How to handle the peak hour without kitchen chaos

Peak service fails when every channel promises capacity independently. Treat dine-in, pickup, and delivery as one production queue and set limits before the rush begins.

Protect the bottleneck

Identify the station that constrains output, measure its sustainable items per interval, and throttle channels as it fills. Use prep-time promises that respond to the live queue. Route every item to an owned station and let expo control completion and course timing.

After service, review late tickets by station and item. Fix recurring causes with prep, layout, or menu availability rather than asking the same team to work faster.