Restaurant Uniforms: Image is Everything in the Food Service Industry

In the restaurant industry, image is everything. The kitchen and waitstaff is the image of a restaurant. If an employee comes in and is wearing a dirty or unkept uniform, it is not putting forth a good image of the restaurant.

It is a common occurrence for employees to have unclean uniforms, but they are simply sent home. If it happens frequently, they are let go.

Most people visiting restaurants use all of their senses to evaluate the establishment in which they visit. Sight, sound, taste and smell will allow them decide if they will return again. When a waiter comes to the table and the consumer see that his or her uniform is pressed and white, they get the impression of cleanliness.

When a waiter comes to the table to take an order and his or her uniform is stained and smelly, they simple order coffee and then leave. It gives the impression of an unclean establishment and that sanitary conditions may not be the first propriety. It is doubtful that they will return.

For a restaurant, word of mouth is very important. Negative remarks tend to be remembered more than positive ones.

To promote positive hygiene and cleanliness habits when it comes to restaurant uniforms, set code of conduct rules for the establishment. It should be established that all uniforms are to be cleaned and pressed.

Some restaurant owners realize that the cost of dry-cleaning may be a hardship for their employees, and offer to have the uniforms cleaned at the restaurants expense.

Some restaurants feel that it is not appropriate to wear perfume while working, as some consumers are allergic to them.

A wrinkled uniform gives the impression of untidiness among staff. It is an indication the restaurant is does not care about cleanliness. Some restaurants have their restaurant uniform made out of polyester. This help to avoid wrinkles, appearing much neater.

It is well all known that a dirty restaurant uniform as is unpreventable. By the end of a long workday, almost everything that was served over the course of the night ends up on a restaurant uniform. But it is unacceptable at the start of the workday. If your kitchen staff any amount of time in the dining room, make sure they change into clean uniforms before they go out to greet the customers. Additionally, if an employee is serving meat at a buffet table, have additional uniforms ready to change into.

A uniform code should be part of your hiring and training policies. A uniform that looks old dirty or in tatters, speaks subconsciously to your customers in the restaurant and about the person wearing it. Unfortunately, the customers see a dirty, unkempt uniform as a extension of your overall business, and usually that image is what they will remember about their experience in your restaurant. On the other hand, a clean uniform says the exact opposite: A neat and clean atmosphere, impressively dressed waitstaff.

By initiating a policy on clean restaurant uniforms will assist in the overall image of a business. Some employees feel that if they are enough of an asset, the disciplinary measures that will be taken will be minimum. It is critical to the well being of any restaurant. It's a policy that is very easy to enforce and maintain. Clean uniforms send the message that this is a clean restaurant in the eyes of your customers, which is a wonderful reason for them to keep coming back.

A restaurant uniform is usually pressed white pleated pants with a pressed white jacket and a pressed white shirt. For women, it is a pressed white blouse and pressed white skirt. A white apron can be worn it is decided by the establishment. The aprons can be long or short. This is also decided by the establishment. This is not always the case.

In some establishments that have a theme to them, the restaurant uniform will take on the theme. Some customers feel this is a fun relaxing way to spend the evening.

Many establishments that are child orientated have cartoon characters as waitstaff. The children do not feel intimidated by the waitstaff, and they are more relaxed. Some even have mascots.

There are clubs and bars and pubs that have restaurant uniform, these restaurant uniforms usually consist of low cut blouses and short skirts. These were designed to keep the patrons happy and most of all buying drinks.

An inventive entrepreneur can take an abandoned building and turn it into a thriving restaurant. With a theme, the waitstaff is everything. There have been some who have taken abandoned jails and turned them into thriving restaurants. In each jail cell there was a table that seats four. Low lighting increased the ambiance of the restaurant. Waiters and waitress' restaurant uniforms were those of guards. The "Warden" of the prison was the host who sat the customers.

They are waiters and theme players; there restaurant uniform depicts what they are. This type of restaurant is popping up across the United States.

A restaurant uniform can say a lot about a facility. Depending upon the region of the world that the restaurant is in.

For regions where the temperature is quite hot, wait staff uniforms consist of a white long sleeve cotton shirt with a tie and vest. The pants for the restaurant are black pleated pants and black dress shoes. The vests can be interchanged with jackets, but the pants always remain black. The jackets that are worn are come in different colors signifying the position of the wearer.

For some restaurants, their uniforms have been time tested. McDonald's restaurant chain has had the some color restaurant uniforms for decades. They have recently hired some of the top designers in the country to redesign their restaurant uniforms.

Tommy Hilfiger Russell Simmons, and P. Diddy have agreed to make the restaurant uniforms more modern. The estimated cost for this is eighty million dollars. McDonald's will replace all of the restaurant uniforms in every store in the country.