A restaurant operations planning model

This paper analyses the service aspects of ‘All you can eat salad bar–grill’ type of a restaurant. The problem concerns queuing delays experienced by customers waiting to order and be served meals in the restaurant. An analytical and a simulation model are developed and used to predict the performance of the restaurant that would result from a range of possible changes to the arrangements at the restaurants and guest characteristics. The disadvantages and advantages of simulation versus analytical methods are discussed and a comparative analysis is performed on these models.