Most opening checklists are one long column of forty items, which is why they get ticked in a block at 10:55. This one is split by station, because that is how the work is actually divided: three people opening in parallel each own a section, and nobody is holding a clipboard for somebody else's job.
Before anything else
Four checks that decide whether the rest of the list matters. If any of these fail, you are managing an incident, not opening a store.
- Walk-in cooler and freezer temperatures. 41°F and 0°F. Log the actual numbers. A
unit that failed overnight is the single most expensive thing you can find late.
- Hot water at the hand sink. No hot water is a closed store in most jurisdictions.
Find out at 6am, not during an inspection.
- Nothing thawed on the floor or in a sink overnight. If it did, it is discarded,
and the argument about it is shorter at open than at lunch.
- Sanitizer concentration. Test strips, not eyeballs. Chlorine 50 to 100 ppm, quat
200 to 400 ppm, or whatever your chemical supplier specifies.
Back of house
- Walk-in cooler temperature logged
- Walk-in freezer temperature logged
- Reach-in and prep rail temperatures logged
- Thermometers located and calibrated (ice water reads 32°F)
- Sanitizer buckets made and tested, one per station
- Hand sinks stocked: soap, towels, hot water, nothing stacked in front of them
- Date labels checked, anything past date pulled
- FIFO rotation done on the line and in the walk-in
- Prep list posted with quantities, not just item names
- Fryer oil quality checked, filtered or changed
- Grill, ovens and holding cabinets up to temperature
- Truck order checked in and put away, cold items first
- Floor drains clear, no standing water
- Trash and recycling emptied, bins lined
Front of house
- Dining room swept, tables and chairs wiped
- Restrooms stocked, clean, and checked for hot water
- Trash bins emptied and lined
- Entry glass and door handles cleaned
- Menu boards correct, all lights working
- Condiment and drink station stocked
- Ice bin filled, scoop stored outside the ice
- Beverage machine dispensing and syrup levels checked
- Music, lighting and temperature set
Drive-thru
- Headsets charged, tested, paired to the right lanes
- Order confirmation board lit and legible
- Window area clean, bags and carriers within reach
- Timer system on and reading correctly
- Condiments, straws and napkins stocked at the window
Cash and open
- Drawer counted and signed for
- Safe and change fund verified
- POS terminals on, all payment types tested with a real transaction
- Yesterday's deposit reconciled and secured
- Opening manager sign-off, with a name and a time
Team
- Lineup posted: every person placed at a station and a time
- Everyone in uniform, hair restrained, no jewelry beyond a plain band
- Anyone reporting illness sent home before service starts
- The day's target and the one thing being fixed today, said out loud
Making it survive contact with a real morning
Put the highest-consequence items first. If the list is interrupted, and it will be, the things that got done are the things at the top. Temperatures before menu boards.
Assign sections to people, not the list to a person. One opener holding a forty-item list is a bottleneck. Three openers each holding twelve items is a store that opens on time.
Make the sign-off name a person, not a role. "Opening manager" signs nothing. A name and a time is a record, and it is what an inspector or a franchisor asks for.
Record numbers, not ticks, wherever a number exists. A ticked box says somebody looked. A logged 38°F says what they saw, and it is the only version that helps you a month later when you are trying to work out when the compressor started failing.