Restaurant Closing Checklist
A solid closing checklist keeps your restaurant safe, clean, and ready for tomorrow. Use this as your nightly standard.
Stop seating guests
Lock the front door at posted closing time. Continue serving seated guests.
~2 min
Cash out servers
Run server reports, collect tips, reconcile cash drawers against POS reports.
~15 min
Wipe and reset every table
Sanitize tables, replace condiments, reset placemats and silverware for opening.
~20 min
Clean kitchen line
Wipe down stations, scrape and clean grills, sanitize prep surfaces. Empty grease traps if scheduled.
~30 min
Restock and rotate cold and dry storage
FIFO rotation. Note any items below par on the prep list.
~15 min
Sweep and mop all floors
Front of house, kitchen, and entry. Place wet floor signs.
~20 min
Take out trash and break down boxes
Lock the dumpster. Confirm grease bin is secured.
~10 min
Lock the safe and drop the deposit
Count cash twice, log into safe log, prepare deposit slip if applicable.
~10 min
Arm alarm and lock all doors
Check back door, walk-ins, and front. Set alarm only after final exit.
~5 min
Give every closing shift a consistent process
Adapt closing tasks to your site, assign responsibility and document handovers so the next shift can see what was completed and what needs attention.
LemPlates lets you build reusable templates and track checklist runs with your team. Bring your current process and team size to a demo discussion.
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