Restaurant hygiene & cleaning: 6 tips for front and back-of-house

In today’s world, diners have high expectations when it comes to restaurant cleanliness. In fact, The New Normal for Restaurants study revealed that sanitation became the number one criteria guests consider when choosing where to eat. [1] And not only can it determine which business they prefer, but also how much they’re willing to pay. QSR Magazine found that guests were willing to spend twice as much at restaurants that demonstrate flawless cleanliness. [2]

This means that when customers walk through your doors, they’re likely silently scanning for signs of hygiene and cleanliness. So, visible actions such as employees wiping down high-traffic areas and frequently washing their hands go a long way. They can build trust and make your customers feel safe and welcome.

In other words, maintaining your restaurant’s cleanliness is more than just best practice — it’s key to attracting new guests and ensuring your regulars keep coming back. With that in mind, we’ve put together six straightforward and effective suggestions to boost your business's hygiene and cleaning standards from dining areas and kitchens to restrooms.

1. Get the right products for each task

When it comes to hand washing, or cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting at your restaurant, investing in high-quality products helps ensure each job gets done thoroughly to create a healthy environment. Keep in mind that there is a difference between all these tasks, which means your staff needs bespoke products for the best results [3].

Hand hygiene products

Hand hygiene is more than just a routine step — it's the foundation of keeping your establishment safe and sanitary. 

To prevent cross-contamination during the cleaning process, remind your staff to practice good and thorough hand hygiene with these five steps:

  1. Start by wetting your hands with running water.
  2. Apply food-safe hand soap, making sure to lather it well. Don't forget to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails—those spots can trap a lot of germs. 
  3. Make sure you scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. 
  4. Rinse thoroughly with running water. 
  5. Finally, dry your hands with a disposable paper hand towel. 

This easy-to-remember process goes a long way in maintaining a clean and healthy environment for everyone, from employees to guests. 

Additionally, it’s a good idea to equip your facility with food-safe hand sanitizer dispensers too, so that your staff can use that as an alternative when hand washing may not be possible.

Cleaning products

Hot water, food-safe soap, and cleaning cloths are the standard for maintaining back-of-house and food-contact surfaces in commercial kitchens. Nonetheless, to keep your establishment spotless, you may want to consider adding specialist products too. 

For instance, substances like grease and oil are all too common in food preparation areas, and they can't be removed with just soap and water. In this case, a food-safe degreaser helps break them down. After using it, your staff can wash the surface with warm, soapy water and then rinse with clean water, just like any other area.

For any food debris that requires extra effort, a brush or scouring towel is a good choice. Although usually your staff would use scouring products with caution to prevent scratching surfaces, they don’t need to worry about that with Tork 2 in 1 Scouring and Cleaning Foodservice Towels. We’ve tested this product on a variety of hard materials, including stainless steel and glass, without a scrape in sight. That means your team can clean confidently and efficiently, without compromising the work surfaces they rely on every day.

When it comes to ensuring hygiene and safety in the kitchen, it’s always a good idea to check if a product is suitable for food contact surfaces. You can do this by looking for a symbol with a wine glass and a fork on the packaging before using it.

As for the front-of-house, most surfaces can be taken care of using a multipurpose cleaner and a cleaning cloth. Just take into consideration that some areas may require more specialist products, such as a heavy-duty floor cleaning solution, for example.

Lastly, for restrooms, multipurpose cleaners combined with paper wipers can help ensure your hygiene standards are met.

Sanitizing products

Proper sanitization prevents the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses, which can cause foodborne illnesses and outbreaks. Taking precautions is particularly crucial in the foodservice industry, where the health of your guests and employees could be potentially at risk.

With this in mind, there are two options available for surface sanitizing in front and back-of-house environments. You can opt for food-safe chemical sanitizer solutions that are mixed with water, rinsed off, and then dried with a paper towel. Alternatively, to ensure proper sanitation during a busy service rush, your staff could use a dry sanitizer that doesn’t require rinsing. Just remind them to make sure they allow it to settle for around 30 seconds before using the surface again.

Disinfecting products

Disinfectant products are designed to eliminate a wide range of harmful microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi from surfaces.

While they are effective at killing germs, disinfectants can be too harsh for back-of-house environments and may leave residues that could contaminate both ingredients and finished plates. For this reason, your staff shouldn’t use them in the kitchen or on food-contact surfaces. Instead, regular cleaning followed by appropriate sanitizing is sufficient to maintain hygiene in this part of your restaurant.

For front-of-house areas, you can choose a multipurpose cleaner with disinfectant properties for high-touch surfaces such as tables, chairs, and door handles. Many of these products have a short contact time (the amount of time needed for a disinfectant to work effectively), so they can be used at busy moments to maintain hygiene standards without impacting the guest experience. Remind your cleaning staff that it is particularly important to use these types of solutions in your restrooms too, as that is where germs are especially prone to thrive. 

2. Prioritize a hygienic restroom experience

A 2018 Harris Poll concluded that 89% of Americans wouldn’t return to a restaurant if they read negative reviews about restroom cleanliness. [4] So, with guests judging your restaurant by the quality and hygiene of the restroom facilities, why take any chances?

You can increase the likelihood of a good impression and greater customer satisfaction by making sure your staff regularly cleans and sanitizes those areas. That entails performing frequent checks and carrying out the following basic tasks whenever necessary:

  • Mopping floors
  • Disinfecting toilets
  • Cleaning sink basins
  • Refilling soap, paper towel, and toilet paper dispensers 
  • Ensuring that dispensers are clean and working properly

On top of that, to maintain maximum hygiene levels, they should also deep clean your establishment’s restrooms regularly. 

For an enhanced experience, consider installing high-quality air fresheners in your restrooms so guests are greeted not just with a hygienic environment but also with a pleasant scent. 

And if you are looking for a way to optimize your cleaning staff’s work, explore how Tork Vision Cleaning can harness the power of data to benefit your business operations. Our solution includes features like smart sensors in your restroom dispensers and refill monitoring so that cleaning happens where and when it’s needed most. This helps ensure you meet your restroom users’ expectations and that no time is wasted doing it.

3. Explore innovative napkin solutions

Napkins are a restaurant essential for a clean and hygienic guest experience, keeping their clothes and their tables free of mess and spills while limiting the potential spread of germs. Thus, it is worth equipping your establishment with the right napkin dispensers. Tork Xpressnap is a great option for this, as its one-at-a-time dispensing means guests touch just what they take. That not only promotes hygiene but also reduces consumption, making it a more sustainable and cost-efficient choice for your business too.
 

4. Optimize dispenser placement

To improve overall hygiene in your restaurant, you may want to give the placement of your dispensers a second thought. Choosing the right locations for hygiene and cleaning products can prevent cross-contamination and reduce the spread of germs around your facility. For front-of-house, consider placing dispensers in the following areas:
  • Entrances/exits: With customers going in and out of your establishment around the clock, it only makes sense to provide hygiene stands equipped with hand sanitizer in doorways. 
  • Tables: Make napkin dispensers available at every table so that guests can maintain personal hygiene and easily wipe any small spills. 
  • Restrooms: Ensure all restrooms have dispensers (like soap, paper hand towels, and toilet paper) placed at accessible heights as well as kept in good working order and refilled.
For back-of-house, try placing dispensers near:
  • Workstations: Any area where food is prepped should have both hand hygiene product dispensers (hand soap and paper hand towels) along with surface cleaning product dispensers (cloths or wipers) available to prevent contamination.
  • Entrances/exits: Access points in back-of-house, especially those leading to outside areas, should be equipped with hand sanitizer dispensers for quick and easy hand hygiene. 
Every facility is different, so keep in mind there might be other higher-traffic areas in yours that require access to hygiene and cleaning products too. Start by keeping an eye out for opportunities to optimize their placement.

5. Encourage consistent measures in your kitchen

While kitchen staff is usually incredibly busy preparing meals, particularly at peak times, hygiene should not take a back seat during their shift. Implementing a few easy measures and reassuring your team of how quick they are, can go a long way tackling this challenge. Here's a few ideas to maintain high hygiene and food safety standards without slowing the back-of-house down:
  • Equip every workstation with enough cleaning products and cloths so employees can clean up as they go — preferably reachable with one hand.
  • Foster a culture of proactively organizing the kitchen when the restaurant is calm and quiet to prepare for busy periods.
  • Make sure back-of-house areas are free of clutter, removing any unnecessary objects that might prevent thorough cleaning (like stock boxes left on the floor, for example).
  • Designate time for personal hygiene, including handwashing at critical times.
  • Hold regular training sessions to keep all back-of-house teams up to date on any changes to kitchen cleaning protocols or health codes.

6. Create surface cleaning schedules & guides

All these initiatives can be a lot to keep track of, so it’s best practice to create a cleaning schedule for your establishment. Having an official program in place ensures that there is a planned routine, preventing oversights, especially in fast-paced environments. 
Remind you employees that for daily cleaning they should pay particular attention to surfaces that multiple people touch frequently throughout a shift, as they can easily become hotspots for germs. For front-of-house cleaning, these include:
  • Menus
  • Light switches
  • Tabletops and chairs
  • Condiment and napkin dispensers
  • Point of Sale (POS) systems and payment terminals
  • Restroom fixtures like faucets, flush handles, and manual dispensers
Some high-touch areas in the back-of-house are:
  • Sink faucets
  • Food contact surfaces
  • Door handles and light switches
  • Cooking utensils and equipment
  • Manual paper towel and cloth dispensers
  • Inside food storage appliances (like refrigerators and freezers)
With so much to take care of, it’s a good idea to create a clear surface cleaning guide for both front-of-house and back-of-house — this can help your team to ensure nothing gets neglected. It’s also worth opting for color-coded cloths by area to limit cross-contamination and make cleaning tasks easier.
 
Finally, remember to let your staff know that logging into the schedule when they clean is crucial to make the process work correctly.
 
 
Handling hygiene and cleaning at a restaurant on a daily basis can be a complex and energy-consuming task. It’s only natural for it to take a lot of testing and learning to figure out what works best for your facility — implementing our tips can ease that journey. Rest assured that every step you take together with your team makes a difference towards a cleaner, healthier environment for your employees and guests. And remember, consistent attention to hygiene and cleaning not only helps prevent illness and contamination but also upholds your establishment’s reputation. With these tactics in place, you’ll be well on your way to consistent business success.
 
 
If you’d like to learn more about restaurant hygiene and cleaning best practices, why not continue with our guide on food hygiene and safety?
 

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