If you recently opened your dream restaurant, congratulations! By now you must have decided the attire your staff will be wearing along with the interiors and the food menu. But if you haven’t, consider these must-haves of the staff uniform that you shouldn’t go about without.
1) Custom T-shirts
When it comes to designing custom t-shirts for your restaurant’s staff, you need to consider several aspects. The appearance and material used are the two major aspects you must stress. Everything else comes under these two detailings.
Colour
The biggest consideration you must have when designing custom t-shirts is the colour of your restaurant. The interiors, logo colours, branding, etc. should be kept in mind. The t-shirt colour should also subtly touch upon your core values and, if possible, mission statement. Through doing this, your team will become increasingly intertwined in those values. If you don’t wish to consider your restaurant’s core value, you can select the colours smartly. If your restaurant is a casual but fast-paced restaurant, choose colours that are vibrant enough to reflect it. Red and orange are known to stimulate the appetite and promote excitement. Green is associated with natural elements like eco-friendly products.
Material
When it comes to restaurant staff, they are all going to be on their toes throughout, especially if your restaurant welcomes several guests daily. Your staff is going to feel hot and uncomfortable for being in motion all the time. In this case, you need to choose either cotton or viscose. Both materials encourage the skin to breathe and absorb sweat easily. Your staff won’t look uncomfortable and exhausted, which is an unprofessional look in customers’ eyes. Avoid clingy materials like nylon and rayon that are uncomfortable for the staff and unsightly to customers.
Content
Restaurant attire should have the name of the restaurant on it somewhere. Generic content or design on the custom t-shirts may make your uniform look similar to the ones of the coffee shop across the street. Graphics are good but including the name of the restaurant in print is important, too. Consider adding a slogan for more impact. If there’s a logo for the restaurant, this could be the perfect feature to have embroidered in the corner of a polo shirt. Large graphics across the front or back of a tee shirt may work, but this tactic should be used carefully.
Pattern
Out of several t-shirt patterns available, you must choose that you think your staff members would prefer the most. For instance, at a formal restaurant, it’s better to choose polos or button-down shirts for waiters and staff. Otherwise, screen printed custom t-shirts always look perfect for any restaurant theme.
Based on the custom t-shirts, the bottoms can be chosen so that the uniform looks decent.
2) Long Sleeves
Sleeves, too, play a vital role when it’s for your restaurant’s staff. For people working inside the kitchen, full or at least ¾th sleeves is mandatory. Wearing anything that doesn’t cover hands increases your chances of getting burned, either by fire or hot liquids. For staff members that will be working outside the kitchen, it is optional to have half sleeves or not. But it makes sense as long sleeves will protect them from Canadian cold and also prevent skin or hairy hand exposure to the guests. While long sleeves are important, it’s also important to make sure that your sleeves are not so loose-fitting that they hang by the flame when you’re at the stove. And for other restaurant staff, these sleeves shouldn’t interfere with their regular job, say serving food to guests.
3) The Right Shoes
You must know the importance of high quality, comfortable footwear, that also look presentable and go in sync with your restaurant’s uniform. Good quality shoes serve more than just one purpose. In addition to making sure you can stand for long periods of time without aches and pains, they can protect you from safety hazards like dropping heavy or sharp objects or spilling hot liquids. Talking about the style and pattern, they should look good. Choose the colour, material, and pattern carefully so that the footwear does’t look too casual or formal compared to the custom t-shirts and bottoms.
4) Aprons
An apron serves several purposes for all of your restaurant workers. Whether they are the people working inside the kitchen or the ones greeting the guests, all of them should wear aprons over their custom t-shirts. In addition to protecting your clothes from stains, an apron with pockets is a great way to have essentials on hand (like a napkin) whenever you need them. They should have an apron where they can hold their pens and pads for taking orders. Ideally, you should choose a full apron rather than half (it covers your chest), and the more pockets the better. Provide extra aprons to each of your staff members so that soiled ones can be switched out immediately.
5) A Napkin
This essential piece of cloth is an important accessory to have on hand, whether in the kitchen or outside. It can mop up spills quickly, keep the table and cooking counter clean, also ensure that your staff’s hands are clean all the time. Buy towels that are heavy duty and absorbent, and buy a few so that you always have a clean one on hand. Make sure that the napkin is the first thing you put in the aprons.
Now that you know all the essentials of your restaurant staff’s uniform, you can give us a call to select the best colour and design for the attire. We will help you with the best embroidered custom t-shirts and accessories made specifically for your restaurant staff.