Running a restaurant in Ramadan: the iftar rush, advance prep and changed hours
Ramadan is a different peak month: very short hours of intense rush at iftar, then calm, then suhoor. Restaurants that prepare early win, and those taken by surprise lose food and time. Here is a preparation list.
A pre-Ramadan checklist
Start at least two weeks ahead:
- Prepare a Ramadan menu and iftar offers with their prices and costs, and review your margins.
- Test your system in a simulated peak hour: cut the internet and complete ten orders in a row.
- Prepare more in advance, but record what you prepared and what sold so you know your waste.
- Enable pre-orders and the digital menu to spread the pressure before iftar hour.
- Organise shifts and attendance for the new working hours.
- Make sure printers and devices work and you have spare rolls and paper.
What the system must withstand
At iftar there is no time to wait. RAWA's POS keeps selling, prints and sends to the kitchen offline and then syncs when the connection returns, and offers digital-menu orders, routing items to stations, prep batches to track what was prepared in advance, and JoFotara on every plan. Test all of it before Ramadan, not during.
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When should I start preparing for Ramadan?
At least two weeks ahead: menu, prices, system test and shifts.
How do I avoid waste of prepared food?
By recording what was prepared and sold through prep batches and reviewing it daily.
Can RAWA handle the iftar rush?
The POS works offline; we do not publish specific capacity numbers, so test it with a simulation before Ramadan.
Should I open pre-orders?
The digital menu takes orders that arrive at the cashier, which helps spread the pressure.