How to Start a New Restaurant

The publication of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" in 2000 helped expose the difficulties of starting a new restaurant. Bourdain and other chefs have come out in the 21st century to show that running a restaurant requires more than a healthy bank account and a desire to give out free meals. The business of restaurant ownership hinges on the right niche, the best kitchen crew for a particular type of food and a well-organized back office. From business plan to the start of service on day one, a restaurant owner has to stay organized in order to stay on the good side of razor-thin profit margins.

Things You'll Need

• Business plan Food storage Tables, chairs and benches

Instructions

Open a Restaurant in Your Town

1. Explain your cuisine, restaurant atmosphere and long-term goals in a business plan. Your plan should start with a review of similar restaurants in your city, county and region to demonstrate why your establishment fills a niche. Explain your restaurant's design motif all the way down to place settings, menu designs and wait staff attire.

2. Choose your restaurant's location carefully to maximize foot traffic and minimize remodeling. Look for a space left behind by a restaurant owner near theaters, bars and other establishments that encourage foot traffic. If you choose a retail space that was not a restaurant, you will need to pay thousands in remodeling costs to create a dining area and kitchen.

3. Hire your restaurant's executive chef if you do not plan on running the kitchen. Your executive chef should possess expertise in your restaurant's style of food as well as an ability to manage wait and kitchen staff in your absence.

4. Attract investors from your circle of friends, family and other foodies with a restaurant night at your house. Ask your executive chef to create food using your kitchen, and hire a handful of temporary waiters to take orders. After the meal, introduce your chef and lay out your restaurant's plan in order to pique the interests of prospective investors.

5. Complete your restaurant staff by hiring sous chefs, waiters and bartenders. Your sous chefs will help the executive chef prepare meals in a timely manner while wait staff and bartenders keep diners happy. Inform your entire staff that they will need to help in the week before your opening by setting up tables and learning the checkout process.

6. Arm your chefs with cutting boards, bowls and other supplies by working with a restaurant supply wholesaler. By working with a company like Instaware from the start, you can arrange for regular shipments of supplies and receive discounts for frequent orders.

7. Acquire chairs, high-backed bar stools and tables from a restaurant furniture supplier like Affordable Seating. Create an overhead map of your restaurant, and play around with configurations of circular tables, booths and long tables to find the arrangement that fills your restaurant to capacity.

8. Search for a food wholesaler in your region that can provide fresh and canned foods unavailable through local vendors. Food wholesalers, like AGAR in the Northeast, help restaurants serve out-of-season foods alongside standard fare without blowing their margins at retail grocers. Schedule weekly and monthly shipments of standard items, like corn, peas and chicken, to keep your kitchen fully stocked.

9. Assess your kitchen's storage needs before your city's health inspector drops by the restaurant. Install walk-in freezers and oversize refrigerators well ahead of your grand opening to account for shipping and installation problems. Every restaurant should have overhead and undercounter storage to help chefs arrange their supplies for each shift.

10. Show the health inspector every corner of your kitchen and restaurant to surmount your final hurdle before opening. Health inspectors offer pass or fail grades to kitchens in their early stages, but these inspectors will come back regularly to make sure health and safety laws are observed.

11. Look at end times for theater productions, comedy shows and other events in your neighborhood when creating your hours of operation. Your restaurant can attract hungry theater goers and large groups by staying open late on Fridays and Saturdays.

Tips & Warnings

• Generate a list of local grocers, farmers and fishmongers who can be relied upon for fresh food. Produce a yearlong schedule that accounts for peak times in crop production and fishing to create a menu that reflects food that is in season. Advertise your restaurant to the local community through local events rather than television, radio and print spots. In addition to offering food at community events, major cities have "Taste of..." events that allow diners to sample foods from new and established restaurants. These events can help your restaurant show off its delicious cuisine without spending money on expensive advertisements.

Resources

• Instawares Restaurant Supply Superstore
• Affordable Seating
• AGAR