Pizza Today - October 2019 - 74

Mike's Monthly Tip
MIKE BAUSCH

Become Your Own Customer
Why eating and drinking in your own establishment is a good idea

S

hould I eat or drink inside my
pizzeria? The answer is yes ...
and no. When it comes to eating and drinking your product, served
from your staff, there are particular ways
to accomplish this, without compromising your integrity and food cost. For
starters, pay for everything. Don't have a
discount code for owners or a comp list
that says owners or XYZ person eats for
free. The reason is you'll find that that
comp ends up getting used for a lot of
people who aren't owners. The solution
of, "Well, I'd fire anyone who does that"
isn't that solid because you might fire
people who are good workers that fell
into temptation. If your restaurant is
littered with theft temptations because
more likely than not, no one will see it,
you're setting your staff up for failure
as well as destroying your food cost.
An unkept array of comps that no one
reviews are a massive cause of fraud in
this industry.
PAY FOR YOUR FOOD. If you're ordering
a pizza to go or dining in, use a credit
card. Make sure all orders get a ticket,

7 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9

NO TICKET NO TACO! That's the
phrase we use at Andolini's; nothing is
called out to the line and then blindly
made without a ticket. All orders must
go through the point of sale system
to get made, no exceptions. That card
could be a debit card linked to your
bank account that pays you back, but
use a card. Show the transaction
occurring so the staff sees that no one is
special.
EAT LIKE A CUSTOMER. Additionally,
when you have a friend come in from
out of town, and they want to eat at
your pizzeria, and you want to comp
them, pay for it on your card. If you're
going to enjoy the meal with them,
then sit down as a civilian, preferably
in non-work attire, and be an everyday
customer. Again, when finished, pay
like a customer, pay full price, not with
an employee discount. You will incur
the credit card fees of using your card,
which is a small price to pay (and that's
well worth it to maintain your integrity
and set a leadership example for your
staff ).

DON'T GET SAUCED IN YOUR OWN POT.

When it comes to drinking alcohol
on-site, the best practice is to never
drink in your restaurant. If you do
feel the need just to see how your bar
is doing as a customer from timeto-time, then again, wear civilian
attire, do it outside of routine work
and never before you're about to go
back on the line or do any more instore work. Even if you just killed a
significant order or had an insanely
great night, it's preferable to just go
like a regular person, that doesn't own
this restaurant, to another restaurant or bar with or without staff at
that point, and just enjoy yourself
rather than potentially setting up the
cynical viewpoint that you're wasting food cost and that you're another
drunk owner abusing their power.
If that sounds absurd, bear in mind
perception is 9/10ths reality and your
staff 's perception of you, their leader,
must always be protected. Also, it
puts your bartenders and service
staff in an awkward position to serve
you because they're not sure if they
should charge you or not. Or worstcase scenario, if they should ever cut
you off.

USE THIRD PARTY DELIVERY TO ORDER
IN. If you do love your pizza, and I

love mine, I find it best practice to
order it from a third party and have
it delivered to my house. This way,
I get to see how the third party is
doing and also get a truly unbiased
view of my end product, without my
staff knowing that they're making
something for the owner. It's a really
clean way to spot-check your crew.
These proactive measures allow you
to be in control of your restaurant.
They also let your staff believe in the
mission of excellent service and low
food cost by holding your integrity in
high regard. ■
MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's
Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - October 2019

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