How the Museum of Science and Industry’s new eatery is keeping long lines to a minimum

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago welcomes nearly 1.5 million guests annually, so when its Museum Kitchen concept was due for a renovation, the team at Sodexo Live! made sure to keep efficiency top of mind. 

The new and improved eatery made its debut last winter, and since then, has been able to get hungry museum guests and staff their food in a flash. 

"Our wait times, even on days when there's almost 10,000 people in the building, are never more than 10 minutes long,” says Museum Kitchen General Manager Bonnie Paganis. 

By effectively utilizing every inch of the space, the Museum Kitchen is able to keep diners moving through the queue while also providing them with a meal prepared fresh on site.

Design by Reyna Estrada

Improving flow 

One of the major changes made to the front-of-house during the renovation was moving the eatery’s Farmstead Chicken and Burgers station from the entrance of the space to the back. 

As the Museum Kitchen’s most popular station, Farmstead would often cause lines to go out the door and into a nearby exhibit. Now placed further in the back of the space, diners have more room to line up without blocking the eatery’s entrance. 

The team also removed an island in the middle of the concept that once housed self-serve soup and salads to free up space and improve flow. The removal of the island also gives guests easier access to the grab-and-go section which was hidden behind.

“People can see [it] right away so if the lines are backed up during high season, people can simply go and grab something that they might like,” says Paganis. 

In addition, each of the concepts was reformatted to be self contained. At the pizza station for example, all the equipment and ingredients necessary to make pizza are located at the station itself, instead of the back-of-house. Now, staff are able to prepare and serve menu items right at the station without having to travel back and forth to the kitchen. 

“By having the workers be able to be self sufficient in each station and accommodate the guests, it really helps with the process of keeping that flow going,” says Paganis, adding that diners also get to see their food being prepared. 

Reworking the back-of-house 

Efficiency also extends to the kitchen. 

One of the main improvements to the back-of-house, says Paganis, is the addition of walk-in coolers that have two doors— one that connects to the kitchen and one that connects to a nearby hallway. Now, product can be loaded in through the hall and removed through the kitchen, instead of having to be loaded and unloaded from the back-of-house. 

“[Before] everyone had to bring the food into the kitchen in order to unload it and the door swung open and there was a danger of accidents that way,” says Paganis. “Now, it's a lot safer, it’s efficient, the doors [to the walk in] close immediately and then it keeps the refrigeration in and the ambient air out.”

MSI caters banquets and other large events frequently. Knowing this, the team decided knock down some walls in the kitchen to create a special area dedicated to catering. For extra large events, the team is also able to utilize the entire back-of-house as a prep area. 

“The other night we did an event for 7,200 people,” says Paganis. “So, for almost two and a half days, [the back-of-hous] was full of people preparing lots and lots of food for that event.”

Staff are appreciative of the new space, says Paganis, and feedback from museum visitors has been positive. 

“The guests really enjoy the variety, the freshness of the food and the space,” she says.