For Restaurant General Managers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have a complete, professional staff training manual for your restaurant — covering your service standards, table flow, menu knowledge, and guest handling — built in a fraction of the time it would take to write from scratch. Instead of a generic binder or a verbal "just watch what we do," your team will have a real reference they can actually use.
What you'll need
Open your browser and go to claude.ai. Click Sign up with your email address and create a free account. Once logged in, click New conversation to start fresh. You'll see a chat interface — this is where you'll type your instructions.
What you should see: A clean white chat window with a text box at the bottom. Troubleshooting: If Claude says it's at capacity, try again in a few minutes or use chatgpt.com as an alternative — the prompts below work there too.
Before you ask Claude to write anything, give it background about your restaurant. Type this (filling in your specifics):
I'm the general manager of [Restaurant Name], a [casual Italian / upscale American / neighborhood bar and grill / etc] restaurant in [City, State]. We seat about [X] guests. I want your help building a complete staff training manual section by section. My service style is [describe: formal white tablecloth / casual and friendly / fast-paced and efficient]. Our menu specializes in [describe main dishes/cuisine]. Our target guest is [describe: young professionals, families, date night diners, etc]. I'll ask you to write specific sections one at a time.
What you should see: Claude acknowledges your restaurant and confirms it's ready to help. This context stays active for the whole conversation. Troubleshooting: If you close the tab and come back, you'll need to re-enter this context in a new conversation.
Ask Claude:
Write the "Welcome and Our Story" section of my training manual. This is the first thing a new employee reads. It should: introduce our restaurant's history and mission in 2-3 paragraphs, explain what makes us different from other restaurants in the area, describe the kind of experience we create for guests, and end with a paragraph about what we expect from every team member.
Read the output, edit to add any specific true details (when you opened, who founded it, your actual differentiators), then paste into your Google Doc.
Work through these sections in separate Claude messages (you don't need to do them all at once — return to the same conversation over several days):
Message 4a — Service Flow:
Write the "Table Service Flow" section. Cover step by step: greeting and seating, initial server contact, taking drink orders, presenting the menu, taking food orders (including how to ask about allergies), pacing the meal, mid-meal check-ins, clearing and dessert offer, presenting the check, and farewell. Include a suggested script for each step appropriate for our [casual / upscale / etc] tone.
Message 4b — Handling Guest Complaints:
Write the "Guest Complaint Handling" section. Cover: the Listen-Apologize-Solve approach, specific scripts for the 5 most common complaints (wrong order, long wait, food quality, billing error, noise/seating issue), when to involve the manager, and how to document a complaint in the shift log.
Message 4c — Menu Knowledge:
Write a "Menu Knowledge" section for training purposes. Include: why knowing the menu matters, how to describe dishes engagingly (give 3 example phrases for our type of cuisine), how to handle dietary restriction questions confidently, and how to upsell add-ons and beverages without being pushy. Include 5 example upsell scripts.
Message 4d — Opening and Closing Procedures:
Write the Opening Procedures section for FOH staff and a separate Closing Procedures section. Include: pre-shift setup tasks (side work), communication with the kitchen before service, checking reservations and special events, and end-of-shift cleaning and tip-out expectations.
Message 4e — Attendance and Conduct:
Write the Attendance and Conduct policy section. Cover: scheduling and shift swap process, call-out procedure (how much notice, who to contact), phone/device policy during service, dress code standards, and consequences for policy violations. Write it in a tone that's firm but not corporate or threatening.
After building the framework, return to Claude and add actual menu details:
Here is our current menu: [paste your menu items and descriptions]. Please update the Menu Knowledge section to include these specific dishes, noting the top 3 most common questions guests ask about each category and suggesting how servers should describe our most popular/profitable items.
Once all sections are drafted, paste everything into your Google Doc. Add a cover page with your restaurant's name and logo. Create a table of contents (Google Docs can generate this automatically under Insert → Table of contents). Format with consistent headings (Heading 1 for major sections, Heading 2 for subsections). Save as a PDF for printing.
SOP for Expo / Food Running: "Write a training section for food runners and expo staff. Include how to read a ticket, communication with the kitchen, how to deliver food to the right table without asking the server, and what to do when an order looks wrong."
Allergen Handling Procedure: "Write a food allergy handling SOP. Cover how servers should communicate guest allergies to the kitchen, what language to use, what to do if there's any uncertainty, and how to document allergy-related requests."
Bar Team Training: "Write a training section for bartenders covering: opening bar setup, speed well organization, how to handle ID checks, dealing with intoxicated guests, and end-of-night bar breakdown."
Host/Greeter Standards: "Write a host training section covering: how to greet guests, managing the waitlist, communicating wait times honestly, handling large parties or walk-ins during a rush, and seating etiquette."
New Hire Onboarding Checklist: "Write a new hire onboarding checklist for [server / cook / host]. Include Day 1 tasks, Day 3 check-in milestones, first week completion goals, and the questions to ask on the Day 7 follow-up conversation."