Building A Small Brewpub - 14
The following is a fictional description of opening a brewpub
It’s been a tough job but I’ve been going around to all the brewpubs in a 200 mile radius (I save my receipts, it’s a tax write-off now!). I want to not only test their beers but I’m curious about their service system.
What I’ve found in most of the breweries I’ve been to is that you either order at the bar, or something that really irritates me is having to scan a QR code to plug my order in, then someone brings me my beer or food and then the system asks me to tip 22%.
I’m pretty sure from what I experienced is that I want to be served in a pub. Especially the one I am building, which is small and cozy. So I think full service, for me, is the way to go.
Looking at how many seats I will have and how I plan to set it up, we should be able to do this. The shift manager is also the bartender. However the bar is not that big so they can take a few tables too. The server can take the balance of the tables but I will also allow that person behind the bar to pour beers as well. The bartenders responsibility is the bar and the service person’s is the dining room. The kitchen could always help out when they have time by delivering pizzas and bussing tables.
But a legal issue comes up: Can you share tips with the kitchen? I’ve heard there was a problem with this, so I did some digging. In fact you can share tips but only if your servers make minimum wage. In my state minimum wage is $14.42 an hour. And tipped employees make $11.40. It varies from state to state, but no matter where you are, if tips are bad the restaurant must make up the difference.
So if I want the kitchen to share in the tips I need to pay servers and bartenders at least $14.42 per hour. I plan on paying the kitchen more, and since the bartender is also the shift manager, he or she will make more still, plus be on a bonus plan.
The other caveat to this is no one in the tip pool can be in charge of making the schedule. At this point that is no problem because I will make the schedules and I will not take tips.
Any tips that are cash will be divided up at the end of the night. On the POS system, which will also be our time clock, the employee will be prompted to report those cash tips. But the majority of our business and tips will be through credit cards. This money goes to the bank directly, so my POS systemwide give me the information I need to pay out those tips and include it on the pay checks.
My experience in the past where employees walked out every night with all their tips, no mater how much they were making in actual dollars, they would look at their paychecks and complain. So a dishwasher would see a paycheck where they made $15 per hour and think about another restaurant where they could make $17 per hour. By having the tips on their paycheck (because other restaurants don’t tip the kitchen) they can see they are easily making over $20 per hour. Likewise for the servers who will be averaging over $30 per hour. And employees don’t have to worry about getting audited by the IRS for not reporting all their income. It all runs through their paychecks.
When a customer comes in the door, either the bartender or the server will greet them and tell them to take a seat or wait until one is open. Incidentally, if it gets too busy for them to do this, then that means we can afford a host/bus person. There’s a difference between good problems and bad problems!
Menus will be given and any specials in food or beer will be explained, but it will be a chill atmosphere. The order will be taken right at the table with a hand-held device and sent via blue-tooth to the kitchen.
I know there will be some adjustments to this system but I really like the sharing of tips as it is more of a ‘one for all, all for one’ approach to service and creates a family atmosphere among the employees. Or so I am hoping.
Sequence of Events
Find a suitable location - check
Draw up a floor plan - check
Check with the town zoning to see if a brewpub is allowed in that location - check
Get someone from the building department to do a walk through in the space while showing them my plan to see if they see any pitfalls - check
Set up Company - check
Set up bank account and fund - check
Draw plumbing plans - check
Draw up detail kitchen plans - check
Meet with architect and engineer - check
Apply for state and federal licenses - check
Come up with a name - check
Get insurance set up - check
Acquire additional funding - check
Sign the lease - check
Demo for plumbing - check
Hire Contractor - check
Start acquiring equipment - in progress
Start on Business System - in progress
Food Menu - check
Hook up Glycol System - check
Service System - check
POS System - to to
Oyster! - to do
Kitchen Equipment List - check
Bar Equipment List - to do
Order Sign - to do
Order Growlers - to do
Order 32 oz. cans and labels - to do
Build draft system -check
Hook up glycol system
Do hot water brew
Thanks so much for this series. We are in the process of opening and following along. The search for a place has taken a while but we found a potential site. Working on rough floor plan now.