ALSTIG. The apps

Home / Glossary / What does 86 mean in a restaurant?

Operations glossary

What does 86 mean in a restaurant?

To 86 something means to remove it from availability — the kitchen has run out of an ingredient, the item is discontinued, or a guest has been banned. The most-recognized restaurant term outside the industry.

To 86 something is to remove it from availability. The kitchen has run out of an ingredient ("86 the salmon"), an item has been discontinued ("we 86'd the duck two weeks ago"), or a guest has been banned ("she's 86'd from this restaurant").

Industry usage: verb ("the kitchen 86'd the special"), adjective ("we're 86 on lamb"), past tense ("the chef 86'd him for stealing"). All three forms are standard.

The three 86 contexts

  • Kitchen 86 (most common): the kitchen ran out of an ingredient mid-service. Servers are immediately notified — typically a verbal "86 the salmon" called across the line, then echoed on the POS so subsequent orders can't ring it in.
  • Menu 86: an item is permanently or temporarily removed from the menu. "We 86'd the Voodoo Pasta last quarter" — discontinued.
  • Guest 86: a guest is banned, escorted out, or permanently disinvited. "He's 86'd from here" usually means he's not welcome to return.

Origin (disputed)

The most-cited origin is Chumley's, a Prohibition-era speakeasy at 86 Bedford Street in New York's Greenwich Village. The story: when police were about to raid, the bartender would call "86" to signal the back door (off Bedford St). Other proposed origins include rhyming slang for "nix" and a code for items removed from the menu. The history is contested; what isn't contested is that the term entered American restaurant vocabulary by the 1930s and has been universal since.

How operators handle a kitchen 86 cleanly

  1. Verbal call across the line the moment the last portion is committed. "86 the lamb!" — no exceptions, no "we'll see if I can stretch it."
  2. POS update immediately. Hide or disable the item so subsequent orders can't ring it in. A server taking an order for an 86'd item is a service failure.
  3. Server notification in the same moment, ideally by the chef or expo. "86 lamb on the line" — every server hears it, every server knows.
  4. Replacement messaging. Servers need an alternative to suggest. "We're out of the lamb tonight, but the duck breast is excellent — same price point" beats "we're out of the lamb." Train the responses.

How operators avoid kitchen 86s

Mostly through par level discipline. Items routinely 86'd mid-service have par levels set too low or aren't being counted accurately. Operations that 86 something more than once a month on the same item should re-examine their par calculation, not just shrug it off as a busy night.

Common operator mistakes

  • Stretching the last portion. Cutting the protein smaller to "make it last" delivers a worse plate than honestly 86ing the item and selling something else.
  • Forgetting to update the POS. A server takes an order, fires it, and the kitchen has to come back: "we're out." Worse experience for the guest than telling them at the table.
  • Treating chronic 86s as normal. Repeated 86s on the same item are a par-level problem, not bad luck.

Related concepts

← All glossary