How do I know how many staff members I actually need to run my restaurant efficiently?
To know how many staff members you actually need to run your restaurant efficiently, start by matching labor hours to your real workload (covers, prep volume, service style, and opening hours), then build a schedule around the busiest 20% of your time. The right number is the smallest team that can meet service standards consistently without burnout, overtime spikes, or quality drops.
In most restaurants, owners get reliable answers by working backward from demand: how many guests you serve, how complex the menu is, and how many workstations you run at once. Then they convert that into labor hours per day and per week, and compare it to the hours their current team can realistically cover.
What “enough staff” looks like in practice
You have enough staff when service is stable and repeatable: orders move through the kitchen without piling up, tables turn at a normal pace, standards are followed, and managers aren’t constantly filling gaps on the floor or line.
You likely need more coverage when you regularly see late ticket times, frequent 86’d items due to prep gaps, missed cleaning tasks, rushed handoffs, or constant last-minute schedule changes. On the other hand, if you’re consistently overstaffed, you’ll see low sales per labor hour, staff idling during predictable slow periods, and labor costs rising without a guest experience improvement.
The core drivers that decide your staffing needs
- Sales and covers by daypart (breakfast, lunch, dinner, late-night)
- Service style (counter service, full service, bar-led, delivery-heavy)
- Menu complexity (number of items, prep steps, made-to-order vs batch)
- Operating hours and peak “compression” (how much volume hits at once)
- Layout and stations (kitchen line stations, number of sections on the floor, bar setup)
- Experience level and cross-training (new hires require more overlap and supervision)
- Non-service workload (prep, receiving, cleaning, admin, opening/closing)
A practical way to calculate staffing without overcomplicating it
A commonly used approach is to build your staffing plan in labor hours, not headcount. Headcount changes with shift length, part-time vs full-time, and how you split dayparts.
Step 1: Break the week into dayparts and list the work
For each daypart, list the roles you need and the tasks they must cover (service + prep + cleaning + admin). Keep it simple: what must be done, by when, and by whom.
Step 2: Set a “base team” and a “peak add-on”
Most restaurants run a base team for steady flow, then add people for peak windows. This avoids building your entire schedule around the busiest hour of the week.
- Base team: minimum coverage to operate safely and meet standards
- Peak add-on: extra coverage for rush periods and high-demand tasks
Step 3: Convert coverage into weekly labor hours
Add up the hours needed per role per daypart. Include opening and closing time, prep before service, and cleanup after service. Then compare the total to the hours your team can cover at sustainable shift lengths.
Step 4: Stress-test the plan against your busiest times
Take your top 2–3 busiest services (for many venues: Friday dinner, Saturday dinner, Sunday brunch) and check if the plan still holds: ticket times, table coverage, bar speed, and manager bandwidth.
How it’s typically done in well-run restaurants
In most restaurants, staffing is treated as an ongoing operational loop rather than a one-time decision. A simple, repeatable process looks like this:
- Track covers and sales by daypart for the last 4–8 weeks
- Write the minimum role coverage needed per daypart
- Schedule to the busiest predictable periods, not the average day
- Review weekly: overtime, late tickets, complaints, comps, and staff fatigue
- Adjust one lever at a time (stations, prep timing, sections, shift overlap)
Real-world examples
Example 1: 40-seat café with strong lunch rush
If lunch is 60% of daily sales and hits in a 90-minute window, you usually need more peak coverage than your average hourly sales suggest. A workable pattern is a smaller base team in the morning, then an added barista/cashier and a runner for the lunch compression, with prep overlap before the rush.
Example 2: Casual restaurant with a full bar on weekends
Friday and Saturday often fail at the bar first, not the kitchen. You may need an additional bartender or barback for a short peak shift, even if the kitchen staffing looks fine. This is a common fix because it removes bottlenecks at ordering, drink production, and payments.
Example 3: Delivery-heavy operation
Delivery volume can look “steady” but still overload packaging and expo. Many operators add a dedicated expo/packer during peak delivery hours rather than pulling cooks off the line, which protects speed and accuracy.
How digital menus and management systems can support staffing decisions
Digital menu systems can help you connect demand to staffing more accurately by showing what guests actually order and when. For example, if your menu data shows certain items spike during specific hours, you can align prep and station coverage to those predictable patterns. A platform like Menuviel can support this process by keeping items, availability, and menu structure consistent across dayparts and locations, which makes planning prep and peak coverage more straightforward.
Quick checks to confirm your staffing level is right
- Ticket times stay consistent during peaks without shortcuts
- Managers manage (they’re not constantly running food or covering stations)
- Closing tasks are completed without pushing labor deep into overtime
- Guest issues are handled calmly, not reactively
- Staff turnover and call-outs don’t spike from fatigue
