If you don't find one, write one. I don't know of one but there should be. The bigger culinary schools teach FOH so there must be a text book of some kind. Many of the better restaurants have continual training but it's on the job so I'm not sure if there is a universal manual they follow.
The best way I know of to improve your FOH without a textbook or manual is to act the part of a customer from start to finish. This means everything from driving up to your restaurant to paying the bill and leaving.
What was your experience like? What annoyed or irritated you? What was pleasant? What was parking the car like? Does the restaurant look open when it actually is open? Why or why not?
Was the entrance easy to find? Did the door open easily? Is there a place to hang a coat?
Did the wait staff look and act professional? Friendly and welcoming or uptight and pretentious? How did they introduce themselves? Were you welcomed? Did anyone say Thank You when you left?
Did the dining area appear clean and well maintained? Is the dining room too dark or too much light? Any stains, torn carpet, dirty lights, mirrors or glass?
Was the dining room too cold or hot? What area of the dining room did you sit in? Would your experience differ greatly in another part of the dining room? Why? Did the chair or table wobble?
Was the table set before you sat down or after? Why or why not? Did the waitstaff have difficulty in providing anything you needed? Are supplies easy to find and conveniently placed?
Did you have a long wait for your food? Too fast?
How is the order taken? Is the process seamless from start to finish?
How are the tables cleared, by who and why and in what order?
Is the dining room staff working together to get the job done? Is the FOH manager actively helping or standing around or not present?
Was the hot food hot and cold food cold?
Menu poorly designed? Too many choices? Easy to read and understand?
Have a staff member do the same thing on a different night. Have them go through the experience and drive away. Then they return immediately for a debriefing while the experience is still fresh.
Review all of this with the entire staff. What problems did the kitchen have? Is there good communication between FOH and BOH?
How are in-place procedures affected by the amount of business? Does the customer experience change positively or negatively when the restaurant is busy? Why or why not?
How long did it take for you to get the bill? Was paying easy or problematic? Cash or credit card?
So in short, this is an objective exercise in self improvement through an extremely detailed critical analysis. Everyone should be aware of that and be open to learning and understanding how to improve the customer's experience. You are not looking to criticize the individual staff members but the process by which a customer experiences your restaurant. Every single movement by the customer and staff should be observed and analyzed, including your own as owner or manager. No ones' observations are to be dismissed lightly.
You should do this as a complete exercise on a regular basis (once a month perhaps) but the sense of observation and improvement should be understood to be ongoing and the staff should be empowered to do so on their own, reviewing their observations with the management.
A place for staff to leave reminders/notes is very helpful in remembering if things need to be fixed or items purchased. "Need more ice tea spoons, Light bulb in entrance needs changing", etc.
Even if you find a textbook or manual, developing an atmosphere of open communication and trust among the staff takes time and effort but will go a long way towards getting and maintaining a full dining room.
