Do You Have an Expo Job in Your Full-Service Restaurant?

Why should you have an expo job in your restaurant? I want you to reflect on your restaurant for a moment. Think about times when your restaurant is operating at its best and when it’s not. Do you know what made the difference in those times? If you did, you’d fix it, wouldn’t you?

I’m willing to guess that no matter what you had in place the difference was a person: the expeditor (expo).

Who is the expo job?

In our FULL SERVICE Restaurant Position Manuals and Employee Training Templates product, included in all of our membership levels, we define the expo job and station responsibilities as follows:

This job is responsible for setting the pace and flow in the kitchen. The expo receives the order tickets from the servers or printer in the kitchen and communicates which menu items need to be prepared to the wheel cook.

This position requires excellent reading and communication skills. You must be able to read many tickets accurately and quickly. You will also act as liaison (go-between) for the cooks and servers. Anything that a server needs from the kitchen will be directed to you in this position. A spirit of cooperation is essential here.

The expo’s job is to load the food on trays and send it out to the proper tables. In addition, some very busy units use a garnish expo to help the main expo garnish and make salads.”

Expo’s responsibilities include:

• Ensuring All Orders Are Correct

• Garnishing Hot Food

• Presenting Plates

• Loading Trays

• Stocking and Restocking the Station

• Checking Out

• Performing Side Work Duties

• Working as a Team

Why is the expo job so important?

The expo sets the pace and flow of your kitchen! The expo is critical to your shift running smoothly and making sure neither your front of house (FOH) nor back of house (BOH) falls down.

Learn more about adding an expo position in your restaurant or training your current expo to do the job right in this blog post.

Check out our next virtual restaurant workshop!  Click here for details.

If you would like to learn more about the importance of training restaurant employees and the benefit to your restaurant, read our free special report, Breaking Away from the Insanity: How to easily take control of your restaurant and make more money. Download it here. Be sure to visit our YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant business management video tips.