How to Build a Restaurant Order Guide

A restaurant order guide is one list per vendor of everything you regularly buy from that vendor. For each item it gives the exact product and pack size, the unit you order in, the unit you count in, how many you want on hand, and where the item is stored. To build one, start from your last month or two of invoices, not from memory. Copy each item's pack size and vendor item number exactly as they appear on the invoice, then sort the list in the order your team walks the storage areas.

When the guide doesn't exist, ordering depends on whoever usually does it. They know the cream comes 12 quarts to a case and that the produce vendor will sell lemons by the each. Then that person is off, someone else orders "2 mozzarella" thinking it means bags, and two full cases show up. A written guide means anyone who can count can also order. The order guide is one step in the workflow covered in our complete guide to restaurant purchasing and inventory management.

What goes on a restaurant order guide

You don't need every column below on day one, but these are the ones that prevent most wrong orders.

Many teams also add the last price paid and the date of that invoice. Prices change too often to trust an old number, but it helps when you're comparing invoices or deciding whether to call your rep about a price jump.

Order guide vs count sheet vs purchase order

People use these terms loosely, so here's how this article uses them:

• Order guide: the standing reference. What you buy, from whom, in what pack, and how much you want on hand. It changes when the menu, a vendor, or a product changes.
• Count sheet: what's on the shelf right now. It's filled in at every count, often in the same item order as the guide.
• Purchase order: one specific order to one vendor on one day, with quantities.

The guide is what connects the other two. You compare the count to the guide, and what's missing becomes the purchase order.

How to build a restaurant order guide, step by step

1. Pull your invoices

Gather the last four to eight weeks of invoices from every vendor, including the small ones, like the bakery, the coffee roaster, and the linen company. Invoices show what you really buy, which isn't always what people remember buying. If an item only appears once in two months, list it but mark it as occasional.

If you order through a distributor's online portal, its purchase history is a good cross-check. Many distributor portals also let you save your own custom lists. Once your guide is done, it's worth setting the portal list up in the same order so the screen matches the paper.

2. Make one section per vendor

Give each vendor its own section, with that vendor's order days at the top. List every item under the vendor you usually buy it from. If an item sometimes comes from a second vendor, such as limes from the broadline when the produce truck is short, put the backup vendor in the notes instead of listing the item twice. If the item appears in two places, you can end up ordering it from both vendors.

Your vendor ordering schedule is where cutoffs, delivery days, and who places each order should live. The guide just needs enough at the top of each section to remind the person ordering when it's due.

3. Copy the product details exactly

For each item, copy the vendor's description, item number, and pack size straight from the invoice. "Mozzarella" isn't enough when the vendor carries shredded and block, whole-milk and part-skim, in 5 lb bags and 6 lb loaves. The item number makes sure you get the same product you got last week.

4. Decide the order unit and the count unit

The order unit is whatever the vendor sells: a case, a jug, a bag, a box. The count unit is what your team can actually count on the shelf. Those aren't always the same. If they're different, write the conversion on the guide, like "4 bags per case." Restaurant inventory units covers how to choose count units and handle the conversion.

While you're at it, ask your rep which items they'll sell by the each or as a split case, and whether that costs extra. Write the answer in the notes. It changes how you round when you only need half a case.

5. Sort by storage area, in the order you walk it

Group items by where they're stored, then list them in the order they sit on the shelf. Whoever counts can work down the list without jumping between pages, and items are less likely to get skipped. If your count sheet uses a different order, change one of them so they match.

This means an item's place in the guide follows the shelf, not the alphabet or the vendor's catalog. If someone reorganizes the walk-in, update the guide.

6. Add a target for each item

Put a target number next to each item, in the count unit. That's how much you want on hand after the delivery comes in. If you already have pars, use them here. If you don't, our guide to setting restaurant par levels walks through working them out from usage and delivery days. A rough target is better than a blank column, as long as you come back and adjust it.

7. Add notes that answer the usual questions

Good notes are short and specific:

• "No substitutions. Call the rep if it's out."
• "OK to sub any brand of 5 lb shredded whole-milk mozzarella."
• "Vendor won't split cases."
• "Backup: broadline, item # on invoice from 9/22."
• "Seasonal. Off the menu after October."

8. Run one order cycle with it, then fix what's wrong

Have someone other than the person who built the guide use it for a real order. Where they have to ask a question, the guide is missing something. Fix those gaps, then post the guide where orders get placed, whether that's a clipboard by the office computer, a shared spreadsheet, or your purchasing software. To make that handoff routine, pair the guide with a written restaurant ordering SOP and a short training plan for whoever covers the orders.

Worked example: one vendor section of an order guide

This is an illustrative example. The restaurant, items, pack sizes, and quantities are made up to show the method. They aren't typical figures for any distributor.

Setup:

• A neighborhood restaurant buys proteins, dairy, and dry goods from a broadline distributor.
• The broadline delivers Tuesday and Friday. The kitchen counts and orders Monday and Thursday mornings.
• The vendor doesn't split cases on any of the items below.
• Targets were set separately and are shown in the count unit.

The broadline section of the guide

Items are listed in the order the kitchen walks the walk-in and then dry storage:

In the real guide, each row would also have the vendor's description and item number. They're left out here so the table fits on screen.

Using the guide on Monday morning

The opening cook counts down the list in the same order and writes the counts next to each target. The kitchen manager then works out each order the same way: target minus on hand gives what's short, and what's short divided by the number per order unit gives the order, rounded up to whole units.

The purchase order to the broadline is: 1 case chicken thighs, 1 case heavy cream, 1 case mozzarella, 3 jugs fryer oil, 1 case deli containers.

Two rows show why the order unit and pack size need to be on the guide:

• Heavy cream. The kitchen is 9 quarts short, but the order is for one case. After delivery it'll have 7 + 12 = 19 quarts, 3 over target. Because the vendor won't split the case, the guide makes that call ahead of time so nobody has to decide it during the morning rush.
• Mozzarella. The kitchen is 2 bags short. If the guide didn't say "Order in: Case," someone could easily type "2" into the portal. That would bring in 2 cases, or 8 bags, leaving 12 bags (60 lb) of shredded cheese in the walk-in against a target of 6. Ordering 1 case brings it to 8 bags.

Keeping the order guide accurate

An order guide goes out of date quietly. Check it when:

• A pack size changes on an invoice. If a case that used to hold 4 bags now holds 3, every order calculated from the old number comes up short.
• The vendor substitutes a product. Decide whether the sub is acceptable, then either update the item number or add a "no subs" note.
• The menu changes. Add new items, and mark items that are coming off the menu so nobody reorders them.
• You change vendors for an item. Move the item to the new vendor's section. Don't leave a copy under the old vendor.
• Someone has to ask a question while ordering. Add the answer to the notes.

A quick review once a month, plus a look at every invoice that doesn't match what you expected, keeps most guides in good shape.

Common order guide mistakes

• Building it from memory. You'll miss the items you only buy every few weeks, and you'll list pack sizes that changed a year ago.
• No order unit. "Mozzarella: 2" can mean bags, cases, or pounds. Every item needs an order unit and a count unit, even when they're the same.
• Listing items alphabetically. An alphabetical list makes the person counting walk back and forth across the walk-in. Sort by where items live.
• One item under two vendors. Pick a primary vendor and note the backup. Otherwise the item gets ordered twice or not at all. To choose the primary, compare the two vendors by cost per usable unit, not case price.
• Using the vendor's catalog as your guide. A distributor's suggested list may include items you don't use and leave out the vendors who aren't on that platform. Your guide should cover every vendor you buy from.
• Treating it as finished. Pack sizes, prices, and menus change. A guide nobody updates goes back to being guesswork.

Paper, spreadsheet, or software

A spreadsheet with one row per item is available as an order guide template. Each row has the vendor, count unit, order unit, conversion, and par. The first rows are the examples from the broadline section above. Replace them with items from your invoices.

A printed guide on a clipboard works, especially for a small menu with two or three vendors. A shared spreadsheet is easier to update and can do the math for you. Either one is better than an order guide that only exists in one person's head.

If you'd rather not maintain the math yourself, Proteus Kitchen keeps the same information on each inventory item: its vendor, category, storage location, the unit you order it in, the unit you count it in and how many are in each order unit, a target quantity, the last vendor price, and notes. Each vendor has its own ordering method, delivery days, and order deadlines. When you build a purchase order, Proteus shows each item's current amount, its target, and a suggested quantity. If you already have an order guide in a spreadsheet or on paper, free setup is included: send it over and the Proteus team will help import your inventory and vendors.

Next step: build one vendor's section this week

You don't need the whole guide at once. Start with your biggest vendor:

1. Pull that vendor's invoices from the last month.
2. List each item with its exact description, item number, and pack size.
3. Add the order unit, count unit, and conversion for each item.
4. Sort the list in the order the shelves are laid out, and add a target for each item.
5. Have someone else use it for the next order, fix whatever they had to ask about, then move on to the next vendor.