The restaurant ops
field guide.

Practical guides for operators — not theory, not fluff. Scheduling, food cost, inventory, compliance, and labor. Things you can use this week.

Labor
How to Reduce Restaurant Labor Costs Without Cutting Staff
Labor is your biggest controllable cost. Here's how to bring it under control through scheduling discipline, overtime prevention, and clock-in accuracy — without touching headcount.
8 min readLabor & Scheduling
Inventory
Restaurant Inventory Management: The Complete Operator's Guide
Inventory is where most restaurants lose money without realizing it. This guide covers par levels, count frequency, receiving discipline, and how to build a system that actually holds.
11 min readInventory & Food Cost
Prime Cost
What Is Prime Cost and Why Every Restaurant Operator Should Track It Weekly
Prime cost — labor plus COGS — is the single most important number in your P&L. Most operators only look at it monthly. Here's why that's too late, and how to track it in real time.
6 min readFinance & Operations
Compliance
Restaurant Health Inspection Prep: What Inspectors Actually Look For
Health inspections aren't random. Inspectors follow a checklist. This guide walks through the most common violations by category and how to make sure you're never caught off guard.
9 min readCompliance & Food Safety
Onboarding
Restaurant Employee Onboarding: How to Get New Hires Ready in 24 Hours
The average restaurant loses 30% of new hires in the first 90 days. Most of that is friction — bad first days, unclear expectations, paperwork chaos. Here's how to fix all three.
7 min readHR & People
Free Tool
Free Restaurant Prime Cost Calculator
Enter your weekly labor and food costs and see your prime cost percentage instantly. Includes benchmarks by restaurant type and a breakdown of what's driving your number.
Free toolFinance