Restaurant Opening and Closing Checklists for Every Station

Why checklists slip

The list exists. Nobody knows if today's was done

Every restaurant has an opening list and a closing list. The trouble is rarely the list itself.

The binder

Laminated by the dish pit

It was written once, pinned up, and now it is part of the wall. Nobody signs it, so nobody can tell whether it was followed on Tuesday.

The close

Done, according to whom?

A tick at the end of the night is not a clean fryer at open. When the morning finds the problem, the closer has gone home and the shift starts behind.

The person

It depends who is on

The real standard lives in the head of your best closer. On their night off, the standard takes the night off too.

Opening checklists

Before the doors open

Four lists, one per station. Copy them into your binder, change what does not fit your room, and give each one an owner.

Front of house

Dining room and host stand

Walk the guest path from the street: sign lit, entrance swept, door glass and handles clean.
Lights, music and room temperature set for the service.
Tables set, level and wiped; chairs straight; menus clean, current and stocked.
Restrooms clean, dry and stocked with soap, paper and towels.
Side stations stocked: cutlery rolled, glassware polished, condiments filled.
Host stand ready: reservations and large parties reviewed, sections set, allergy and occasion notes flagged.
Open sign on and guest entrance unlocked, once the room is ready and not before.

Kitchen

Line, walk-in and prep

Walk-in, reach-in and freezer temperatures read and logged against your local food code.
Equipment on and up to temperature; hood fans running.
Handwash sinks stocked with soap and towels; sanitizer mixed and tested.
Deliveries checked against the invoice, dated and put away, oldest stock in front.
Date labels checked; anything past its date thrown out and logged.
Stations stocked to par from last night's prep list.
Line check before service: holding temperatures, tastes, garnish, and the 86 list passed to the front.

Bar

Back bar and service well

Ice bins filled, with the scoop stored outside the ice.
Garnishes cut fresh, covered and dated; juices and syrups prepped.
Back bar faced and stocked, speed rails full, backups counted.
Beer and wine coolers at temperature; draft taps pouring clean.
Glass washer running with detergent and sanitizer; glassware polished.
Mats down; sinks and surfaces clean.
Bar drawer counted; POS and printer working.

Manager

Cash, tech and the huddle

Alarm off, doors unlocked, and a first walk-through of every area.
Opening drawers counted and matched to the float.
POS terminals signed in, printers loaded, kitchen screens and card readers working.
Delivery tablets on and set to open, with 86'd items marked unavailable.
Staffing checked against the schedule, and any callout covered before service.
Pre-shift huddle: specials, the 86 list, allergens, sections, the reservation picture and one service focus.

Closing checklists

After the last table

A good close is a gift to the opener. The same four stations, in the order the night actually ends.

Front of house

Dining room and checkouts

Every check settled and every table closed in the POS.
Each server's sidework verified by the closing manager before their checkout.
Tables cleared and sanitized; chairs up for the floor.
Floors swept and mopped; trash and recycling out.
Side stations restocked for the morning; condiments consolidated and covered.
Restrooms cleaned and restocked, floors dry, lights off.
Menus wiped; tomorrow's reservations and large parties checked.

Kitchen

Line breakdown and storage

Food wrapped, labeled, dated and stored; nothing left open on the line.
Walk-in temperatures logged; doors closed and latched.
Equipment off and pilots safe; fryers covered or filtered on your schedule.
Surfaces, cutting boards and slicers cleaned and sanitized.
Dish area closed down: machine drained and cleaned, screens emptied.
Floors swept and mopped, drains clear, trash out.
Waste logged, and tomorrow's prep list written for the opener.

Bar

Service well and back bar

Garnishes and juices covered, dated and refrigerated, or thrown out.
Speed rails and back bar restocked; empties counted.
Draft taps and pour spouts cleaned; mats soaking.
Glass washer drained; glasses washed and stored.
Sinks drained and wiped; ice bin emptied and wiped.
Liquor secured and locked.
Bar drawer counted, and tips declared under your policy.

Manager

Cash and lockup

Every drawer counted and reconciled; the deposit prepared and in the safe.
A last walk-through of each area against its closing list.
Lights, music, heaters and cooking equipment off.
Every door and window locked; walk-in and freezer latched.
Alarm armed on the way out.
A pass-down note for the opener: what ran out, what broke, what is owed to the morning.

How it works in Gid

From a list on the wall to a checklist that runs every day

Three steps, in the same app your team already opens for the schedule and the chat.

Step 1

A task template in the Gid Task Library on a phone, with its instructions and the points to monitor.

Start from a template or your own list

Browse Gid Library holds an Opening Tour and a Closing Tour that walk every area, plus shorter lists for the line, the dish area, the POS and the lockup. Activate one as it is, change it, or start from scratch with the lists above.

Step 2

The Gid team chat on a phone, with a task shared straight into the conversation.

Make it repeat, give it an owner

Set the checklist to repeat every day, on the weekdays you choose, or once a month, and Gid creates each day's copy on its own. Assign it to the people who open or close, and share it in the chat when it needs a word.

Step 3

The Gid command center on a phone, with the team's task performance, its training and what needs the manager now.

See what is done, and what is late

Everyone on the team can see the day's tasks, so the opener knows what the closer finished. A late checklist reminds the person it is assigned to and, after the delay you set, the manager too.

Proof, not a tick

What a checklist in Gid can ask for

Match the proof to the risk. Most items only need a tick; a few deserve more.

Each item ticked

A checklist task is done when its items are ticked, one by one, on the phone of the person doing them.

A photo or a reading

Ask for a photo of the clean line or the stocked bar, or a temperature reading for the walk-in, so the standard is the same whoever closes.

A sign-off where the risk is

The Closing Tour asks for a sign-off on the kitchen line, the cash and the lockup, so each of those carries a name.

A manager's review

A checklist can wait for a manager to validate it before it counts as done, which suits the lockup and the cash.

A real close

A Saturday close in Gid, start to finish

An example of the closing lists above on a busy night, built from the templates Gid ships.

Last tables

Servers check out against their sidework

Each closing server has the sidework checklist on their phone. The closing manager walks the section and signs off the checkout before the cash-out.

Kitchen down

The line closes with a photo

The closing cook ticks the line breakdown and adds a photo of the clean line. The dish area close-down runs beside it, on the dishwasher's phone.

Lockup

The manager signs the last walk-through

The Closing Tour walks every area, with sign-offs on the line, the cash and the lockup. In the morning the opener sees what was done, and by whom, before touching a switch.

The stack you have today

Six apps that do not talk to each other, or one that does

Nothing here is a knock on any specific tool. It is what happens when the schedule, the tasks, the training, the chat, the documents and the guest reviews were never built to know about each other.

6 apps 6 logins 6 bills

SchedulingThe week is posted, the swaps still happen by text.
Tasks and checklistsA missed closing task shows up the next morning.
Onboarding and trainingNew hires learn from whoever is on shift.
Team chatShift talk buried between personal texts.
Documents and menusRecipes and SOPs lost in folders and binders.
Google reviewsReplies go out, the lesson never reaches the team.

Gid

One app on iOS, Android and the web

1 app 1 login 1 price

Scheduling
Tasks and checklists
Onboarding and training
Team chat
Documents and menus
Google reviewsReply drafts, recurring themes, lessons for the team

Founders rate • Lifetime

$29 USD per location per monthWhole team included

First 250 worldwide • rate locked, no contract

Try Gid for free

The honest part

When paper is enough, and what Gid does not do yet

The lists above work on paper. Here is when that is all you need.

Keep it on paper if

You open and close yourself, every day, alone. A laminated list on the wall is enough.
Nobody else ever needs to know whether the list was done, or by whom.
Your lists never change, and nobody new ever has to learn them.

Limits of Gid today

These lists are a starting point, not a food safety standard. Check temperatures, date rules and cleaning steps against your local health authority.
A person reads and enters each temperature. Gid does not connect to wireless temperature probes today.
Gid POS and Gid Reservations are listed as coming soon. They are not in your hands yet, and we will not bill you for them until they are.
The free workspace brings you plus one helper. Bringing the full team means a paid location.

Questions, answered

What should be on a restaurant opening checklist?

Four lists, one per station: the dining room and host stand, the kitchen line and its temperatures, the bar, and the manager's cash, tech and pre-shift huddle. Each item should be something a person can see and tick, not a reminder to be careful.

What should be on a restaurant closing checklist?

The same four stations, in the order the night ends: server checkouts and the dining room, the line breakdown and storage, the bar well, then the manager's cash and lockup. End with a pass-down note, so the opener knows what ran out and what broke.

How do I know the closing checklist was actually done?

Give each list an owner, and ask for proof only where the risk is: a photo of the clean line, a sign-off on the cash and the lockup. In Gid, a checklist can require a photo or a sign-off and can wait for a manager to validate it, and the opener sees who finished what.

Can Gid repeat a checklist every day on its own?

Yes. Set a checklist task to repeat every day, on the weekdays you choose, or once a month, and Gid creates each copy on its own. If one runs late, the person it is assigned to gets a reminder and, after the delay you set, the manager does too.

Are these checklists free to use?

Yes. Copy them, change them and pin them up; no account needed. To run them in Gid, create a free workspace, no card. It brings you plus one helper; the rest of the team rides on a paid location.

What does it cost to run checklists in Gid?

$29 USD per location per month at the Founders rate, $89 USD at the public rate, with your whole team included; adding people never raises your bill. The checklists, the schedule, the team chat and the training are the same app, at the same price.

About this page

Who wrote it, and what Gid is

Written by the Gid team

Members of the Gid team owned and operated restaurants before building software. These lists are free to reuse, and if something your room needs is missing, tell us at contact@gidai.ca.

What Gid is

One connected operations app for restaurant teams: scheduling, tasks, team chat, continuous training, onboarding, performance evaluations and an AI assistant grounded in your own documents. One price per location, whole team included.

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Restaurant opening and closing checklists for every station.

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