FREE 4+ Bar Cleaning Checklist Samples [ Staff, Restaurant, Opening ]

Bars, or pubs as they have sometimes known, are where an eclectic group of people flock to have a good time, hang out with friends, and drink their troubles away. If you’re a bar owner or manager, you want to make sure that your bar is the best in town. You provide great drinks and food and you provide your customers with a warm and inviting atmosphere for them to enjoy. However, if you don’t maintain the cleanliness in your bar, your customers will notice some objects that are dingy and dirty. Furthermore, when city health inspectors randomly show up, you are surely bound to fail in their inspection test. You want to avoid those things to save your business, so you need to stick to maintaining a cleaning schedule for your bar. To help you know how to clean your bar well, you need a checklist to guide you. Read the article to find out what to include in your bar cleaning checklist that helps you stay organized!

4+ Bar Cleaning Checklist Samples

1. Bar Cleaning Checklist

2. Ultimate Bar Cleaning Checklist

3. Sample Bar Cleaning Checklist

4. Standard Bar Cleaning Checklist

5. Bartender Cleaning Checklist

Importance of a Clean Bar

It is important for your bar to appear clean and organized and make sure your equipment, furniture, and utensils are sanitized well to keep bacteria and viruses from spreading around and keep your customers safe from food infection and poisoning, It is also crucial for your bar to be totally clean to pass health inspections and keep your business open and maintain a good reputation to customers.

How to Make a Bar Cleaning Checklist

The first thing you need to do before you write down the tasks and duties to do when cleaning your bar is to prepare a sheet of paper and pen. If you want to do it digitally, you can use your computer or your phone to make a draft of your checklist. Once those things are ready, list down the following aspects mentioned below in your checklist:

1. Bar Setup and Opening

Setting up the bar before it opens is important to prepare for the customers to come in. Put in the following tasks listed below in your checklist:

• Arrange the clean dishes and check glassware for streaks.
• Wipe bar counters, stools, tables, and chairs.
• Inspect drinks garnishes if they are fresh or not.
• Sterilize ice bucket and ice trays. Put in fresh and clean water in these containers to freeze.
• Clear the beer lines.
• Inspect stocks in cabinets and refrigerators.
• Lay down clean floor mats, and line clean and empty trash cans.

2. Bar Cleaning During Shifts

During the opening hours of the bar, there are plenty of customers using glassware and eating utensils to eat and drink. Just like in a restaurant, constantly clean your bar whenever a customer leaves their places to make it ready for the next customer. Disregarding the cleaning process can turn a busy service into a disaster. The tasks listed below are important to add to your checklist since they are important in guiding you to provide a great customer experience and a safe environment for the staff.

• Frequently wipe down the bar, straighten up and wipe down bar stools, chairs and tables whenever a customer leaves a particular area and keep plenty of clean rags on hand.
• Empty trash cans before they become full.
• Use hot water to wash the glassware. Make sure they are rinsed and sterilized well.
• Keep dishwashing detergent and sanitizing solution close by sinks.
• Employees must make sure to keep their hands clean at all times.

3. Bar Closing Cleaning

The more vigorous cleaning takes place at closing time. The tasks listed below help make sure the bar is ready for opening the next day.

• Wipe down surfaces sanitized rags.
• Wash glassware, ice scoops, and other utensils and leave them out to air-dry. Stack your glassware in a way that air circulates each glass.
• Empty and wash all mixer bottles, containers, and garnish trays, and let them air-dry.
• Store fresh garnish in the refrigerator.
•  Check temperatures in reach-ins coolers.
• Restock coolers with fresh mixers, beer, and wine.
• Clean and sanitize speed rails, soda gun nozzles, beer taps, and pour spouts.
•  Move trash to the dumpster and clean the trash cans.
•  Sweep and mop floors.  
  
• Check all equipment used and see if they are in good working condition. Make sure they are all turned off.

4. Weekly Routine for Bar Cleaning

Schedule a weekly bar cleaning to minimize having an intense general cleanup and to maintain the cleanliness of the bar. The tasks mentioned below are some examples to include in your weekly cleaning routine:

• Dust clean glassware and bottles on shelves and in racks.
• Wipe down shelving, walls, and reach out to wipe hard-to-reach surfaces.
• Sanitize keg lines to eliminate yeast residue.
• Clean and sanitize reach-in coolers inside and out, condensation trays, and grills.
• Check freshness dates on every stock, especially the garnishes.
• Sweep and mop every nook and cranny.
• Reorganize all things stored in drawers and cabinets.
• Inspect under equipment, inside cabinets, and drawers for pests.

FAQs

When you list down the cleaning tasks to do by you and your staff, discuss the cleaning checklist with them. Encourage them to give their opinion and recommendation regarding the checklist. If they have additional efficient cleaning tasks to recommend, include them in the checklist. Once you’ve officiated the checklist to be your cleaning policy to follow when the staff clean the bar, make sure they acknowledge this and follow to do the cleaning tasks every shift. To help you format your cleaning checklist, download our free sample templates above and customize it however you want!