Einstein Bros. Bagels/Noah's New York Bagels rearranged the jumble of equipment on the service line into a logical, efficient order.

That's why the equipment on the service line at Einstein Bros. Bagels and its sibling concept, Noah's New York Bagels, is now arranged in an efficient, logical order. That wasn't always so, explains Leslie Haver, director of design for Lakewood, Colo.-based Einstein Noah Restaurant Group.

Most of the chain's restaurants were built small, with austere equipment packages, to accommodate what was basically a bagels-and-coffee menu. In the last three to five years, however, the menu has expanded to include breakfast sandwiches, panini and other hot sandwiches, as well as blended drinks.

A wireless option to the kitchen-display monitor enables managers to take orders from queued customers as well as guests already seated.

That tactic worked, but only barely. “It was either the employees screaming or the customers screaming, 'This isn't working so great,'” Haver recalls.

The screams have subsided. Eighteen months ago Haver and her design team streamlined the jumble of equipment on the serving line into an efficient, orderly fashion. While they were at it, the team added a kitchen-display system as well. The result: faster ticket times, happier customers, more accurate orders and even higher check averages.

The expanded menu gets credit for the changes. The service line's equipment package, which was once limited to bagel slicers, toasters, undercounter refrigeration and a coffee maker, now includes two blenders, a microwave, a panini grill, a convection/microwave oven, egg holders (which can hold precooked eggs for an hour), soup warmers and an espresso machine.

The prep line is composed of two 6-foot-long sandwich tables. Each has 24 cold compartments for bagel spreads and sandwich ingredients, plus undercounter refrigeration.

The redesign did not include equipment change-outs unless the equipment was worn out and needed replacing, Haver says. Nor did the company make any adjustments to the back of the house, where bagels and pastries are prepared, proofed and baked.

New menu items such as panini forced the addition of new equipment, which was previously put on the line wherever there was a table and a plug.

Streamlining the service line has helped cut ticket times by 20 percent to 25 percent. Most orders, except for complicated custom ones, are ready for customers by the time they reach the cash register.

While the newly arranged equipment speeds food preparation, the new kitchen-display system has increased order accuracy and bumped up check averages.

Previously, staff wrote orders by hand, then gave the handwritten tickets to the sandwich makers. The process was slow and not entirely accurate, due to issues with handwriting and spelling, says Curt Bishop, area hospitality manager for 30 Noah's units in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore.

The display system shows all orders and all their options on touch screens, and guides employees, and therefore customers, through the ordering process.

The order system is also more detailed than the handwritten system. Bishop offers as an example a turkey sandwich ordered with sprouts, tomatoes, onions and lettuce. “With the old system, you'd ring up a turkey and four veggies,” he explains. “With the new, it tells you which vegetables.”

That function has helped Bishop's stores keep better track of inventory and food costs. In addition, order mistakes are down by 10 percent to 15 percent, and ticket times have dropped by about 20 percent (25 percent systemwide, according to Haver).

The system comes with a wireless feature, which allows staff to take the orders of customers waiting in line, as well as help guests who are unable to stand at the counter. “That's a wow factor,” Bishop says. “There are more opportunities for hospitality.”

The kitchen-display system also has increased check averages, even though the system's suggestive-selling option hasn't been implemented. That's because the touch-screen system makes it easier for order-takers to remember ancillary items such as cookies or chips.

The chain has no immediate plans to implement the suggestive-selling feature, says Peter Hakel, director of communications for Einstein Noah Restaurant Group. “We'd rather train our employees how to situationally sell,” he says. “That doesn't mean we won't ever enable this feature, but the timing isn't right, and we haven't worked out the details yet.”

The new equipment lineup enables Einstein/Noah staffers to prepare menu items faster.

The streamlined layout, and especially the display system, will come in handy as Einstein/Noah prepares to open more drive-thru units. Currently, drive-thru is offered at 30 of the chain's 500-plus stores, and in those stores, it accounts for 35 percent to 40 percent of sales. Haver says the company would like to see drive-thru in half the locations.

Meanwhile, Haver and her team continue to adjust the equipment layout. “It's pretty much an ongoing process,” she says. For instance, they originally tried splitting the sandwich makeup table into two work areas, one for breakfast orders and the other for lunch. However, “we weren't utilizing the equipment,” Haver says, so now both tables are put to work all day.

The team made another adjustment: The original order of equipment was toaster, microwave and then display screen, “but you couldn't see the screen,” she says. The screen is now situated first.

The new lineup and display system are part of the chain's new prototype, which measures 2,500 square feet and includes 50 seats, compared to about 1,800 square feet and 20 or so seats for older models. The kitchen remains big, taking up about 40 percent of the entire house, mostly due to the size of the bagel-making equipment.

The size of the kitchen may prove an issue going forward, says Mark Godward, president of SRE, a Miami-based restaurant consulting firm and a unit of WD Partners, a Columbus, Ohio-based design firm. “Maybe not all of the equipment is 100 percent utilized,” Godward says, suggesting that the chain might want to investigate multiple-use pieces. “They really need to look at simplifying the equipment package,” he says.

Overall he lauds the new arrangement. “The changes they've made will improve how they work,” Godward says.

He also praises Einstein/Noah's menu. “Right now, they have a complete concept, with a strong breakfast and strong lunch offering,” Godward says. “They should be commended for evolving their menu.”