# Opening first restaurant need advice from other Owners



## jgraeff (Sep 25, 2015)

Hey guys so i have been in the industry since i was 12, I'm 25 now and have worked as Chef de cuisine for about 7 years now. 

I believe i have the knowledge and skill to operate my own place and it would benefit me to make my own schedule now having custody of my daughter. 

The type place I'm opening is a Bistro/ Cafe with a bakery ( bread, pastry etc). 

The coffeehouse will be open early like 7am, and will serve pastries, lemon bars, etc 

The restaurant will be open for service for lunch and dinner. 

I plan to seat no more than 49 at one time. I figure i can get at least 4 turns a day and plan to be in a very busy area. 

My main questions are equipment prices as i have never purchase equipment before. 

Im thinking a 1500 sq ft building would suffice however i may look for slightly larger. The dinning area would be around 800 sq ft, the kitchen around 500 and the rest will be wait stations or storage. 

For equipment I'm thinking: double stack convection ovens, a french top range split with an 8 burner stove, with 2-3 oven underneath. 
a grill, with pull out draws ( cooler) All of this will be under the hood system which may need to be purchased if not already existing. 

directly behind that will be the pass or plating area, it will be a large cooler with a flat top and i will have some heat lamps available. 

That will be my main cooking area, i will also purchase about 3 induction burners for when needed.

I will need a large mixer, a blender, hand blender, robot coupe, and grade manger prep cooler. Also a couple prep tables. 

I think other than the small stuff like tongs, sieves etc i have everything, correct me if I'm wrong? Or if you think i have too much. 

if anyone can offer any experience they have had with any of this equipment would be great. 

I am confident on food, beverage, and labor costs. 

I am concerned with meeting local code, fire codes etc as i have never had to implement it before. I reach out to them today to find out their requirements. 

Thanks in advance!


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## easy13 (Sep 25, 2015)

Do you have a space? Looking at spaces? If you are planning on moving in to a spot that wasn't a food service establishment previously you need to start with hood/venting costs, Ansul system. Not sure where you are located but that can cost around 30 Gs in my parts. Any build out, sink/dishwasher setup with proper drainage, grease trap, walk-in installation can cost a pretty penny also. Equipment is the easy part compared to all of that.


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## jgraeff (Sep 25, 2015)

I plan to rent/ buy something that was used previously as a restaurant to avoid some of these high expenses. 

I am just now starting to look for spaces. I have a budget in mind so hopefully with time I can find the right place. Still need to get funding to move forward


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## ChuckTheButcher (Sep 26, 2015)

I advice buying quality used item. However make sure the warrenty carries over. I got screwed several times thinking I was getting a great deal. Until your paco jet, induction, or robot coup kicks. Then you are screwed.


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## knyfeknerd (Sep 26, 2015)

easy13 said:


> Do you have a space? Looking at spaces? If you are planning on moving in to a spot that wasn't a food service establishment previously you need to start with hood/venting costs, Ansul system. Not sure where you are located but that can cost around 30 Gs in my parts. Any build out, sink/dishwasher setup with proper drainage, grease trap, walk-in installation can cost a pretty penny also. Equipment is the easy part compared to all of that.



TRUTH!
Don't forget about handicap-accessible bathrooms......


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## Von blewitt (Sep 26, 2015)

How business minded are you? I've run my own ship for 5 years now, I definately prefer cooking to running a business, dealing with all the stuff that doesn't end up ona plate can really be a pain. Nothing like the freedom of working for yourself though.


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## jgraeff (Sep 26, 2015)

Von blewitt said:


> How business minded are you? I've run my own ship for 5 years now, I definately prefer cooking to running a business, dealing with all the stuff that doesn't end up ona plate can really be a pain. Nothing like the freedom of working for yourself though.



i am a bit nervous as i ought to be, however i believe i am financially smart. I have always been a money freak, i have taken multiple business courses and hope to have my business degree soon. i also have taken multiple entrepreneur courses. 

I think overall if i can get the team to work as expected it will be easy to mange, i don't plan to hire just anyone. I have an "in" at the local culinary institute that i attendee and plan to select my main employees form here, i also have 2 very good chefs in mind to make one my sous chef. 

Since it will be a small operation i will be there all the time for the first year or more, once the restaurant is stable i will most likely hand the sous chef the head chef position and take a back seat into just running the business and creating dishes. 


I am still working on my business plan, the numbers are hard to forge so I'm trying to find the most realistic numbers i can and add 10% to that.


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## Mucho Bocho (Sep 26, 2015)

I've never opened a restaurant, but have had a few businesses (including cooking) and friends that have. I've experience and i've see others make the mistake of going to BIG in the beginning and getting strangled by bills that never get caught up. I realize that it takes a minimal amount of gear to get this running and pass inspection. I'd start there first, then build out the rest of your purchases from there. 

Perhaps you could create a menu that would require less elaborate cooking, until you get some capitol under your belt. Efficiency, modesty, creativity and consistency are things that should factor into your business plan. BTW, do you have a clear business statement that defines your restaurants goals and identity? What is the reason you want to "open your own place." 

Who's going to do (good job with) the finances, marketing, social media management, hiring/firing, managing the FOH during service, answering the phone during prep hours? Sounds like you have good experience managing the BOH, but if the FOH isn't in sync, you'll be frustrated and create an angry and toxic restaurant environment. 

FWIW, I've also watched a lot of "Restaurant Impossible." I know R. Irvine is not very popular on KKF, but he knows how to set up a restaurant. I'd catch up on some of his shows before signing any lease. 

Good luck. please keep us posted.


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## jgraeff (Sep 26, 2015)

Mucho Bocho said:


> I've never opened a restaurant, but have had a few businesses (including cooking) and friends that have. I've experience and i've see others make the mistake of going to BIG in the beginning and getting strangled by bills that never get caught up. I realize that it takes a minimal amount of gear to get this running and pass inspection. I'd start there first, then build out the rest of your purchases from there.
> 
> Perhaps you could create a menu that would require less elaborate cooking, until you get some capitol under your belt. Efficiency, modesty, creativity and consistency are things that should factor into your business plan. BTW, do you have a clear business statement that defines your restaurants goals and identity? What is the reason you want to "open your own place."
> 
> ...



I like your perspective on this, i feel the same way. My menu is pretty streamlined. Lunch and Dinner will share the same menu consisting of 5 starters, 2 soups, 2 salads, 8 entrees + specials, and 6 sandwiches. 

The coffeehouse and Bakery will be available all day but will share a separate space from the dinning room. 

I would love to expand on that in the future but i want to keep it simple and reuse proteins where i can for instance in a soup and then on a sandwich, or on a salad and the same protein used on an entree without overusing any ingredient. 

For finances, i will hire a bookkeeper/ secretary, she will be in charge of accounts payable, payrolll, the pos system,social media and online marketing, taking reservations/ calls during the day and also website updates when needed. 

I will hire a Maitre d' to run the front of house, he/she will be on a lower salary and collect tips from servers at the end of the shift and will be in charge of everything having to do with the FOH under my guidelines. 

BOH i will control for the first year or two unless i get an extremely good sous chef i can trust. 

I will also be overlooking the bookkeeper until i feel i can trust him or her. 

I want to make sure i have enough equipment to where I'm not kicking myself if we get in the weeds, but i also want to make sure i don't overspend and end up in too much debt. 

I don't plan on doing a walk-in and i think with my volume i can get away without having one, should save a lot of money in the long run.


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## Adrian (Sep 26, 2015)

Do not focus on equipment. Focus first and foremost on being very clear what your market is and finding an excellent location that serves that market with walk by trade and parking nearby. 

This is what will determine, above all, whether you succeed or fail (assuming you can cook and run a business). You MUST understand your local market and be fully clued up about your competitors there. Your biggest challenge is marketing and keeping customers happy. Don't underestimate this. Many restaurants fail despite having good cooks with top notch gear. They fail because they have bad location, poor service and not enough marketing budget. 

I have owned and run two restaurants. Both were sold as going concerns (to the exec chefs) but what made the money was property appreciation ( i bought the real estate and developed around and above it). Restaurant was a PIA to run in both cases (for a business guy rather than a "love to cook" chef). Still enjoyed it though ;-)


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## Chuckles (Sep 26, 2015)

I have put a French top onto the equipment list of two restaurants before opening. Both times they were axed because they are so much more expensive than a regular stove. If you buy a regular range used you can always sell it for your dream French top as soon as you have trouble figuring out how to spend all the money you are making.


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## malexthekid (Sep 27, 2015)

Can i add some advice from the non cooking side now (structural engineer by trade now working in public service on construction code development).

Either read heaps or pay someone from the design and/or compliance side of things. It may seem simple to a chef but it is a complex issue. Especially if you are changing the use of a space. Abs if you get it wrong can cost a mountain if not done right.


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## ecchef (Sep 27, 2015)

Don't forget about your beverage service. You have a liquor license? You'll need room to store wine correctly and keep beer chilled among other things.


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## Dardeau (Sep 27, 2015)

A room to store correctly also means a room where your staff can't walk away with any of it.


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## jgraeff (Sep 28, 2015)

Yes good points guys, I will have beer and wine license but cannot afford full liquor license as of now. 

I have some spaces to look at this weekend to get a better feel for the size I will need. 

A wine cooler will likely be needed.


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## cheflivengood (Sep 28, 2015)

I understand wanting to be able to fir 50 seats in 800sf, but my dinning area is 1400 and 55 is pretty squeezed in. Also depending on your area your bathroom fixture count can limit how many seats you can have, especially if you are required to have men's and women's rooms (unisex not aloud in chicago). My biggest advice would be to network the **** out of your area, the biggest source of knowledge should be from people that know your area best. Make friends with some self certified architects whose job it is to know code to expedite the approval process. Start requesting quotes for equipment now, get 3 quotes from 3 companies your new friends use and work them all against each other. I would recommend not buying used refrigeration but used, professionally restored gas burning equipment can be ok if you trust the source and they provide their own warranties. Find a pre existing restaurant space, and when negotiating your lease push them as hard as you can for them to cover a lot of renovation costs and NEVER pay rent immediately, all good landlords will give you a buffer for construction, they don't want you to lose too much money before you are making it. Last thing I can think of is when you are having an engineer inspect your property, make him get his hands ******* dirty; climb up in the ceiling, under the foundation, climb in the hoods!! ect... the more he touches and sees the less surprises you will have.


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