What are par levels in a restaurant?What are par levels in a restaurant?

What does par mean in a kitchen?

Par is a target. It is the amount of one item you want to have on hand at the moment the next delivery arrives. When people ask about par levels, they mean the target for each item on the shelf.

Say your par for limes is two and a half cases. When the truck shows up, you want about that many on the shelf, not a lot more and not a lot less. If you have less, you will run out. If you have more, you wasted money and space.

Par makes ordering simple. You count what is there, then order up to par. The gap is what you buy.

How do you set a par level?

Use three questions for each item. You do not need a computer. You need a pencil and some honest guesses.

1. How much do you use in a day? Think about a normal day, then a busy one. Use the busy one for items that hurt when they run out.
2. How many days until the next truck? If the truck comes every other day, you must cover that gap.
3. How big a cushion do you want? A cushion covers a surprise: a big party, a late truck, a short delivery.

Multiply the daily use by the days until the next truck. Then add the cushion. That is your par.

These numbers are only to show the steps. Yours will be different, and that is the point. Par belongs to your kitchen.

When should you change a par level?

Par is a guess, so check it. Move it when your world changes. Here are signs that it is time.

• You keep running out. Raise par, or move the delivery day.
• You keep throwing it out. Lower par. Food that sits goes bad.
• The menu changed. A new dish uses new items. An old dish that left stops using its items.
• The season changed. A patio opens. A holiday is coming. Your use goes up or down.
• The truck schedule changed. More days between trucks means a higher par.

Look at pars once a month. Pick five items that hurt most when they run out. Fix those first. Do not try to fix everything at once.

Where does par go wrong?

The biggest problem is simple. Someone sets par once, writes it on a sheet, and nobody looks at it again. Six months later it is wrong, and everyone has a workaround in their head.

A few other traps:

• Par with no count. If nobody counts, par is just a number. See our weekly count routine for a quick way.
• One par for every day. A Friday is not a Tuesday. Some kitchens keep two pars for busy and slow days.
• A cushion that grows. Every time you run out, someone adds a little more. Soon the walk-in is full of old product.
• Forgetting what is already on order. If a truck is on the way, count it.

Does every item need a par?

No. Start with the items that hurt most when they run out, and the items that cost the most when they go to waste. For a small kitchen that may be only a dozen things.

Skip the cheap, slow items at first. Salt and paper towels can wait. A short list that people use is better than a long list that people ignore. Add items one at a time as the habit sticks.

What if the truck is late or short?

Par assumes the truck comes on time with everything you ordered. Sometimes it does not. That is what the cushion is for.

For items that would shut down a dish, make the cushion bigger. For items you can swap or live without, make it smaller. Also keep a backup in mind: another company, another dish, or a quick run to a store. A plan for the bad day makes the bad day small.

How does Heard use par?

Say “We’re low on limes” and Heard marks the limes as low, then puts one case on the order for the company you buy from. When the chef says it, Heard accepts it. When a cook says it, Heard checks its own count first and asks the chef when the count looks fine. You can read more on the low stock page.

The order is a list for you to check. In the demo, nothing is sent to anyone. Try the demo, pick Chef Maya, and say “We’re low on limes.”