Restaurant SOP Examples You Can Copy: Kitchen, Service and Closing

Most restaurant owners already know they need SOPs. What's harder is picturing what a good one looks like, so the writing never starts. A blank page is a tough place to begin when service starts in an hour.

This post collects short restaurant SOP examples you can copy and adapt: closing the kitchen, the pre-service line check, receiving a delivery, taking an allergy order, the steps of service, handling a guest complaint, and cashing out at the end of a shift. Change the details to match how your restaurant runs, and you have the start of your own SOPs.

If you're still deciding whether your restaurant needs a full operations manual, start with Why Every Restaurant Needs an Operations Manual and How to Build One. It covers what goes into a manual, a sample front-of-house opening SOP, and how quick-service and full-service manuals differ. This post picks up where that one ends.

What Makes a Restaurant SOP Easy to Follow

Before the examples, here are the rules they all follow:

• One task per SOP. "Close the kitchen" is an SOP. "Kitchen procedures" is a whole section of your manual.
• A clear owner and trigger. Every SOP says who does it and when, so nobody assumes someone else has it covered.
• Steps in the order they happen. Short actions, written the way the task actually runs on a busy shift.
• A standard you can check. A photo, a temperature log, a signature, a count. If nobody can check it, it isn't a standard yet.
• A link to the checklist. The SOP explains how and why. The checklist is what the team ticks off during the shift.

Each example below uses the same format: title, purpose, owner, when, and steps. Anything in brackets is a placeholder for your own standard.

Example 1: Close the Kitchen

Title: Close the kitchen
Purpose: Leave the kitchen clean, safe, and ready for the opening cook, with nothing left to guess.
Owner: Closing cook, checked by the closing manager
When: Every night, after the last ticket is out

1. Turn off and break down each station in the order on the closing checklist.
2. Wrap, label, and date all prepped food and move it to the walk-in. Throw out anything past its use-by date and record it on the waste log.
3. Record the temperatures of the walk-in and every reach-in on the temperature log.
4. Clean and sanitize prep surfaces, cutting boards, and the line, plus the equipment listed for tonight on the cleaning schedule.
5. Sweep and mop the floors, empty the trash, and take out the recycling.
6. Check that the gas, the hoods, and everything on the shutdown list are off.
7. Leave prep notes for the opening cook: what's running low and what to prep first.
8. The closing manager walks the kitchen against the checklist and signs it.

Example 2: Pre-Service Line Check

Title: Run the pre-service line check
Purpose: Make sure every station is stocked, holding food at the right temperature, and ready before the first ticket.
Owner: Sous chef or kitchen manager on duty
When: Before every service, [your standard time] before the doors open

1. Taste every sauce, soup, and dressing on the line against the recipe standard.
2. Check hot-held and cold-held items against the temperatures your local food code requires, and record them on the line check sheet.
3. Check each station against its par list, including backups for the dishes that sell fastest.
4. Confirm the specials and any 86'd items with the front of house.
5. Fix anything that's off before service, then sign the line check sheet.

Example 3: Receive a Delivery

Title: Receive and put away a delivery
Purpose: Accept only what you ordered, in the condition you expect, and store it so the oldest stock gets used first.
Owner: Kitchen manager or the cook assigned to receiving
When: Every delivery

1. Check the delivery against the order, item by item, before the driver leaves.
2. Check the temperature of chilled and frozen items and look for damage or quality problems. Note any refused or missing items on the invoice.
3. Sign the invoice and file it where the manager collects them.
4. Put chilled and frozen items away first.
5. Label and date everything, and store new stock behind older stock so it's first in, first out.
6. Update the inventory sheet and tell the chef about any shortages or substitutions.

A first in, first out procedure from our Restaurant Operations Manual template.

Example 4: Take an Allergy Order

Title: Handle an allergy or dietary request
Purpose: Make sure a guest with an allergy gets a safe dish every time, no matter who takes the order.
Owner: The server who takes the order, and the chef on duty
When: Whenever a guest mentions an allergy or dietary restriction

1. Ask the guest exactly what they're allergic to and how serious it is. Never guess.
2. Check the dish's allergen information in the manual. If you're not sure, ask the chef before you confirm anything to the guest.
3. Enter the allergy in the POS with the allergy modifier so it prints clearly on the ticket, and tell the chef or expo in person as well.
4. The kitchen follows the allergen procedure: clean surfaces, clean utensils, separate pans.
5. The chef or expo checks the dish before it leaves the pass, and the server takes it straight to the guest.
6. If the kitchen can't make the dish safely, the server tells the guest and offers an alternative.

Example 5: Steps of Service

Title: Serve a table from greeting to goodbye
Purpose: Give every table the same experience, whoever their server is.
Owner: Servers, supported by the floor manager
When: Every table, every shift

1. Greet the table within [your target time] of seating, and offer water and drinks.
2. Mention the specials and anything that's 86'd before the guests choose.
3. Take the order, ask about allergies, and repeat the order back.
4. Check back shortly after the food arrives, and fix any problem right away.
5. Clear plates once everyone at the table has finished, and offer dessert and coffee.
6. Present the check, process the payment, and thank the guests on their way out.

In a quick-service restaurant, the same idea becomes station-by-station SOPs for the register, the line, and the drive-thru. The restaurant guide linked above compares the two in more detail.

Example 6: Handle a Guest Complaint

Title: Handle a guest complaint
Purpose: Turn a bad moment into a recovered guest, and make sure the problem gets fixed for the next one.
Owner: The server first, then the manager on duty
When: Whenever a guest raises a problem

1. Listen to the whole complaint without interrupting or explaining.
2. Apologize sincerely, even before you know exactly what went wrong.
3. Fix what you can within your authority, such as remaking the dish, and bring in the manager for anything beyond it.
4. The manager checks back with the guest before they leave.
5. Record the complaint and what was done in the manager log, and raise it at the next pre-shift meeting.

Example 7: Cash Out and Hand Over the Shift

Title: Cash out and hand over the shift
Purpose: End every shift with the money counted, the issues written down, and the next manager briefed.
Owner: Shift manager
When: At the end of every shift

1. Run the end-of-shift report in the POS.
2. Count each drawer against the report with a second person present, and record any overage or shortage.
3. Prepare the deposit and lock it in the safe.
4. Process tip-outs according to your tip policy.
5. Write the manager log: sales, comps and voids, staff issues, equipment problems, guest complaints, and anything that ran out.
6. Sign off, so the next manager knows exactly where things stand.

How to Turn These Examples Into Your Own SOPs

1. Start with the shift, not the org chart. List what has to happen before opening, during service, and at close. Those are your first SOPs.
2. Write each SOP with the person who does the task best. Then hand it to your newest hire. If they can follow it without asking, it's done.
3. Add photos. A plated dish, a set station, a correctly stocked walk-in shelf. A photo settles questions a paragraph can't.
4. Pair each SOP with its checklist. Keep both in one place and link them, so the team always works from the current version.
5. Update them when something changes. A new menu, a new supplier, or a new POS means an SOP update.

Checklists sit right next to the SOPs that use them.

For more on the writing itself, see How to Write an SOP That Your Team Will Actually Follow. To decide when a task needs a checklist, step-by-step instructions, or a short video, see How to Choose the Right SOP Format for Each Process.

Where Your Restaurant SOPs Should Live

SOPs only work if the team can find them in the middle of a shift. That means one organized manual the whole team can open on a phone or tablet, with SOPs grouped by role and function, checklists linked from the SOPs that use them, and recipes in their own section.

That's how our Restaurant Operations Manual Template is built. It's hosted in Notion, with 14 main sections and 60+ pre-written SOPs based on industry best practices, including opening, closing, and after-the-lunch-rush checklists, plus checklists for when staff arrive for and leave a shift. It comes with our Template-to-Tailored Roadmap, which walks you through making it your own, and a free 30-minute Audit & Walkthrough Call with one of our consultants. It's a one-time purchase with lifetime access.

"I like the logical flow of the templates. It is the framework that I was looking for." Frederick J., F&B business owner

Prefer to Have Them Written for You?

If your managers don't have time to write SOPs between services, our Custom Operations Manual service does it for you. We run 2-hour Knowledge Extraction Calls with you and your team, then write the SOPs and build your complete operations manual in Notion. Most manuals are finished in 8 weeks or less, and the manual is yours to keep and edit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are examples of restaurant SOPs? Common restaurant SOPs cover opening and closing the front and back of house, the pre-service line check, receiving deliveries, food storage and labeling, allergy orders, the steps of service, handling complaints, cash handling, and shift handovers.

How many SOPs does a restaurant need? There's no fixed number. Start with the tasks that happen every shift and the ones that cause problems when they're done wrong, then build out from there. Our restaurant template gives you 60+ pre-written SOPs to adapt.

What's the difference between an SOP and a checklist? An SOP explains how a task is done and to what standard. A checklist is the short list the team ticks off while doing it. Most restaurant tasks need both, linked together.

How do I write an SOP for my restaurant? Pick one task and write who does it, when, and the steps in order. Add photos where the standard is visual, and test it with a new hire. Keep it short enough to follow during a shift.

Should recipes be part of the SOPs? Yes. Recipes, portion sizes, and plating standards are some of the most important things a restaurant can document. Keep them in their own section and link them from the SOPs that use them.

Ready to put your restaurant's SOPs in one place?

Get the Restaurant Operations Manual Template, pre-built in Notion: a one-time purchase with lifetime access.

Want them written for you instead? See how our Custom Operations Manual service works or book a discovery call.