Restaurant Group

How a Busy Chicago Restaurant Solved Its BOH Staff Shortage and Cut Labor Costs

ClientChicago River North Casual Dining Restaurant

Locations1 Location

Partnership8 weeks to results Partnership

17.2%

BOH Labor Cost

Reduced from 21% within 8 weeks

85%

Manager Time Saved

Recruitment time cut from 6–8 hrs/wk to under 1 hr

Uncovered Shifts

Over a 90-day period for the first time in over a year

Improved

Team Retention

Higher core team morale with consistent colleagues

Before & After Results

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
BOH Labor % of Revenue	21%	17.2%	-18%
Manager Recruitment Time	6–8 hrs/wk	<1 hr/wk	-85%
Uncovered Saturday Shifts	Every week	Zero in 90 days	-100%

The Challenge

A 120-cover casual dining restaurant in Chicago's River North neighbourhood was experiencing a persistent BOH staff shortage that had become a weekly operational crisis. With a turnover rate above 90% for dishwasher and prep cook positions over 12 months, the general manager was spending 6–8 hours per week on recruitment — time that came directly from managing service quality. Overtime costs from understaffed shifts had pushed BOH labor from a target of 16% of revenue to 21%. Every Saturday night, the kitchen was running at least one position short.

The Solution

Rather than continuing the cycle of hiring, onboarding, and losing permanent BOH staff for variable shift positions, the operator began using DishwasherHero+ to cover dishwasher and prep cook shifts on high-volume days — Friday dinners, Saturday all-day, and Sunday brunch. The core permanent team was retained for the roles that required institutional knowledge — the sous chef, the lead line cook, and two experienced prep cooks. On-demand staff from DishwasherHero+ covered the variable load. Every worker arrived as a W-2 employee, background-checked, with minimum two years of commercial kitchen experience.

"Separating fixed BOH roles from variable ones was the unlock. DishwasherHero+ lets us keep our core team strong while covering high-volume shifts with vetted professionals."
General Manager
Chicago River North Restaurant