not to be mean, but 20 people in 4 hours, with food this simple, is absolutely nothing. ask your boss to let you do a stress test or something, where he/you put in a solid 5 tickets at once and see what you put out. breakfast is supposed to be slammed because the food is ridiculously easy to make


keep a hot side of the flat top, rotate potatoes to keep crisp/refill
use the other side to do eggs, maybe hot in back for meats too.

def parcook everything you can. bacon can be cooked for almost a week and then refried. parcooked potatoes id imagine still get watery, and they change a bit if you shred them a week before cooking etc.

to be completely honest, in a breakfast setting, you should be able to do a few plates per minute with a constant ticket stream, as one thing is always just replacing another.

you said you could price a menu, so what is your food cost?

I don't disagree, really. But like I said, it's my first time creating this process.

I've been pretty honest about my cooking limitations. I can't do what you're describing.

well thats fine, but im sure after a little more practice, you'll look back and think this was pretty ridiculous too.

lets say you have 10 items, 3 eggs, 3 potatoes, 2 bacon, 2 sausage.

potatoes all go on first, easy on a flat top, throw 3 portions and chop it up later. when they start to brown a bit, throw the meats on cause they are just getting finished up here. eggs take no time at all so they go last. if you just look down the line at each thing, you can do them all at once no prob. next thing you know, that order will be out in 4 minutes

Is there a need for this speed in a dive bar in the middle of nowhere?

lol no, not at all, which is why I am enjoying it

gambone,

We get it, you're an ex-con greasy spoon breakfast specialist.

Don’t worry that’s not uncommon, not even for people who went to culinary school. At least based on my not super extensive experience of watching people work in kitchens.

If you’re able to work alone without constant supervision, you’re already ahead of the pack.

I think properly cooking eggs any way, while also having to tend to every thing else would be the hardest thing. I'd do those in non stick pans on the burners rather than the flat top, then just wipe them out with a towel after each use, not sure if that is up to health code though.

Yes, this is what I have been doing. ... come to think of it, I've never cooked an egg on a flat top before

Yeah, I think it's something in my head--probs related to anxiety issues. Lots of people in the industry absolutely thrive on the chaos. I do not.

But a lot of that has to do with confidence and feeling ownership over what I'm doing. Which is one thing I'm trying to change here--If I build it, I can fix it, as opposed to feeling like I'm ****ing up someone else's work.

Also, going to start making Carolina-style pulled pork sandwiches for the bar's open mic night. Sold a few tonight, 1st time. Basically, smoking pork shoulders for about six hours, shredding it, serving with a vinegar-based sauce, a simple slaw, chips.

I like what you are doing.

I also echo the sentiments that doing a simple menu, well, is better than doing a complex menu only about "okay".

I wish you well good sir ElSapo!

Probably uses all the old-timey lingo, too.

Def. have an "86" on the menu that can never actually be ordered as a fun joke to have with the guests.

Preparation is key to success and serving more and more people each week.

Precook all bacon on sheet pans in the oven, then reheat to order on flat top. Use microwave for extra crispy.

Make quiche with a store bought crust, filling should be an egg and dairy mixture and add spinach, ham, Swiss cheese prior to baking. Store cold and reheat in microwave.

French toast - find a local bakery and purchase their old Brioche, Challah or other buttery bread. Dip in mixture of dairy, sugar, cinnamon, spices. Dip bread and toss on flat top to order.

Eggs Benedict - poach lots of eggs prior to opening and store in ice bath. Drop in pan to order, purchase shelf stable hollandaise (just add water). Toast muffin, slice ham/Canadian bacon, top with warmed poached egg, and drizzle hollandaise.

Hash potatoes - get dry shredded potato mix, just add water and toss in oven. Leave on corner of flat top to crisp.

Offer sides you can make ahead and store: fruit cups, avocado slices, grits.

Get a conveyor toaster.

Find same local bakery to make you biscuits, croissants, specialty breads that you can pickup on the way into your shift.

Don’t offer customizable options like omelette or other items that require full attention and specification.

Agree on offering a hash bowl - potatoes, meat, cheese, eggs.

I like all of that ^ except for the boxed potatoes. I'd rather fry frozen potatoes of some kind or just premake a bunch of latkes and re-fry them for a second to warm them up.

Poached eggs can be kept together in a fridge for a bit but still require the hot water bath to rewarm.

All seems like good advice, thank you. But this is almost comically on-point.

Here are lots of options that are easy to prepare for a crowd.

1. Bacon - Line them up like soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 until crispy. no work and voila, a ton of bacon.

2. Homefries - Microwave potatoes 2 at a time, for 8 min (med-lg spuds) When you have enough nuked spuds, cool, then dice. Now you can either fry them with oil, butter, onion, spices, or toss them in all that stuff, use a little extra oil and spread it all out on a baking sheet to roast - 40 min....delicious and easy.

3. Oven French toast - ripped up day old rolls spread in casserole dish. Make custard of eggs, cream, cinnamon, milk, nutmeg. Let sit over night. In morning add dollops of cream cheese (and maybe banana or canned peaches) and bake.

4. Yogurt parfaits - get a big tub of yogurt and 8 plastic cups. Layer yogurt, chopped fruit, honey and granola cereal in layers.

Those are all easy, quick and tasty. Good luck!

Ok, bacon questions ...

Most people here are saying pre-cook the bacon and then reheat on either the flat-top, microwave or fryer (no) ... so apparently you can basically finish bacon any way?

How would you hold the pre/par-cooked bacon (hot/cold)? And are you cooking it all the way?

Depends on what you'll be doing with this bacon.

Bacon that goes into burritos, chopped or crumbled;
Bacon that is served in strips, either on a breakfast plate, as a side or in a sandwich.


Thanks for everyone's suggestions and help!

Bacon that goes into burritos doesn't have to be boiling hot. I'd just make it in the oven until it's completely cooked then have a batch on hand that is warm/room temperature to make your burritos with.

Once burritos are all made you can keep them warm in the oven.

With regard to bacon on a plate, I'd bake the bacon until it was 75% done...a little limp and wiggly, not stiff. (this is only for bacon, not penises)
Then you can finish it in pan and serve it hot.

Again, for bacon in a sandwich, I'd go with warm/room temp fully cooked bacon. The other stuff will keep it warm.

Bacon can definitely be cooked on sheet pans in large batches (75% done as Josie suggested is a good idea), refrigerated, and then finished on the flat top as needed. I'd also crack/whisk a bunch of eggs into a pitcher before service starts to have them on hand for scrambled eggs/omelets/sandwiches. I wouldn't pre-make burritos.

I've been a professional pastry cook for 9 years and went to pastry school.

One very important question that I haven't seen answered yet is how much time do you have to prep before service? The day of, and/or the day before.

My initial thoughts on the sweet stuff is that there are much easier options than cooking french toast or pancakes to order.

At the restaurant I'm working at now they don't do a lot of covers for brunch. The pastry options are a pound cake, and a yogurt/granola thing.

Yogurt/granola type thing is easy but I don't know who would go to a dive bar for yogurt and granola, even for brunch. But you know your customers better than I do.

The pound cake we make is baked off way ahead of time in 3x5 inch loaf pans, wrapped in plastic and frozen. The pickup for service is super easy: we have Chef Mike (the microwave) warm it up for 45 seconds. It's plated with a simple icing (ready to go in a piping bag) and a little ramekin of mixed berry jam. Pound cakes freeze really well so whatever is leftover gets frozen again and saved for the next weekend.

Scones are another good option. They can be made the day before, cut or scooped onto sheet pans, kept in the cooler, then baked off just before service. Plate with some whipped cream/fruit/whatever.

Feel free to pm me for recipes.

Most people call this bread pudding.