Restaurant manager daily checklist: a template you can copy tonight
A restaurant manager's daily checklist should cover five moments: arrival and safety checks, pre-service set-up and briefing, during-service control, close-down, and the end-of-day numbers. Keep it to one page, put a name and time against every line, and split food safety checks from front-of-house tasks so each is owned by the right person. Copy the template below and cut anything that doesn't fit your restaurant.
On this page
Every good restaurant manager has a checklist, even if it only lives in their head. The problem with the head version is that it goes home with them. When the assistant manager opens on your day off, or a new supervisor closes for the first time, half of it gets missed.
Below is a daily checklist for a restaurant manager, split into the five moments of the day. It's written for a UK restaurant doing lunch and dinner, but it works for a café or food-led pub with a few cuts. Copy it into a document or spreadsheet, delete what doesn't apply, and add what's specific to you.
How to use this checklist
- One page, five sections. Arrival, pre-service, during service, close, and end-of-day numbers.
- A name and a time on every line. A tick on its own only shows someone held a pen.
- Separate owner from checker. The chef owns the kitchen opening checks; the manager checks they were done.
- Weekday tasks on the right day. Monday's delivery check or Thursday's deep clean shouldn't sit on every day's list.
- Write down what's wrong, not only what's right. A fridge reading of 9°C with "moved stock, called engineer" is a good record. A column of perfect readings that nobody believes is not.
Restaurant manager daily checklist (template)
1. On arrival (before staff and deliveries)
| ✓ | Check | Notes | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Building walk-round: doors, windows, alarm, no overnight damage or leaks | |||
| ☐ | Fire exits and escape routes clear, fire doors closed | |||
| ☐ | Signs of pests checked in kitchen and stores | |||
| ☐ | Fridge and freezer temperatures recorded (chilled food 8°C or below; fridges set to 5°C or below) | |||
| ☐ | Hot-hold and dishwasher equipment switched on and working | |||
| ☐ | Handwash basins stocked: soap, hot water, paper towels | |||
| ☐ | Toilets clean and stocked | |||
| ☐ | Yesterday's handover note read and actions picked up |
2. Pre-service
| ✓ | Check | Notes | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Kitchen opening checks signed off by the chef on duty | |||
| ☐ | Deliveries checked in: temperatures, dates, damaged packaging | |||
| ☐ | Bookings reviewed: covers, large tables, allergies flagged, VIPs | |||
| ☐ | Staffing checked against the rota: everyone in, gaps covered | |||
| ☐ | Specials and 86'd items confirmed with the kitchen | |||
| ☐ | Allergen information updated for specials and any recipe changes | |||
| ☐ | Floor set: tables laid, menus clean, sections allocated | |||
| ☐ | Bar set: ice, garnishes, glassware, float in tills | |||
| ☐ | Team briefing done (10 minutes: covers, specials, allergens, sections, breaks) |
3. During service
| ✓ | Check | Notes | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Ticket times and table waits checked at peak | |||
| ☐ | Staffing adjusted to actual trade (send home early or call in) | |||
| ☐ | Breaks given: 20 minutes for anyone working more than six hours | |||
| ☐ | Toilets checked mid-service | |||
| ☐ | Complaints handled and recorded | |||
| ☐ | Accidents, incidents and near misses recorded | |||
| ☐ | Spillages and breakages dealt with straight away |
4. Close
| ✓ | Check | Notes | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Kitchen closing checks and cleaning signed off by the chef | |||
| ☐ | Food covered, labelled, dated and stored; anything past its date thrown away | |||
| ☐ | Fridge and freezer temperatures recorded at close | |||
| ☐ | Waste and recycling out, bins closed | |||
| ☐ | Bar cleaned down, glasswasher drained and cleaned | |||
| ☐ | Equipment off: grills, fryers, hot cupboards, coffee machine | |||
| ☐ | Tills cashed up, takings recorded, cash in safe | |||
| ☐ | Building secure: doors, windows, back gate, alarm set |
5. End-of-day numbers and handover
| ✓ | Item | Today | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Covers (lunch / dinner) | ||
| ☐ | Net sales (excluding VAT) | ||
| ☐ | Hours worked or wage cost | ||
| ☐ | Labour cost % of net sales | ||
| ☐ | Voids and refunds | ||
| ☐ | Complaints and comps | ||
| ☐ | Incidents or maintenance raised | ||
| ☐ | Handover note written for tomorrow's opener |
Want the opening and closing tasks in more detail? Our pub opening and closing checklist works just as well for restaurants, and the kitchen cleaning schedule template covers the daily, weekly and monthly kitchen clean.
Why food safety checks belong on the manager's list
Food hygiene law (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5) requires food businesses to put in place procedures based on HACCP principles and keep records that show they're working. In England and Wales, most small restaurants do this with the FSA's Safer Food, Better Business pack, which includes its own opening and closing checks. In Scotland the equivalent is CookSafe, and in Northern Ireland, Safe Catering.
The chef usually owns the kitchen checks. The manager's job is to make sure they happened and to act when something is wrong. If the walk-in reads 10°C at 8am, that's a manager decision: move stock, check what's safe, call the engineer, and record what you did. Our guide on how to prepare for an EHO inspection explains what inspectors look for.
Adapting the template
For a café or day-time venue. Drop the dinner service lines, add a mid-afternoon close and a stock check for the next morning's bake.
For a food-led pub. Add cellar checks to the arrival section and a bar close to the close section. Our cellar management checklist has the list.
For a restaurant group. Keep one template across sites so area managers can compare like with like, but let each site add its own lines (a pizza oven, an outdoor terrace).
By weekday. Monday might include a delivery from your main supplier and a fridge deep clean. Friday might include an extra briefing line for large bookings. Keep those on the day they happen, not on every day.
Common mistakes with daily checklists
- Too long. Forty lines means people tick the lot at 11pm. Keep it to what matters.
- Ticked in advance. If you see a whole day ticked by 10am, the list isn't being used.
- No action when something fails. A record of a fridge out of range for five days in a row, with no action, looks worse than no record.
- One person does it all. The checklist should survive the manager's day off.
- Paper that goes missing. Clipboards get wet, torn and thrown away. If you keep paper, file it weekly.
Or let ShiftComplete run it for you
ShiftComplete is an operations and rota app for UK restaurants, pubs, cafés, bars and hotels. It runs in the browser on any phone or tablet, so there's nothing to install.
- Checklists that change by weekday: set up your opening, pre-service and closing checks once, add Monday-only or Friday-only tasks, and add one-off priority jobs when you need them.
- Every tick named and timestamped, with optional or required photo evidence. A 2am close still counts as "today".
- Temperature logs for every fridge, freezer and hot-hold unit, with out-of-range readings flagged on the dashboard.
- Incidents and maintenance logged with a photo, severity and status.
- The rota in the same app: staff availability, a draft rota built in seconds, labour cost as you build, and clock in and out if you switch it on.
- A weekly report showing task completion, temperature breaches, incidents and maintenance backlog.
It helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see, though you remain responsible for food safety. £1.49 per staff member per month, free for 60 days, no card needed. If you'd like a hand setting up your checklists, book a free 15-minute set-up call.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a restaurant manager's daily checklist?
Safety and food safety checks on arrival, a pre-service briefing covering bookings, specials, allergens and staffing, checks during service on wait times, labour and cleanliness, a close-down covering kitchen sign-off, cash and security, and an end-of-day summary of covers, sales, wages and anything to hand over. Each line should have a name and time when it's done.
Is the manager's checklist the same as the opening and closing checklist?
Not quite. Opening and closing checklists are task lists for whoever opens or closes, often by area: bar, kitchen, floor. The manager's daily checklist sits above them. It checks those lists were completed, and adds the things only a manager does: the briefing, labour decisions during service, cashing up, reviewing incidents and the handover.
How long should a daily checklist take?
The checks themselves should take minutes, not an hour. If a checklist takes too long, people tick it without doing it. Keep each section to the lines that genuinely matter on most days, move weekly tasks into a weekly list, and make weekday-specific tasks appear only on the right day.
Do I have to keep daily checklists for an EHO?
The law requires food businesses to have food safety procedures based on HACCP principles and to keep records that show they work. An EHO will usually want to see evidence of your daily checks, such as fridge temperatures and cleaning, rather than a specific form. A consistent, signed record is far more convincing than a perfect week before a visit.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Food hygiene for businesses, chilling and freezing
- FSA: Safer Food, Better Business, opening and closing checks (PDF)
- legislation.gov.uk: Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Article 5 (HACCP and records)
- GOV.UK: Rest breaks at work
Checked 26 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.