A system and method for managing food production, inventory and delivery in a restaurant by automatically monitoring the types and quantities of food types that have been cooked and are in a cooked food holding area. Food holding trays are equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and holding cabinets are equipped with RFID interrogators. The type and quantity of food items are determined manually or by machine vision or weighing systems, and the data is stored on the RFID tags and in a controller. The system manages the use of food items on a first-in, first-out basis, alerts operators when the inventory of an item is nearing exhaustion, and alerts operators when food items in the holding area must be discarded. The system manages movable trays of food no matter where in the facility they are located.