprecedented high, ranging from 130% to 150%. 

Implement strategies for employee retention to reduce turnover in your restaurant business, including 

• Offer fair wages that align with industry standards to attract and retain talented employees.
• Provide valuable benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off to enhance job satisfaction and loyalty.
• Cultivate a supportive and respectful workplace culture where open communication is encouraged. This allows employees to voice their concerns, fostering a sense of value and appreciation among your team.

For more strategies on reducing labor costs and minimizing turnover, check out our article about how to reduce labor costs in a restaurant. 

Tip 3. Ensure staff training

Appropriate restaurant staff training also contributes to the success of a fast food restaurant. 

Provide regular staff training like

• Food preparation training
• Food safety regulations training
• Customer service training
• Operational procedures training
• Safety and emergency response

Tip 4. Motivate your team 

Foster a motivated work environment. Encourage and motivate top-performing employees by providing incentives, bonuses, or rewards for their exceptional work. Additionally, offer opportunities for career growth and advancement within your organization to recognize and nurture their talent.

Tip 5: Maintain open and effective communication

Being a good fast food manager involves consistently maintaining open and effective communication with your staff. Encouraging an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing ideas, concerns, and feedback fosters teamwork and timely issue resolution.

Tip 6. Manage and assess employee performance

Managing and assessing employee performance in a fast food restaurant requires regular monitoring and feedback. 

As a manager, it’s essential to set clear performance expectations, provide constructive evaluations, and recognize and reward outstanding contributions. This proactive approach to performance management helps maintain a motivated and efficient team.

Tip 7. Encourage teamwork 

Promote teamwork and mutual support among your staff while acknowledging and appreciating individual contributions to your restaurant’s success.

Customer service tips 

Now let’s focus on providing excellent customer service and the speed of service in the fast food business. As a fast food restaurant manager, consider the following tips. 

Tip 8. Prioritize exceptional customer service

Maintain a customer-centric focus by prioritizing exceptional customer service in your fast food restaurant. This entails creating a welcoming and attentive environment, ensuring prompt and accurate order fulfillment, and consistently exceeding customer expectations to provide excellent customer service that builds loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.

Tip 9. Handle complaints effectively

Effectively manage customer complaints to enhance the overall customer experience and turn negative encounters into positive ones. 

When addressing complaints, practice active listening, empathize with the customer’s concerns, provide a swift and suitable resolution, and ensure that the customer leaves satisfied, reinforcing your commitment to their satisfaction.

Tip 10. Listen to customer feedback

Pay close attention to what your customers say to gauge their expectations and satisfaction with your service.

Listening to customer feedback allows you to identify areas for improvement, whether related to the menu, service quality, or facility cleanliness. It enables you to address these concerns and manage customer complaints effectively.

Tip 11. Provide effective resolutions to customer issues

When resolving customer issues, aim for effective solutions that address the immediate concern and prevent similar problems in the future. This proactive approach demonstrates your commitment to continuously improving the customer experience.

Tip 12. Ensure customer satisfaction post-resolution

After resolving customer complaints, follow up to ensure their satisfaction and to gather feedback on the resolution process. This post-resolution follow-up demonstrates your dedication to maintaining positive customer relationships and allows you to improvem further based on their insights.

Managing menu and operations tips 

Another group of restaurant management tips focuses on restaurant menu management and streamlining smooth restaurant operations. 

Tip 13. Create an appealing menu

Use menu engineering principles for menu planning. Carefully consider pricing strategies, portion sizes, and menu item placement to optimize profitability while ensuring customer satisfaction. 

By designing a menu that balances pricing, portioning, and item placement, you can enhance the dining experience, maintain good quality, boost sales, and drive customer loyalty.