Questions to Ask When Opening a Restaurant
Questions for the months before a restaurant opens, covering who is actually going to eat there, the numbers underneath the concept, the lease and what hides behind the walls, licences and inspections, staffing and suppliers, and how long you can pay rent and payroll before the room fills.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
Who exactly is going to eat here, and how often?
The answer has to be a real group of people who live or work nearby, with a reason to come back on a Tuesday. If the description is a set of adjectives rather than a neighborhood, a commute pattern, or an office block that empties at six, the concept has not been tested yet.
- 2
What average check do I need, and does the menu I want support it?
Work backwards from covers and check average to a daily sales figure, then look at whether your menu can reach it without the room turning twice. Concepts fail here quietly: the food is fine but nobody spends enough for the rent to work.
- 3
How many people does this room actually seat once it is legal and comfortable?
Seat count on a floor plan shrinks once you allow for exit paths, accessible routes, the service station, and tables nobody wants to sit at. Ask an architect or the fire marshal early, because your entire revenue model rests on that number.
- 4
Who was in this space before, and why did they leave?
A space that has cycled through several restaurants usually has a reason: no foot traffic after dark, a landlord who does not maintain the building, a parking problem, or a neighbor who calls about the exhaust. Track down the previous operator and ask them directly.
- 5
What is behind the walls, and who pays when it fails an inspection?
Grease traps, hood and make-up air, electrical service capacity, gas line size, water heater, accessible restrooms and the sewer line are where build-out budgets die. Get a contractor and a mechanical engineer in the space before the lease is signed, not after.
- 6
What does the lease say about hours, exhaust, deliveries, patio use, and trash?
These clauses decide whether you can serve brunch, run a hood at eleven at night, take a delivery on the street, or put six tables outside where the margin is. Ask also whether any other tenant has exclusivity that limits what you can serve.
- 7
How long is the lease, what is the escalation, and who signs personally?
A personal guarantee turns a business failure into a household one, so ask whether it can be limited to a set number of months or burn off after a period of on-time payment. That negotiation is possible before signing and impossible afterwards.
- 8
Which licences and permits do I need, in what order, and how long does each take?
Health, building, fire, signage, and any alcohol licence are separate processes with separate authorities and separate queues, and some cannot start until another is finished. Ask the local health department directly rather than relying on a consultant's timeline.
- 9
How many months of rent will I pay before I can legally serve a single guest?
The gap between taking possession and opening is the single most common source of cash trouble, because permits, inspections and equipment lead times all move slower than the plan. Ask the landlord for free rent during the build-out and treat the answer as part of the deal.
- 10
What does each dish cost me, priced from actual supplier quotes?
Food cost calculated from a recipe book is fiction. Get real invoices or quotes for the exact items and pack sizes, including waste and trim, then check whether the price you want to charge still works when one ingredient doubles for a season.
- 11
What does an hour of labor really cost here, fully loaded?
Wage plus payroll taxes, workers compensation, benefits and the hours nobody counts, such as prep before the door opens and cleaning after it closes. Ask what the tipping and service charge norms are locally, since they change what you have to pay front of house.
- 12
Who is cooking, who runs the floor, and who is in charge when neither is there?
Naming a third person is the test. Restaurants that depend on two people work until one gets sick, and the first six months will produce plenty of sick days. Ask what each of them has actually opened before.
- 13
How will I hire and keep staff in this particular labor market?
Ask other operators nearby what they pay, how long people stay, and how they find dishwashers, which is usually the hardest role to fill. If your labor model assumes wages lower than the restaurant across the street, it will fail in month two.
- 14
Who are my suppliers, what are the minimums and delivery days, and what happens when a truck does not arrive?
Delivery schedules shape your prep and your menu more than most first-time owners expect, and a distributor minimum can force you to over-order. Have a second source for your two or three signature items before you build a menu around them.
- 15
What insurance do I need, and what does the lease require me to carry?
General liability, property, workers compensation, and liquor liability where alcohol is served are separate policies, and the lease usually dictates minimum limits and names the landlord. Ask what a claim does to next year's premium.
- 16
How much cash will I have left on opening day, and how many months of rent and payroll does it cover?
Build-out overruns eat the operating reserve, which is how a restaurant with customers still closes. Decide the reserve number first and treat it as untouchable, so the build-out has to fit around it rather than the other way round.
- 17
What do the first thirty days look like: soft opening, limited menu, reduced hours?
A full menu on night one is how kitchens get buried and how first reviews get written. Ask what you would cut, and who you would invite on the nights when the point is to find the problems rather than to make money.
- 18
How does anyone find out we exist in the first month?
Signage permits, a listing that shows the right hours, neighborhood groups, and the people who walk past every day. Ask who is responsible for this by name, because in most openings it defaults to the owner, who by then is working the line.
- 19
What am I doing myself, and what happens to the restaurant when I am out for a week?
Owner labor is the hidden subsidy in most opening plans, and it is not sustainable past the first year. Write down the jobs you are personally absorbing and price what it would cost to hire each one, so you know the real cost structure.
- 20
At what point would I decide this is not working, and what would I do then?
Set the number and the date now, while you can still think about it clearly. Operators who never define the line tend to fund the losses with personal savings and a second mortgage, long past the point where a smaller version of the same idea would have survived.
Before you sign anything
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
Build the numbers before the concept
Build the numbers before the concept
- 1Start from seats, turns and average check to get a realistic weekly sales figure, then test whether rent, food and labor still leave anything at that number.
- 2Cost the whole menu from real supplier quotes, including pack sizes and waste, rather than from recipe estimates.
- 3Build the build-out budget with a contractor who has done restaurants, then add a contingency line and refuse to spend it on finishes.
- 4Separate your opening reserve from your build-out money and put it somewhere you will not raid.
- 5Model a slow first three months on purpose, and check whether you would still be open at the end of it.
The space and the lease
The space and the lease
- Walk the block at the hours you plan to serve, and count how many people pass. Lunch traffic and dinner traffic are often completely different streets.
- Get a mechanical and plumbing assessment before signing. Hood, make-up air, grease trap and electrical service are the four items that most often turn a cheap space into an expensive one.
- Ask for a due diligence period in the lease so you can confirm permits are achievable before you are committed.
- Check the zoning and any conditional use requirement for a restaurant, alcohol service, live music or a patio at that address, since these are separate approvals.
- Read what happens if you want out: assignment, subletting, and whether the landlord can refuse a buyer for the business.
Permits, inspections and people
Permits, inspections and people
- Requirements and timelines vary by city and state. Ask the health department and the alcohol authority for their own current process rather than relying on secondhand accounts.
- Book inspections earlier than you think you need to, and assume at least one will require corrections and a second visit.
- Hire the chef and the general manager early enough that they can influence the kitchen layout, since they are the ones who have to work in it.
- Talk to two or three operators within a few blocks about wages, staffing and the landlord. Most will tell you, and it is the cheapest research available.
- Get an accountant who works with restaurants before opening, not at the first tax deadline, particularly for sales tax, tip reporting and payroll.