Popular user-review websites such as Yelp
have put diners in the driver’s seat when it comes to identifying
restaurant issues. Contributing more than 39 million reviews, “Yelpers”
can make or break a restaurant’s reputation, frequently identifying
issues with poor service, food quality or cleanliness. To help
restaurants maintain a positive online reputation, Cintas
Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) today released what online reviewers have
identified as five of the top dirtiest areas in a restaurant.
“Before dining at a new restaurant, many patrons now go online to read
reviews about the restaurant, discover popular dishes or identify hours
of operation,” said Ann Nickolas, Senior Director of Foodservice,
Cintas. “Reviews citing poor cleanliness in a restaurant can be an
instant turn-off for prospective diners and lead to lost business before
the patron even steps in the door.”
According to popular online review sites such as Yelp, the top five
dirtiest areas in a restaurant include:
1. Floors. One of the first things patrons see when they walk
into a restaurant is the floor. According to a recent consumer poll, a
dirty floor could lead 68 percent of customers to immediately exit the
facility—never to return1. From dirt and debris to discolored
grout lines and carpet stains, several different factors can make a
restaurant floor “dirty.”
One reviewer of a major restaurant chain located in Chicago reported:
“[This restaurant] has the appearance of being clean due to style,
but is actually pretty dirty. The floor has crumbs AND dirt all over it,
for example.”
To combat dirt and stains, implement a floorcare program that focuses on
deep cleaning, protecting and maintaining floor surfaces. Whether
restaurant floors are covered by carpet or ceramic tiles, a floorcare
program that involves these three steps and uses mats to contain dirt
will keep surfaces clean over an extended period of time, ensuring that
your guests think “clean” when they look down.
2. Restrooms. Reports of dirt and debris, unflushed toilets,
unstocked paper goods and general malodors are frequent occurrences
within online restaurant reviews. In fact, some users avoid restrooms –
or the restaurant – altogether because of restroom filth. A reviewer of
a Washington D.C.-based Chinese restroom stated, “I had to use the
restroom, but was too scared just from a glimpse of one of them.”
To prevent this scenario from playing out in your restaurant, implement
an ongoing restroom care program that not only ensures that restrooms
are always properly stocked, but that they are also regularly deep
cleaned. In addition to daily maintenance, integrate a deep cleaning
program to remove organic soils that regular mops and brushes can’t
remove, but can cause odors.
3. Tables. Remnants from meals, displaced napkins and general
dirt left on and around tables can make guests feel unwelcome or leave
them with a negative impression of the restaurant. This is what
prevented a reviewer of a Miami-based fast food Mexican restaurant from
giving the restaurant a better rating. He noted, “I would have given
four stars, but I noticed a few tables were dirty and the little bar at
which we sat I had to clean myself prior to sitting down.”
To avoid giving guests a “bad taste” in your restaurant, designate a
porter to handle front of the house cleaning issues, such as dirty
tables or drink spills. From removing trash to spraying down tables with
a general purpose cleaner, this individual’s primary responsibility
should be to keep the dining room clean and ready for guests.
4. Staff. Unkempt staff can be an immediate turn-off to
restaurant patrons. From uniform stains to poor personal grooming, the
appearance of restaurant employees can be an indicator of the
restaurant’s overall commitment to cleanliness. For example, a reviewer
of a major upscale steak house chain in New York City noted, “His
uniform was kind of dirty and I didn't want to imagine if the restaurant
was cleaned or not.”
In addition to enforcing good personal hygiene, ensure that staff
members are dressed in an apparel program that reflects the brand
standard of the restaurant. When a new employee begins work, fit them
for correct sizing and immediately remove stained or worn uniforms from
operation.
5. Kitchen. For restaurants that open the kitchen to guest
viewing or those that operate behind closed doors, kitchen cleanliness
is imperative in any foodservice operation. Reviewers will be the first
to applaud kitchen cleanliness or highlight issues. A reviewer of a
Chinese restaurant in Seattle noted, “I took off one star for this place
because I sat near the entry to their kitchen once … I saw how dirty it
was.”
From prep areas to floors, keep kitchen surfaces clean and odor free by
sanitizing regularly and deep cleaning on a regular basis. In addition,
a drain line maintenance program can help reduce odors emanating from
restaurant drains and limit food sources for insects such as fruit
flies, which can indicate a lack of attention to cleanliness.
For more information on Cintas’ solutions for foodservice, please visit www.cintas.com/foodservice.
About Cintas:
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly
specialized services to businesses of all types primarily throughout
North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate
identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom cleaning
and supplies, tile and carpet cleaning, promotional products, first aid,
safety, fire protection products and services and document management
services for more than 1 million businesses. Cintas is a publicly held
company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol
CTAS and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
1http://www.cmmonline.com/articles/dirty-dishware-restrooms-and-odor-drive-away-return-business-from-restaurants-3
Copyright Business Wire 2013