Top 15 free restaurant management courses

According to the World Allergy Organization, 220-520 million people may be suffering from food allergies. And while reactions vary from person to person, it has the potential to send the most vulnerable ones to the hospital right after ingestion - worst case scenario, it can lead to death. Mitti (by SafetyCulture)'s course on Allergies and Food Intolerances in Restaurants is intended to help your kitchen managers, kitchen crews, and wait staff gains a better understanding of food allergens, allergies, and intolerances, alongside some best practices to avoid any related accidents. This way, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your establishment is safe for everyone, including those with food allergies and intolerances. This course is free and ready for deployment, although you can also edit and rebrand the lessons based on your business needs, thanks to the free authoring tool of Mitti (by SafetyCulture).

Scope: The role of management in preventing food allergy and food intolerance incidents, dealing with anaphylaxis, the difference between food allergies and food intolerance

This Coursera course is designed with two primary goals in mind: first, to prepare managers and entrepreneurs for the most common challenges in the industry; and second, to assist them in developing a positive consumer image and gain a competitive advantage. Expect a total of four modules paired with evaluated quizzes, introduction topic, plus a set of video discussions featuring guest speakers. A shareable certificate will be provided upon successful completion of this course.

Scope: Generating value for customers through products, how customers value product quality, business tradition vs innovation, leveraging businesses in food and beverage markets, great insights from the field.

When running a restaurant business, one of the most crucial things to keep a close eye on is finances - no one wants to deal with bleeding cash. Typsy's Better Food Cost Management will help you take control of your restaurant’s finances and ensure a consistent stream of profit. Here, industry expert and professional cook Ryan Gromfin shares his tips, formulas, and techniques to assist restaurant owners and managers in achieving better culinary cost management. You'll learn how to efficiently calculate the cost of goods sold, prime cost, batch recipe, and menu item costs, as well as manage inventory and portion control in the kitchen.

Scope: Calculating cost of goods sold, prime cost, batch recipe and menu item costs, and actual and ideal food costs, managing inventory in your venue, reducing food waste, prevent kitchen theft, negotiating with vendors

Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s The Bar World of Tomorrow is developed in collaboration with industry experts - Pernod Ricard, Trash Tiki, and the Sustainable Restaurant Association. This sponsored course consists of 13 interactive microlessons that the bartender community can use to become part of a greener, more responsible, and inclusive industry. It emphasizes the sustainable sourcing of fresh ingredients, responsible serving of alcoholic beverages, and reliable handling of waste in adherence to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Timely and very unique, it also addresses the challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and how you can reopen the right way. This course is accessible via desktop and mobile phones and is made readily available in seven different languages including English, Chinese, and Spanish.

Scope: Importance of brand knowledge and product curation, responsible alcohol service, sourcing of ingredients, sustainable bar setup solutions, waste management

Another key to business success is whether the restaurant's decoration and signage are attractive enough to attract customers. If you want to get people's attention with vibrant, eye-catching business signs, then custom neon signs may be able to be your first choice, which not only allows you to design a billboard and space that reflects your personality. It also provides high visibility. Not only do they stand out because they glow, but they allow potential customers to spot their location even at night.

Part of business success is ensuring that your customers leave their table with smiles on their faces. But what happens if you’ve come across naturally impatient, indecisive, and raving customers? Another useful course prepared by Mitti (by SafetyCulture), Dealing with Difficult Customers guides your crews to the best practices and strategies on how they can successfully handle difficult guests and resolve complaints. It also contains a quick overview of the most common types of customers, some unfavorable scenarios that they are likely to face, and how they can turn a bad situation into an opportunity to improve business. To drive better learning results, the course lessons are divided into bite-sized chunks that anyone can take in just a few minutes. Short gamified quizzes are also provided in between courses to make this training course more fun and engaging.

Scope: Types of difficult customers, how to respond to a guest complaint, how to handle a wrong food order, and dealing with intoxicated customers

Restaurant Management 101 by Universal Class will help you understand the dynamics of your organization and the roles and responsibilities of your staff members. It touches on the essentials of successful customer service, how good waiters should deal with problematic guests, how to manage restaurant staff, the importance of hiring, training, and retaining employees, and the primary risks of understaffing and overworking your employees to avoid turnover rate. This course also contains some specific recommendations on maintaining hygiene standards in your restaurant to avoid any legal liabilities.

Scope: Overview of the workplace of “The House”, restaurant goals, safety, and profits, customer service essentials, guest recovery and problematic guests, hiring and team building, controlling food and beverage costs, maximizing revenue, sanitation, liability, and legal considerations, and more.

Looking for credible courses that will help you advance your career in restaurant management? Then look no further - Multi-Unit Restaurant Management by Pearson delves into the various types of restaurants, the advantages and disadvantages of multi-unit or chain restaurants, and how you can successfully move from novice beginner to an expert multi-unit manager. This course is part of the valuable training course series, Hospitality Management Learning Modules, and it can be taken separately or in conjunction with other restaurant management courses.

Scope: Definition of multi-unit or chain restaurants, advantages and disadvantages of this type of restaurant organization, qualifications of a multi-unit manager, multi-unit management development, ways how to be an effective multi-unit manager.

This course by New Skills Academy will provide you insight, information, advice, and pretty much everything you need to successfully fulfill your responsibilities as a restaurant manager and go beyond your clients’ expectations. It examines the importance of excellent customer and food service and how you should deal with challenging customers, calmly and effectively. You will also get to know the significance of knowing every aspect of your menu, from solid foods to beverages. At the end of the module, expect a multiple-choice test to check your learning progress.

Scope: Introduction to the front of house of a restaurant, role of restaurant manager, types of restaurants, the importance of excellent customer service, dealing with customer complaints, knowing your food and drinks

Food runners are responsible for delivering a satisfying experience to your customers - they communicate their orders to chefs, double-check orders, and bring the foods straight to their table. Playing an essential role in the success of your restaurant, it is important that you understand their core responsibilities, and provide them all the necessary training needed to maximize their potential. Free training software Mitti (by SafetyCulture) designed the Food Runners Guide particularly for restaurant owners, managers, and first-time food runners. It outlines all the responsibilities of food runners, the importance of looking presentable, and some must-follow etiquettes to be observed in front of customers. This free and editable course also tackles the right and safe way of carrying and serving food and removing plates and utensils without offending the customers.

Scope: Fundamental differences between a food runner and a waiter, recommended clothing and hygiene practices for food runners, proper conduct, proper carrying and serving food, dealing with bussing tables.

Learn about safe and responsible ways to serve alcohol through Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s Serving Alcohol Safely course. Designed for restaurant managers, bartenders, sommeliers, and waiters in the US, UK, and Australia, this restaurant management course delves into legal limits, different liquor serving methods, and proper cleaning and sanitation practices, ensuring safe alcohol service in your restaurant. As you progress through the course, you’ll also learn how to stay professional while dealing with intoxicated patrons and difficult customers.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s elearning software allows you to integrate interactive games and quizzes into the course as well as prizes like coffee vouchers or dinner coupons. Their simple microlearning design also makes learning more convenient for workers who are always on the go and prefer to learn at their own pace.

Scope: US, UK, and AU legal limits, liquor serving methods, cleaning and sanitation, and  dealing with difficult customers

Designed by experts from Cornell University, this certificate program will provide you with pretty much everything you need to know to effectively manage restaurant costs and revenue. It starts off by introducing the concept of revenue management and then dives into topics such as menu design and engineering and restaurant space and pricing optimization. Through the course, you’ll also learn how to manage meal duration and reservations, ensuring that you’re not wasting a single minute of potential revenue. It also provides you with several revenue management tools and techniques to help you boost your restaurant performance even in slower periods. Although the course requires a large budget and quite some time to complete, it’s still a great option for anyone looking for a one-stop-shop restaurant revenue management course.

Scope: Introduction to restaurant revenue management, menu design and engineering, optimizing restaurant space and pricing, managing meal duration and reservations, and building demand during slow periods

Designed by Penn Foster, this Hotel and Restaurant Management course has one main goal: to equip new and aspiring hospitality managers with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to handle different hotel and restaurant challenges. It walks learners through different staffing and scheduling responsibilities, housekeeping responsibilities, hotel occupancy forecast methods, state and federal laws, and important hospitality terminology. By the end of this hotel and restaurant management course, they’ll also be able to identify trends and traits within the hospitality industry, understand the importance of effective task delegation and process planning, and meet guest service standards.

If you’re someone looking for a budget-friendly and bite-sized online training program, this course is not for you. Learners who want to take this course need to be prepared to shell out $649 USD and spend at least 4 months completing the lessons.

Scope: Recruiting and interviewing hotel and restaurant staff, menu planning, hygienic food handling, duties and responsibilities of various restaurant hotel and restaurant staff

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) developed its Food Safety Hazards course for restaurant workers to help them understand the fundamentals of food safety and its risk factors. The first part of the course emphasizes the need to check for damaged food packaging, expiry dates, and foreign objects or insects to minimize health-related risks. It then touches on the best practices to reduce and fully eliminate food contaminants before, during, and after the cooking process. The course also discusses the different types of food hazards to watch out for, including allergenic, physical, biological, and chemical food hazards, going in-depth about their causes, types, and ways to combat and minimize them. There’s even a short quiz at the end to help your learners check how much they’ve learned and retained from the course.

The platform allows you to import and deploy this free course directly from their editable course library. And if you want to rebrand the lessons according to your business guidelines, you can customize them through the platform’s user-friendly authoring tool.

Scope: Introduction to food safety risk factors, allergenic and physical food hazards, biological and chemical food hazards, food safety best practices

Part of a restaurant manager’s responsibilities includes providing customers with a clean and organized space to eat and drink. And with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, cleanliness and sanitation in hospitality are more critical than ever. With Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s Cleaning and Sanitizing in Hospitality course, you can learn how to differentiate between cleaning and sanitizing, prioritize high-touch areas and perform proper disinfection and routine maintenance for your guest spaces. This free and editable course also touches on the best practices for cleaning and servicing dining areas, restrooms, and other public areas such as lobbies, corridors, and walkways.

Through Mitti (by SafetyCulture)’s interactive gamification elements, learners are encouraged to engage with the lessons and have fun while learning at their own pace.

Scope: Guidelines on servicing restrooms, dining areas, public areas, and differentiating cleaning vs. sanitizing