A thirty-day checklist for opening a restaurant

Most restaurants do not stumble at opening because of the food. They stumble because too much was left to the last week: the menu is not costed, the staff are not trained, and the system is configured the night before.

Here is a thirty-day plan in an order that does not conflict. Each item must be finished before the next.

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Week 1: menu and costing

Every later decision — from fridge size to how many cooks — depends on the menu.

• Lock the final menu (start small; 25–35 items beats 60).
• Write a quantified recipe for every item, and every size.
• Cost each plate after yield.
• Set a target food cost percentage and price from it.
• Put packaging inside each item’s cost.
• Produce the final ingredient list with base units.

Do not move to week 2 until you know the price and cost of every item. Late pricing forces you to redo everything that follows.

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Week 2: suppliers and stock

• At least three quotes per major ingredient.
• Agree a written specification (size, grade, packing), not just a name.
• Fix payment terms and delivery days.
• Calculate the opening order: expected daily usage × days of cover + safety stock.
• Set a reorder point per item.
• Prepare storage, shelving, FIFO and temperature checks.
• Load items into the inventory system with units and prices.

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Week 3: systems and hardware

This is the week usually compressed into two days. It should not be.

Hardware:

• POS terminals and kitchen screens in their final positions.
• Thermal printers (till and kitchen), with Arabic printing tested.
• Branch network: router, access points, and coverage inside the kitchen specifically.
• Cash drawer, barcode scanner if needed, payment devices.

System:

• Load the menu, categories, prices, sizes and modifiers.
• Attach every item to its recipe and its kitchen station.
• Configure tax and service charge, and review the order with your accountant.
• Create users and assign roles and permissions.
• Set delivery zones, fees and minimums if you will deliver.
• Test offline mode: unplug the network and complete a full sale with a printed receipt.
• Print a test bill and read every line on it.

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Week 4: training and soft launch

Training (4 days):

• One day on the menu: ingredients, allergens, how to describe a dish.
• One day on the system: every person completes ten full transactions themselves.
• One day on exceptions: void, refund, discount, modified order, internet outage.
• One day on service: greeting, handling a complaint, closing a shift.

Soft launch (2 days):

• One day with a limited guest list (friends and family) on the full menu.
• One day of deliberate pressure: fire 20 orders in 15 minutes and watch prep times.

Log every fault that appears. A soft launch is not a PR event — it is a stress test, and its purpose is to find breakages while you can still fix them.

Final day:

• Fix the top five problems the soft launch exposed.
• Run a full opening stocktake.
• Confirm every person knows their job for the first hour of trading.

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After opening: the first thirty days

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Recurring opening mistakes

• Too long a menu. Sixty items in a new kitchen means slow prep, dead stock and waste. Start small and add after two months based on real demand.
• Configuring the system on opening night. Anything left to the last night will be set up wrong.
• Theoretical training. Someone who never held the device has not been trained.
• Ignoring kitchen network coverage. Kitchens are hostile to wireless signal; test at the kitchen screen itself.
• An oversized opening order. Enthusiasm buys double what you need, and half of it expires in month one.

The point

A good opening is not a spectacular day. It is an ordinary day, repeatable. Every hour spent on this list before opening saves you a day of repair afterwards.