How Do Restaurants Know How Much Food to Order?
You're tired of guessing, aren't you? One week you're out of tomatoes, the next you've got a full-blown salsa factory rotting in the walk-in. And let's be honest — you're the only one who really knows how to order. But that’s not power. That’s prison.
Let me help you break out of that jail cell and build systems so rock-solid that anyone on your team can order like a pro — without blowing your budget. Let's learn how restaurants know how much food to order.
Why guessing isn't noble — it’s expensive
You’re not a hero because you “just know” what to order. You’re flying blind with someone else’s money—and spoiler alert—that someone is you.
Let’s take Nicole, one of my restaurant coaching members, as an example. She used to eyeball her Coca-Cola orders. No system. No sales tracking. Just vibes. Eventually, she and her husband looked at the numbers and realized they were losing money — on soda, of all things!
The fix? Systems. They adjusted prices, tightened up discounts and created a sales-based ordering method. Now, things run smoothly and Nicole isn't chained to the task. Her managers can order with confidence because there's a process in place.
No systems = no delegation
If your ordering process lives only inside your head, congrats — you’ve made yourself indispensable... and miserable.
You can’t teach what doesn’t exist. If your manager can’t step in and place a food order without blowing up your phone, that’s not on them. That’s on the absence of systems.
What happens when you finally take a vacation?
Picture this: you leave town for a well-earned break. By Saturday, your phone is blowing up. The kitchen’s out of chicken. The walk-ins are overflowing with dairy. Your GM doesn’t know what to order.
Why? Because you never built a process.
So now your vacation looks like crisis texts between bites of overpriced resort toast. Not exactly the break you had in mind.
What a real ordering system looks like
Let me break it down:
- Par sheet
Set up a par level sheet that says how much of each product you need to make it through a given number of days. For early-week orders, it's a smaller number. For weekend prep, it’s larger. - Count sheet
Track what you actually have on the shelves. Now that you know what you need (par), compare it to what’s on hand. - Order what you need
Simple formula:
Par - On hand = What to order
Keep in mind, you need to understand your order units. If carrots only come by the case, you can’t order a quarter case. Order accordingly.
- Use a budget
If you've followed me for any length of time, you know I preach budgets like gospel. A budget keeps you from giving up your checkbook when you delegate ordering.
This all ties into a larger system I teach called the Restaurant Checkbook Guardian — it lets you delegate tasks like ordering while still staying in financial control.
Reduce spoilage, reduce stress
One of my members implemented a simple clipboard prep sheet for every station. That one change dropped their spoilage by 20%.
That’s not theory. That’s real money saved.
If you don’t overproduce, you reduce theft, waste and spoilage. You stay within your par levels. You stop tossing out bubbling vats of salsa because you made too much... again.
And you stop re-ordering just to make the same mistake week after week.
You don't need to be a math wizard
You need to be a leader — with a system.
Once ordering food becomes a system, it becomes anyone’s job. And your job? That’s to be the visionary. Not a walking calculator with a clipboard.
Systems are the first domino to getting your life back; let’s knock that sucker over.
Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant management video tips.
