Why Your Restaurant’s Restrooms Matter

Why do your restrooms matter? A Zogby International survey found that over 80% of those surveyed would avoid a restaurant with a dirty restroom. A customer returning from a dirty restroom might have just lost their appetite. Taking the time to make sure your food looks good on the plate and is served in a timely matter will not matter if your restroom is full of debris, strange smells and streaked mirrors. A dirty restroom could mean a customer never orders anything based on their experience there, never comes back and tells everyone they know about their bad experience.
The state of the restroom is the first test of customer loyalty. A dirty restroom will likely inspire negative word-of-mouth. It’s easy to chalk up a bad meal to different tastes or bad service to a server’s off night. Unclean restrooms, however, can be a reputation killer across the board.
Keeping a restroom clean is a difficult challenge. It often becomes something of a forgotten work station, since most employees are busy doing other jobs to make sure the trash is emptied and any messes inside are handled in a timely manner. Being aware of the restrooms also keep their own hygiene in mind when washing their hands. Good hygiene reduces the spread of foodborne illnesses and reduces absenteeism because employees get sick less frequently.