How to Split Kitchen Staff Between Prep Hours and Service Hours
The biggest mistake in kitchen labor scheduling is using the same staffing ratio for prep and service. Most restaurants need 60-70% of their kitchen team during service hours and 30-40% during prep, but many operators split it 50-50 and wonder why they're bleeding labor costs.
The Math That Works
Start with your peak service capacity. If you need 8 cooks during dinner rush, you typically need only 3-4 during morning prep. The key is identifying which tasks must happen during prep (stocks, butchery, par-baking) versus what can be finished à la minute. Track your ticket times for two weeks—if they're consistently under 15 minutes with your current service team, you're probably overstaffed. If they're pushing 25+ minutes, you've cut too deep.
Schedule your strongest cooks for service, not prep. Prep work requires consistency and attention to detail, but service demands speed and multitasking under pressure. A common split: experienced line cooks work 2pm-11pm (1 hour prep, 8 hours service), while prep cooks work 7am-3pm with a 30-minute overlap for handoff.
Pro tip: Review your kitchen labor percentage weekly. Target 25-35% of revenue for full-service restaurants, 20-25% for fast-casual. Adjust your prep-to-service ratio based on these numbers, not gut feeling.
Create a QR code menu for your restaurant in 5 minutes with DineCard.
Try Free