Bars, pubs & clubs
Three servers, three lists — not one shift for everyone.
Behind the bar it matters less when someone works than which position they hold. Whoever works the taps needs a different list than the runner. And closing duty is the moment where both have to come together.
Positions instead of clock times, checks during service, ice and taps on record.
The list follows the position, not the clock
Behind the bar the position is what counts: floor management, taps, bartender, runner. Several servers on the same shift therefore do not need the same list but one per responsibility — otherwise one area gets done twice and another not at all.
On top of that often comes a handover of its own for the taps and one for management, in which the side jobs are signed off. The split therefore follows the position, not the clock.
With only their own position in front of them, nobody has to sift the list for their part.
Checks happen during service, not before it
On a self-pour tap wall the cleaning runs hourly — every hour as its own task with the time in the title, the restroom check on the same beat. That is eight rounds an evening instead of one after closing.
With a wall where guests pour their own beer that is not over-caution, it is the only way to hold the state of the room across a whole evening. And it only works if the task shows up on the device while the place is full — not on a note in the office.
No two bars work alike
Hardly any two bars describe the same work in the same words. What one calls the tap handover is the middle shift in the other — and the order is different anyway.
For getting started that means a template list will barely fit. What counts is an empty, well-structured environment in which your own process is quickly mapped — and tasks you can describe in your own words.
Taps and ice are the hygiene focus
The measuring points in this branch are the tap system, the taps themselves, the beer lines, the glass washer, the cocktail tools — and the ice machine. The ice machine alone is worth three separate tasks: visual check, wipe surfaces, clean and sanitise. Plus one each for the container and the scoop.
The reason is simple: ice is a food that is handled unchilled and by hand. In a hygiene template written for kitchens it usually does not appear at all.
Fridges get named after what is inside rather than by number. Several identical units stand behind the bar — someone new finds the right one by its contents.
„I like the simple operation and the well-thought-out flows. In the past I was often annoyed about forgotten tasks — with gastrotodo there are no excuses any more because every task is processed as a to-do.“
Jens, Owner · Bunthaus Schankraum
What bar owners ask first
Everyone does everything here. Do we need positions at all?
No. Some venues split by position, others by time of day, others again by room. Without a split one list runs for everyone; dividing it comes later, when the team grows.
How often can a task recur in one evening?
As often as you set it up. For hourly checks venues run one task per time slot — with the advantage that the log later shows which of the eight rounds was missed.
How do we document cleaning of the tap system?
As a task of its own on a fixed rhythm, with a signature if you want one. It lands in the HACCP documentation with timestamp and person — even when, as in many bars, an external service does the work and the venue only signs it off.
We have no kitchen. Is it still worth it?
Yes. Many bars use gastrotodo mainly to run the business — positions, tap handover, closing duty, stock. Whatever hygiene duties come up run in the same list.
Ready to structure your business?
Start with gastrotodo — try free for 7 days, then carry on with the plan that fits your business.