Restaurant cleaning checklist: daily, closing, weekly and monthly tasks

Daily restaurant cleaning checklist for the dining room and the line

Every day, the front of house needs clean tables, a clean entrance, a clean bar and stocked restrooms, and the kitchen needs sanitized surfaces and tools all through service. Most of this work is done by the staff on shift, between guests and between tasks.

The lists below cover a typical full-service restaurant. Cut what you do not have, such as a bar or a host stand, and add what is specific to your place, such as a pizza oven or an open kitchen. The closing list and the weekly and monthly lists follow in the next sections.

The kitchen list follows the FDA Food Code, the model rules most health departments base their own on. Section 4-602.11 says equipment food-contact surfaces and utensils must be cleaned before each use with a different type of raw animal food, each time a cook switches from raw food to ready-to-eat food, and at any time contamination may have happened. If they are used with food that needs time and temperature control for safety, such as cooked rice, cut melon or sliced meat, they must be cleaned throughout the day at least every four hours, with some exceptions for refrigerated rooms and storage containers.

Wiping cloths have their own rule. Under section 3-304.14, cloths used on counters and equipment are held between uses in a sanitizer solution at the right strength, and laundered daily. Cloths used on surfaces that touch raw animal food are kept apart from the others. A damp cloth left on the counter between uses is one of the things an inspector will notice.

For a home kitchen, our kitchen cleaning checklist covers the residential version. It is written for houses and apartments, not for food service.

Restaurant closing cleaning checklist: what to clean after the last table

The closing clean is the main clean of the day: the cooking line, prep tables, dish area, floors, drains and trash, plus the dining room and restrooms. The Food Code puts it after close for a reason: section 6-501.12 says cleaning of the building is done when the least food is exposed, such as after closing, except for spills and accidents.

Work top to bottom and from the far end of the kitchen toward the dish area and the drains, so dirty water and debris move one way. Do the floors last, after every surface above them is done. Hang the mop to dry when you finish: the Food Code (6-501.16) says mops must air-dry without soiling walls, equipment or supplies.

A few Food Code rules shape the closing routine. The food-contact surfaces of cooking and baking equipment must be cleaned at least every 24 hours, and so must microwave cavities and door seals (4-602.12). Mop water may not go down food prep sinks, handwashing sinks or warewashing equipment (6-501.15), and toilets and urinals may not be used as a mop sink (5-203.13). Chemicals must be stored apart from food, equipment, utensils and linens, and not above them (7-201.11).

For the dining room close, use the end-of-day lines in the front of house list above: wipe chair legs and booth frames, sweep and mop the whole floor, clean the soda guns and empty the bar sinks. If a contract cleaner does the dining room and restrooms overnight, the closing staff can stop at the kitchen list.

Restaurant cleaning schedule: weekly and monthly tasks

The weekly list covers what builds up slowly: fryer oil residue, scale in sinks, food in coolers, grease on walls and filters. The monthly list covers what needs time, moving equipment or a vendor: behind the line, the walk-in, the ice machine, hoods and the grease trap.

The ice machine deserves a special note. Ice is food: the Food Code’s definition of food includes it. The code treats ice bins and the enclosed parts of ice makers as surfaces that touch food. Section 4-602.11(E) says they must be cleaned at the frequency the manufacturer specifies, or, if the maker gives none, often enough to stop soil or mold from building up. The same rule covers beverage nozzles, syrup lines and coffee grinders. Use the maker’s cleaning and sanitizing products and steps, and write the date on a log near the machine.

Spread the weekly tasks over the week instead of piling them on one night. Give each closing shift one extra job: fryers Monday, coolers Tuesday, walls Wednesday, and so on. Each close then runs about the same length, which is easier to staff. Post the schedule by the dish area, with a column for initials and dates, so a manager can see what was done.

Front of house vs back of house: who cleans what in a restaurant?

In most restaurants the kitchen staff clean the kitchen, the servers and bartenders clean the dining room and bar during service, and specialist vendors handle hoods, grease traps and pests. Contract cleaners, when a restaurant uses them, usually come after close for the dining room, restrooms and floors.

The kitchen stays with the staff because food-contact surfaces are tied to food safety and to the food handling rules the kitchen manager answers for. A contract cleaner who comes in at night can clean the kitchen floor and walls well, but the boards, slicers and prep tables need to be cleaned and sanitized by people who know what was cut on them and when the next prep starts.

Hood and duct cleaning is specialist work

Commercial kitchen exhaust systems fall under NFPA 96, the Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations, and local fire codes build on it. The schedule depends on how much and what you cook. Portland Fire & Rescue’s hood policy, for example, sets cleaning monthly for solid fuel or wok cooking, every 3 months for high-volume fast food, 24-hour or charbroil cooking, and every 6 months for normal cooking or baking. It requires hoods, grease-removal devices, fans and ducts to be cleaned to bare metal, a label in the kitchen with the cleaning date and the company, and reports kept on site.

Many places also license the people who do it. The Utah State Fire Marshal requires a license for the company and a certificate of registration for each person who services a kitchen exhaust system, with a written exam based on NFPA 96. Portland requires a certificate even when a restaurant cleans its own system. Rules differ from city to city, so ask your fire marshal who may clean the hood and what staff may do between visits, such as washing the removable filters.

What is the difference between cleaning and sanitizing food-contact surfaces?

Cleaning removes food, grease and dirt; sanitizing then reduces the germs left on the clean surface. The FDA Food Code requires both, in that order, for anything that touches food: wash, rinse, then sanitize before the surface is used again.

The Food Code sets the standard in plain terms. Food-contact surfaces and utensils must be clean to sight and touch (4-601.11), and cooking equipment must be kept free of encrusted grease. After cleaning, food-contact surfaces and utensils must be sanitized before use (4-702.11). Sanitizing only works on a clean surface, because food and grease left behind shield germs from the sanitizer.

How sanitizing is done

• Hot water in a manual sink, by immersion for at least 30 seconds at the temperature the code sets, or in a high-temperature dish machine.
• Chemical sanitizer by immersion, wiping, brushing or spraying, at the strength and contact time on the EPA-registered label. The Food Code’s minimum contact times are 10 seconds for most chlorine solutions and 30 seconds for other chemical sanitizers (4-703.11).

A sanitizer only works at the strength its label calls for, and you cannot judge that by smell. The Food Code requires a test kit that measures the strength of the sanitizing solution (4-302.14). Test every bucket and the dish machine at the start of each shift and whenever the water looks dirty, and change it when it tests low.

Sanitizing is not the same as disinfecting

Sanitizers are made for food-contact surfaces. Disinfectants are stronger and are used on things like toilets, door handles and the spots where someone has been sick, so check the label before one goes near a surface that touches food. Read the label, use each product only where it is approved, and keep them in separate, labeled containers. The Food Code (7-102.11) requires working containers of cleaners and sanitizers to be labeled with the common name of what is inside.

Keep the crew safe while they do it. OSHA’s restaurant clean-up guidance warns that drain, oven and grill cleaners can be caustic and burn skin and eyes, says never to mix chlorine bleach and ammonia because it creates a toxic gas, and says employers must provide safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals used at work.

How often should restaurant restrooms be cleaned?

Clean and restock restaurant restrooms on a set round during service, and do a full clean at close. The Food Code’s rule is simple: toilets, urinals and handwashing sinks must be cleaned as often as necessary to keep them clean (6-501.18).

In practice, a busy dining room needs someone to check the restrooms on a fixed schedule during service: soap, paper towels, toilet paper, trash, wet floors and anything that has been knocked over. A sign-off sheet on the back of the door helps a manager see that the rounds happened. The full clean at close follows the same order as an office restroom: refill, mirrors and dispensers, sinks and counters, then toilets and urinals from the outside in, then the floor.

Two Food Code rules are specific to food places. Toilet room doors must stay closed except during cleaning and maintenance (6-501.19), and each toilet room needs a covered receptacle (5-501.17). Staff restrooms count too: the handwashing sink there must work and be stocked, because employees wash their hands there before going back to food.

For a full step-by-step restroom routine, see the restroom section of our office cleaning checklist, which works for a dining room’s guest restrooms as well.

How do you keep restaurant floors clean and free of grease?

Wipe spills the moment they happen, degrease and mop kitchen floors every night, and keep grease out of the drains. Grease on the floor is a slip hazard, and grease in the drains ends up in the grease trap and the sewer.

OSHA’s walking-working surfaces standard, 29 CFR 1910.22, requires the floor of every workroom to be kept clean and, as far as possible, dry. Where wet processes are used, drainage must be maintained, and mats or platforms provided where feasible. OSHA’s restaurant clean-up guidance adds the practical side: wipe up spills immediately, spot-mop only during busy times, and put out wet floor signs.

Kitchen floors at close

• Sweep first, including under equipment, so mopping does not just spread food around.
• Use a degreaser made for kitchen floors at the dilution on the label, and let it sit before you scrub.
• Scrub with a deck brush along the grout lines and around equipment legs, then rinse or squeegee toward the drains.
• Clean the drain covers and empty the drain baskets.
• Lift and clean floor mats, and let them dry before you put them back.

The Food Code requires dustless floor cleaning methods, such as wet cleaning, vacuuming or a treated dust mop (6-501.13), so food and clean equipment are not covered in dust while you sweep.

Grease traps and fryer oil

Used fryer oil goes into a container for a collection company, not down a drain. The EPA’s fact sheet on controlling fats, oils and grease from food service establishments explains that restaurants often store this used oil for pickup and reuse, and install grease traps or interceptors to catch grease before it reaches the sewer. It says the traps must be serviced at regular intervals, and that the frequency depends on how much grease the kitchen produces and how well it keeps grease out of the drains.

Pumping a grease trap is not cleaning-crew work. It is usually done by a grease hauler, and local sewer authorities often set the pumping schedule, require a permit or license for the hauler, and want records. The EPA notes that more and more sewer authorities use inspections, required pumping and penalties to enforce their rules. Ask your local wastewater utility what applies to you. Staff can help by scraping plates into the trash before washing and never pouring grease down a sink.

What do health inspectors look for when they check cleaning?

Health inspectors check your restaurant against the food code your state or local health department has adopted, and cleaning shows up all over the form. They look hardest at the items that most directly affect foodborne illness, such as sanitizing food-contact surfaces, and less at general upkeep like dusty shelves.

Restaurant oversight is typically handled at the state and local level, not by the FDA. The FDA tracks which version of the Food Code each state has adopted, and the versions differ, so the exact rules and the inspection form depend on where you are. Your state or county health department’s website often posts its food code, its inspection form and its recent inspection reports. Read your own last report: it shows exactly what your inspector looked at.

How violations are ranked

The Food Code ranks every provision in one of three levels, and many inspection forms use the same labels:

• Priority (P): items that directly prevent or reduce foodborne illness, such as cooking temperatures, handwashing, cleaning surfaces between raw and ready-to-eat food, the 4-hour cleaning rule and sanitizing before use.
• Priority foundation (Pf): items that make the priority items possible, such as having a sanitizer test kit, food-contact surfaces clean to sight and touch, and training and records.
• Core (C): general sanitation and upkeep, such as clean floors, walls, ceilings, vents and non-food-contact surfaces of equipment.

Cleaning items inspectors commonly check

• Wiping cloths held in sanitizer, and sanitizer buckets at the right strength, checked with a test kit.
• Dish machine temperatures or sanitizer levels, and the three-compartment sink set up correctly.
• Cutting boards, slicers and prep surfaces clean to sight and touch.
• Ice machines free of slime or mold, and soda nozzles clean.
• Handwashing sinks stocked, working and used only for handwashing.
• Chemicals labeled and stored apart from and below food.
• No grease buildup on equipment, no food debris under equipment, and no signs of pests.
• Clean restrooms with the doors kept closed.

The Food Code also says the premises must be kept free of pests, controlled by routinely checking incoming deliveries and the building for signs of them (6-501.111). Cleaning behind and under equipment on the monthly list is one of the best ways to take away food and hiding places.

How should a cleaning company bid on restaurant work?

Bid on what restaurants actually hire out: the dining room, restrooms, glass and floors after close, plus periodic floor care. Leave food-contact surfaces with the kitchen staff, and leave hoods and grease traps to the specialists, unless you hold the training and license your area requires.

Walk the restaurant after close, with the manager, before you price it. Note:

• The size of the dining room and bar, the number of restrooms and fixtures, and the floor types.
• The hours you can be in the building: after the kitchen closes and before the morning prep crew arrives.
• Whether the scope includes kitchen floors and walls, and where the kitchen staff’s closing list ends.
• How greasy the floors are, which changes the time and the chemicals you need.
• Who supplies paper, soap and liners, and where you can store your cart and chemicals away from food.
• Alarm codes, keys and who to call when something is wrong.

Write the scope as a checklist with a frequency next to every task, so both sides know what nightly, weekly and monthly mean. Our guide on getting commercial cleaning contracts covers the walkthrough, the bid sheet and the proposal. To price it, the commercial cleaning prices guide builds a price from labor hours, wages, supplies, overhead and margin, and the free commercial cleaning calculator runs the numbers. Price periodic work, like floor stripping or carpet extraction, as separate line items.

Restaurant work runs late and the margin for missed tasks is small: if the dining room is not ready when the doors open, you hear about it that day. Some restaurant clients also ask for a janitorial bond before giving a night crew keys and alarm codes.

Is BroomBook a good fit for restaurant cleaning accounts?

No, and we make BroomBook. It is built for residential cleaning businesses: houses, apartments, move-outs and Airbnb turnovers. It is not built for restaurant or other commercial janitorial accounts.

Its checklists match the type of home clean booked (standard, deep, move-out or Airbnb turnover), not a restaurant scope with nightly, weekly and vendor tasks. Pick something else if you run restaurant or janitorial contracts, need QuickBooks sync or want an app your crew installs from an app store, since BroomBook is not built for any of those.

When you compare tools for restaurant cleaning work, look for:

• Recurring overnight schedules per site, with set hours of service.
• A scope of work per site, with tasks grouped by area and a frequency for each.
• Inspections you can share with the restaurant manager.
• Clock in and out tied to the site, for crews who work alone after close.
• Monthly contract billing and supply tracking per location.

If you also clean homes, here is what BroomBook does for that side of the business. Each cleaner gets a private crew link with nothing to download. Room-by-room checklists come with photos, each photo is checked against its checklist item, and the ones that need a look are flagged to the owner. Cleaners clock in and out from the phone, and job notes are translated into Spanish, French or Portuguese for each cleaner. See the features or try the live demo.