For restaurants & cafés

Restaurant handbook and training, without an HR department

Two different things get lumped together: the handbook, which is policy, and station training, which is how the job is done. New servers and cooks almost never fail on policy.

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No app for your staff to install · Works on any phone · No credit card to try

In short: The handbook covers hours, conduct, breaks and safety expectations. Station training covers close, prep, allergens, cooling, sanitizing and each station. Run trail shifts off a plan so a new hire gets the same thing whether they trail your best server or your newest one.

Trail shifts are the real training

Restaurants train by shadowing, one station at a time — show it, do it together, then let them do it while you watch. That works. What breaks it is that the quality depends entirely on who's running the trail.

Give the trainer a plan

Day one, week one, week two, station by station. Same order every time. Your best server stops having to invent the curriculum on top of her own section.

Where language quietly bites

Roughly a third of US cooks are foreign-born, and in many kitchens Spanish is the working language. Allergen handling, cooling temperatures and sanitizer dwell times are precise instructions — exactly the kind that don't survive a rushed demonstration across a language gap.

How it works

Talk it in. Walk through the job out loud, in whatever language you think in.
Get a clear routine. Tiendo structures it into steps, safety notes and checkpoints, then translates it into your team's language — numbers and times kept exact.
Your team reads and confirms. Post a QR code or hand a new hire one link. They read it on their phone and tap "read and understood."

One routine, every language your team speaks: EspañolKreyòlTiếng ViệtالعربيةPolski中文

Questions operators ask

What should a restaurant employee handbook include?

Hours and scheduling, pay and breaks, conduct and appearance, time off, safety and hygiene expectations, discipline, and an acknowledgement page. Station procedures belong separately.

How long should restaurant onboarding take?

Most operators aim for useful by the end of the first shift and independent within one to two weeks, running one station at a time rather than everything at once.

How do I train kitchen staff who read Spanish better than English?

Give the same procedures in Spanish, keeping temperatures and times exact, on their phone at the station.

What's a trail shift?

A shadowing shift where a new hire follows an experienced employee without their own section, usually one station at a time.

Same trail shift, whoever's running it.

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