Restaurant Opening and Closing Checklist for FOH and BOH

On this page 9 sections

1. How to Use This Restaurant Opening and Closing Checklist
2. Front-of-House Opening Checklist
3. Kitchen Opening: Temps, Prep, and Line Checks
4. Manager Opening: POS, Banks, and Pre-Shift Meeting
5. FOH Closing Duties and Server Side Work Checklist
6. Kitchen Closing Checklist and Food Safety Logs
7. Manager Close: Batch, Tips, Cash, and Deposit
8. Printable FOH and BOH Templates
9. Next Steps

Key takeaways

• Split every opening and closing task among front of house, kitchen, and manager, and give each task one named owner and a sign-off.
• Food safety logs, such as temperatures, date labels, and sanitizer checks, belong on both the opening and the closing list. Use the limits your local health code sets.
• Adjust tips and close open tabs before the batch settles. Mistakes found after settlement are much harder to fix.
• Food trucks need extra steps for water, propane, power, connectivity, and offline transactions, so build a separate version of the checklist.

A restaurant opening and closing checklist is how the 6 a.m. prep cook and the midnight closer stay in sync without ever meeting. This guide splits opening and closing duties among front of house (FOH), kitchen (BOH), and the manager on duty. It covers food safety checks, POS closeout, batching, and tip reconciliation, the end-of-night steps that tend to slip when everyone is tired. It ends with printable templates you can adapt for a dining room, a bar, or a food truck.

How to Use This Restaurant Opening and Closing Checklist

Most checklists fail because nobody is clearly responsible for each line. "Clean the line" with no name next to it usually means nobody cleans the line. Three rules keep a checklist honest:

• One owner per task. Assign a role, such as server, line cook, dishwasher, or manager, rather than "team."
• Initials and times. A sign-off column makes it obvious what was skipped and when.
• Manager walk-through. The closing manager checks the list before signing out, and the opening manager reviews the previous night's notes.

Keep the list to tasks that actually happen every shift. Weekly deep-cleaning and monthly equipment maintenance belong on a separate calendar so the daily list stays short enough to finish.

Front-of-House Opening Checklist

The FOH opening crew sets the room and the tools guests touch first. Here is a practical front of house opening checklist:

Dining room and entry - Unlock doors on schedule. Turn on lights, music, and HVAC. - Check that the entry, host stand, and restrooms are clean and stocked with soap, paper towels, and toilet paper. - Wipe and set tables, check chairs for wobble, and confirm high chairs and booster seats are clean. - Check menus for stains, outdated prices, or missing inserts.

Service stations - Stock napkins, silverware rolls, to-go containers, straws, and condiments. - Brew coffee and iced tea, fill ice bins, and check the soda gun or fountain. - Set up the bar garnish tray, if you have one, and check that the bar's opening inventory matches the closing count.

Payment devices - Power on and charge every handheld or tableside terminal and confirm it connects. - Inspect card readers for loose parts, unfamiliar overlays, or broken seals. Tamper checks are part of protecting card data, and our guide to PCI compliance for small businesses explains where they fit. - Confirm receipt paper is loaded in every printer and terminal.

Kitchen Opening: Temps, Prep, and Line Checks

The kitchen opening is where food safety starts. Use the cold-holding, hot-holding, cooking, and cooling temperatures your local health code sets. These requirements vary by jurisdiction, so confirm current rules with your health department.

Temperature and Equipment Checks

• Record the temperature of every walk-in, reach-in, lowboy, and freezer on the temp log.
• Calibrate probe thermometers using your usual method, and replace any that read off.
• Turn on and preheat fryers, grills, flattops, ovens, and steam wells, and confirm hood fans are running.
• Check the dish machine's wash and rinse temperatures, or its chemical levels if it is a low-temp machine.
• Test sanitizer buckets with test strips and record the reading.

Prep and Rotation

• Review the prep list against reservations, catering orders, and the previous night's 86 list.
• Check date labels and discard anything past its use-by date, following first in, first out.
• Receive deliveries. Check temperatures and quality, and compare the invoice to the order before signing.
• Label everything prepped with the item name, date, and preparer.

Line Check

Before service, the lead cook or chef walks the line station by station. They confirm every item is stocked, holding at the proper temperature, and tasting right. Note shortages on the 86 board now rather than mid-rush.

Food Truck Opening Adjustments

Food trucks add steps a brick-and-mortar kitchen never sees:

• Fill fresh water tanks and confirm the gray water tank was emptied at the commissary.
• Check propane levels and fittings, and fuel the generator if you run one.
• Secure equipment for travel, then reverse that process on arrival.
• Confirm your terminal has a cellular or hotspot connection, and know how your POS handles offline mode. Our guide to the best food truck POS system for a moving kitchen covers what to look for.

Manager Opening: POS, Banks, and Pre-Shift Meeting

The opening manager connects the staff, the systems, and the money.

1. Review the previous close. Read the manager log for equipment issues, cash variances, guest complaints, or anything left unfinished.
2. Confirm the prior batch settled. Check that last night's card batch closed and the deposit is on its way. Our article on how long credit card deposits take explains timing around weekends and holidays.
3. Prepare cash banks. Count each drawer to its set starting amount in front of a witness or on camera, and log it.
4. Check the POS. Update menu prices, specials, and 86'd items, and confirm employee logins and clock-ins work.
5. Confirm staffing. Compare who clocked in against the schedule, and adjust sections for call-outs.
6. Run the pre-shift meeting. Cover specials, the 86 list, allergens, large parties, reservations, section assignments, and any service focus for the shift. Keep it short, five to ten minutes.

FOH Closing Duties and Server Side Work Checklist

Closing FOH well makes the next morning easier. These restaurant closing duties usually split between servers, bartenders, and hosts.

Server Side Work Checklist

• Clear, wipe, and reset your section, including chairs and booths.
• Restock your station so the opener does not have to.
• Roll silverware to your assigned count.
• Break down the coffee and tea station and clean the machines.
• Return menus to the host stand and pull damaged ones.
• Sweep under tables in your section.

Bar Closing

• Close all open tabs. Any tab that was preauthorized needs to be finalized correctly, and our guide to bar tab preauthorization and closing tabs safely walks through the risks.
• Wipe down taps and speed wells, cover garnishes, and store perishables.
• Count closing bar inventory for high-value bottles.

Server Checkout Steps

1. Close every open check. Managers should not inherit open tickets.
2. Enter all credit card tips accurately in the POS.
3. Print the server checkout report showing sales, card tips, cash owed, and tip-outs.
4. Turn in cash, signed slips, if you keep them, and the report to the manager.
5. Get manager sign-off before clocking out.

Tip-entry errors are one of the most common closeout problems. Our article on how credit card tip adjustment works and where it goes wrong explains why a mistyped tip can become a dispute.

Kitchen Closing Checklist and Food Safety Logs

A strong kitchen closing checklist protects food, equipment, and your next inspection.

Food storage - Cool hot foods using your approved cooling method and record times and temperatures on the cooling log. - Wrap, label, and date everything going into storage. - Store raw proteins below ready-to-eat foods. - Discard anything that cannot be safely held overnight.

Equipment and surfaces - Turn off and clean grills, flattops, fryers, ovens, and steam wells. Filter or change fryer oil on your schedule. - Clean and sanitize all prep surfaces, cutting boards, and slicers. - Run the last dish loads, drain and clean the dish machine, and empty the sanitizer buckets. - Sweep and mop floors, including under equipment, and clean floor drains.

Logs and handoff - Record final walk-in and reach-in temperatures. - Write tomorrow's prep notes and shortages for the opening cook. - Take out trash and recycling and close the dumpster lid.

Food truck close: Return to the commissary if required, dump gray water, refill fresh water, secure propane, and lock down equipment. Sync any offline transactions as soon as you have a connection, before the batch closes, so declines show up while you can still act on them.

Manager Close: Batch, Tips, Cash, and Deposit

The manager close is where money gets reconciled. Rushing it creates problems that surface days later on a bank statement.

Recommended Closing Order

1. Confirm all checks and tabs are closed. Reopened checks after a batch can create mismatches.
2. Review voids, comps, discounts, and refunds. Compare them against what you authorized during the shift.
3. Verify tip entries. Spot-check card tips against signed slips or the tip report for unusually large amounts or missing entries.
4. Settle the batch. Whether your system batches automatically or manually, confirm it closed and that the total matches the day's card sales report.
5. Count cash drawers. Count each drawer, record any overage or shortage, and write a note explaining variances.
6. Prepare the deposit. Fill out the deposit slip, seal the bag, and use a safe drop. Two-person counts reduce errors and disputes.
7. Print and file the end-of-day report. Keep the batch report, drawer counts, and manager log together.
8. Secure the building. Check that equipment is off, doors and windows are locked, and the alarm is set.

Tip Reconciliation

Tip-outs, tip pools, and paying out card tips in cash all have legal and tax implications that vary by state. Whether you can pass card processing costs on to staff is a common question, and our explainer on whether restaurants can deduct credit card fees from servers' tips lays out the issues. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, so confirm your tip policy with an employment attorney or accountant.

At close, make sure:

• Each employee's reported tips match the POS tip report.
• Tip-out percentages or pool distributions follow your written policy.
• Cash tips paid out are recorded and signed for.

Common Closeout Mistakes

For matching deposits to sales over a full month, see our guide to credit card reconciliation.

Printable FOH and BOH Templates

Copy these into a spreadsheet, adjust them for your menu and layout, and print one per shift. Add a "Notes" line at the bottom of each sheet.

FOH Template

BOH Template

Keep completed sheets for as long as your health department or internal policy requires, since temperature and cooling logs may be requested during inspections.

Next Steps

Start by printing these templates and running them for a week. Then cut tasks nobody does and add the ones that keep getting missed. Check whether your POS can handle tip entry, batch confirmation, and end-of-day reports without workarounds. If closeout regularly takes longer than it should, your system may be the bottleneck.

MannyPay provides payment processing for restaurants and bars and food truck payment solutions, along with POS systems and handheld terminals for tableside and mobile service. To review your setup, request a free quote, and a MannyPay specialist will respond within one business day.

ME

About the author

MannyPay Editorial Team

Beyond the Swipe's editorial desk researches the publication's guides and news and cites its sources in every article. Articles reviewed by a named MannyPay editor carry that editor's byline.

This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Card network rules and state laws change; confirm current requirements for your business.