Customer loyalty and trust mean everything to the success of your business. Not only does your food need to meet expectations, but your restaurant must be presentable as well. The moment a customer steps foot in your restaurant, they’re assessing the cleanliness of the establishment. Everything from how your restaurant smells to what shape the bathrooms are in will influence how they feel about eating your food.
Here are a few reasons why restaurant cleanliness is important, and what you can do to keep your restaurant sparkling clean for customers.
Food Safety
Your function as a restaurant is to deliver food to customers that tastes good and is safe to eat. When a customer sits down to enjoy a meal, they should feel confident that the food was prepared correctly and in a safe manner. If the cleanliness of your kitchen comes into question, you may lose the trust of your customers.
Unclean equipment like fryers, griddles, and storage containers can become breeding grounds for germs and bacteria. Not only does this increases the risk of cross-contamination, but it impacts the taste of the food as well.
Even just one report of a food safety issue in your establishment can tarnish your restaurant’s reputation for years. By keeping both the front and back of house clean, you’re assuring your customers that their food is being prepared in a safe and sanitary environment.
Ambiance
People choose to dine at a restaurant for two primary reasons: the menu and the atmosphere. In other words, a positive dining experience needs to take into account all five senses, not just taste. People should be able to enjoy the decor, smell delicious food wafting through the restaurant, and see a space that’s clean and inviting.
Customers are often more aware of the ambiance than you and your staff may be, which makes keeping your space clean especially important. As an employee or owner, you’re constantly moving around and focusing on operational tasks. But the customer is there to enjoy themselves, and that means they’re waiting in the lobby, sitting at the bar, or relaxing in a booth for long periods of time. Even if you don’t see dust on the lampshades or stains on the carpet, they certainly will. And when dirt and grime become prevalent, that ambiance gets disrupted.
Customer Service
Customers want to be treated as welcomed guests to your establishment. Along with a friendly wait staff and inviting atmosphere, having a clean place to sit and enjoy their meal is important. The table top should be free from stains, spills, or residue, and the chairs should be thoroughly cleaned and dusted regularly.
A clean space creates a more inviting environment, which creates customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Management
Even if it’s far from the truth, an unclean environment can lead both customers and staff to make assumptions about your ability to manage the business. It can create distrust from customers, especially in terms of food safety, and employees may be less inclined to complete their duties or respect their workspace.
Customers may question how much you, the owner, care about their experience. If they don’t believe that you’re invested in delivering an exceptional experience, they may not return.
Health Code Regulations
Aside from customer perception, high sanitation standards are critical to staying compliant with your local health department. The purpose of regular visits from the health department is, of course, to ensure you’re serving food to customers in a safe manner. When your cleaning regimen slips, however, you’re putting your restaurant at risk of racking up health code violations.
The Key to Keeping Your Restaurant Clean
There are tasks your employees must do on a daily basis and in-between customers to maintain a safe and clean environment—mopping the floors, wiping down tables and chairs, cleaning the grill top, etc. But with the high level of output and heavy foot traffic, restaurants require regular deep cleanings in order to maintain health code regulations, eliminate lingering odors, and maintain a pleasant dining experience for customers.
With limited time and staff available between your restaurant’s hours of operation, performing routine deep cleaning can be challenging to do all on your own. Our team of cleaning professionals work with business owners like you to achieve a higher level of cleanliness for restaurants. Your energy and focus should be on executing high-quality menu items that will have your customers coming back time and time again. Contact us today to request an estimate on our professional restaurant cleaning services.
