Restaurant management system and method

A system for restaurant management comprising:

• an order input interface for obtaining food order data;
• a service input interface for obtaining point-of-sale service data;
• a task completion input device, the task completion input device having a human readable display and an input interface capable of receiving an input from a human indicating completion of restaurant tasks, the input device having program code capable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readable display and program code for generating restaurant task completion data;
• a computer system connected to the order input interface and the service input interface, the computer system capable of receiving food order data from the order input interface, point-of-sale service data from the service input interface and restaurant task completion data from the task completion input device, the computer system having computer program code capable of generating restaurant performance data based on data selected from the food order data, point-of-sale service data, and restaurant task completion data;
• and
• a first computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of receiving staffing level data and forecasting future staffing level needs based at least in part on the restaurant performance data and staffing level data.

A system for restaurant management for a restaurant having a vehicle drive-thru service comprising

• a vehicle drive-thru order station having a customer order input device for transmitting drive-thru order data;
• a service input interface for obtaining service data and comprising at least one vehicle detector;
• a task completion input device, the task completion input device having a human readable display and an input interface capable of receiving an input from a human indicating completion of restaurant tasks, the input device having program code capable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readable display and program code for generating restaurant task completion data;
• a computer system connected to the customer order input device, vehicle detector and the service input interface, the computer system capable of receiving drive-thru order data, vehicle data, service data and restaurant task completion data, the computer system having computer program code capable of generating restaurant performance data based on data selected from the order data, the vehicle data, service data and the restaurant task completion data;
• computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of receiving staffing level input or forecasting staffing level needs;
• computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of transforming the order data, the vehicle data, the service data and the restaurant task completion data into metrics;
• and
• computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of providing a report summarizing staffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics including service times, and maintenance or food safety metrics.

A method of managing a restaurant with a computerized system for restaurant management, the computerized system for restaurant management comprising:

• an order input interface for obtaining food order data;
• a service input interface for obtaining point-of-sale service data;
• a task completion input device, the task completion input device having a human readable display and an input interface capable of receiving an input from a human indicating completion of restaurant tasks, the input device having program code capable of indicating a task to be completed on the human readable display and program code for generating restaurant task completion data;
• a computer system connected to the order input interface and the service input interface, the computer system capable of receiving food order data from the order input interface, point-of-sale service data from the service input interface and restaurant task completion data from the task completion input device, the computer system having computer program code capable of generating restaurant performance data based on data selected from the food order data, point-of-sale service data, and restaurant task completion data;
• a first computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of transforming the restaurant performance data, task completion data and staffing level data into metrics;
• a second computer program code operable by the computer system and capable of providing a report summarizing staffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics including service times, and maintenance or food safety metrics, the method comprising:
• obtaining:
• (1) food order data from the order input interface;
• (2) point-of-sale service data from the service input interface;
• and optionally (3) the task completion data from the task completion input device;
• the computer system receiving data composed of the food order data, the point-of-sale service data and the optional task completion data;
• transforming the food order data, the point-of-sale data and the optional task completion data into metrics with the first computer program code;
• producing a report by the first computer or a second computer, the report summarizing staffing levels, metrics and targets for metrics, the metrics including service times, and maintenance or food safety metrics;
• and
• outputting the report in a human-readable format.