How many kitchen staff do you need?

Wages are one of the biggest costs in any business, and food businesses are no exception. For new restaurants and catering businesses, how many staff you start out with is a make or break question. Get it wrong, and you either won’t be able to meet demand, or will have staff sitting on their hands as you struggle to find work for them, costing you money.

So, how many kitchen staff do you need exactly? While there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, there are general principles you can follow to find the best solution for your kitchen. Some will be clear from the get-go, while others will require you to adjust over the opening weeks and months—adding staff as you react to your business’ success.

Fixed staffing issues

A large part of the equation for how many kitchen staff you need is the size of your restaurant, or ambitions for the kinds of events you will be catering. Restaurant size is an easier one to judge (at least once you’ve made the decision!). While different arrangements and quantities of tables might increase your number of covers, you should quickly have an idea of how many people you can seat, and thus how many people you can serve.

For restaurants offering takeaways, this equation may be slightly different. The output of your kitchen could depend on a range of factors, from the kind of food you’re serving to seasonal variations. A burger restaurant for instance might attract more takeaway customers than covers, while certain other foods might not travel well. If your restaurant is some distance away from most of your customers, this could also impact takeaway orders, such as being miles from a large student campus.

Restaurants will always have to plan around lunch and dinnertime hours. This will primarily affect your opening hours, but some restaurants will have enough custom to operate throughout the day, if not on weekdays then at weekends. As a result, you may not know exactly how many staff you will need and which hours they will need to work until you can more accurately gauge demand.

Staffing for a catering company will inevitably be more variable, but can be fixed to a degree if you limit the events or circumstances you are catering for. An example of this might be a company that delivers lunches to remote workplaces. Demand can easily be measured ahead of time by gauging interest from the companies being served, receiving orders in advance, or offsetting any losses by striking a deal with the business.

Variable staffing issues

Demand can also change by season. An obvious example would be people buying ice cream in the winter months, but certain other foods might also be more or less appealing at different times of year. Something else that can change by season is illness: you may need to hire more staff to cover illnesses during winter, not just for emergency absences, but as a precaution if kitchen staff are feeling under the weather.

Offers and pricing can also temporarily change staffing requirements. Restaurants who offer takeaways often make them more expensive than eating at the restaurant, both because they are cheaper (due to the cut taken by delivery firms) and to simply attract people to the restaurant, where they might spend more money. More temporary discounts or discount days (such as a ‘happy hour’ or BOGOF promotion) will also influence your working hours and staff requirements.

For catering companies, this will be based much more around the number of events you are catering at any given time. While the number of kitchen staff will be broadly similar to a restaurant, the quantity and scale of events will bring different requirements for wait staff. More runners and servers might be needed depending on the size of the event and facilities, while more than one manager may also be advisable for a particularly large event. 

Kitchen staff for restaurants

The main differential in how many kitchen staff are needed for restaurants is the type of service being offered. The number of kitchen staff for a restaurant can be roughly estimated as:

Self-service restaurants

Self-service restaurants are relatively rare, but have the advantage of requiring fewer staff on almost every front. Food isn’t cooked to order, meaning more evenly-distributed workloads for kitchen staff, while fewer staff will be needed to manage things front-of-house. Rough estimates for self-service kitchen staff numbers are:

• Front of house - 1 server per 12 tables

• Back of house - 4 kitchen staff per shift (based on 50 customers/hour). This can be scaled, e.g. 3 staff per shift based on 38 customers/hour.

  
  

Casual dining

Most restaurants will fall into the category of casual dining. This requires more staff at both front and back of house, but is not necessarily as labour intensive as a more formal restaurant, though the number of servers may be very similar. Rough estimates for casual dining kitchen staff numbers are:

• Front of house - 1 server per 6 tables

• Back of house - 4 kitchen staff per 60 covers per shift.

  
  

Fine dining

Fine dining restaurants are broadly similar to casual ones, but may have slightly different requirements. The range and complexity of dishes being served can raise kitchen staff requirements, while a higher level of service may also be expected, demanding a greater number of front-of-house staff. Rough estimates for fine dining kitchen staff numbers are:

• Front of house:

  • 1 server per 4 tables

  • 1 maître d' per shift

• Back of house - 6 kitchen staff per 60 covers per shift.

  
  

While servers can cover cashier duties in some casual dining restaurants, a maître d' is generally seen as mandatory for fine dining restaurants. This is both to manage the wait staff, and to ensure that someone is available to greet customers at all times. This helps to reinforce the image and exclusivity of the restaurant, as well as to manage reservations, with fine dining restaurants generally fielding more bookings and fewer walk-ups.

Kitchen staff for catering

Kitchen staffing requirements for catering are slightly different to other food businesses. The number of staff you employ in your kitchen and business more generally will be dictated by demand, as well as the types of events you are catering. This means you need to be extremely flexible to demand, predicting how many staff you’ll need based on previous years, and the type of events you intend to specialise in.

Plated service

Plated service will have fairly similar requirements to a fine dining restaurant. This may include a maître d' to manage and oversee staff, as well as to liaise with venue staff, organise the different stages of service, and even put out favours or personalised items for events such as weddings.

• Front of house: 

  • 1 server per 10-12 guests

  • 1 bartender per 50 guests

  • 1 maître d' / staff manager

• Back of house:

  • 1 chef per 25 guests 

  • 1 kitchen assistant per 50 guests

  • 1 kitchen porter per 100 guests (min. 1)

    
    

Buffet service

Buffet service is closer to a self-service restaurant, but with an added level of oversight. Staff will typically be required to oversee the buffet, as well as to refill trays, dishes, and drink carafes where relevant.

You may also require commis waiters to clean tables, particularly if the event opts to use crockery instead of disposable plates and cutlery. With all of the food generally prepared beforehand, the number of kitchen staff needed will vary depending on your workflows and workload.

• Front of house:

  • ~1 server per 3 chafing dishes

  • 1 commis waiter per 25 guests (crockery)

  • 1 commis waiter per 50 guests (disposables)

  • 1 bartender per 50 guests

• Back of house

  • 1 chef per 50 guests (variable)

    
    

Does a restaurant need support staff?

Yes. Restaurants need a range of support staff, even if you may not think of them as such. You may not always think of porters as kitchen staff, for instance, but they play an important (if supporting) role within the restaurant. 

An accountant may also be considered under support staff costs, while one or more cleaners will also likely be necessary to clean the front-of-house, kitchen and toilets with the necessary frequency.

Other support staff might include managers, supervisors, and cashiers. There’s also the full variety of kitchen staff to consider, which may include a head chef, kitchen manager, prep cooks, line cooks, and sous chef, among others. These roles will naturally bring different salary requirements, meaning that thinking of kitchen staff as a single bloc can obscure the actual costs involved.

No aspect of running a restaurant or catering business is simple, but staffing may be among the most complex. While there is no easy answer to how many kitchen staff you need, we hope the numbers and information above can give you a starting point, and help to build an agile, efficient, and high quality food business.

If you’re interested in decking out the kitchens of your food business, we can help.Our kitchen designs are designed to perform and built to last—using our expertise and supplier relationships to deliver a kitchen design that is perfectly suited to your business. Browse the menus above to learn more, or get in touch with us today to discuss your project.