Short answer: a restaurant opening checklist works backward from opening day. Six to twelve months out, you plan, fund and sign the lease. At 90 days, you file permits and order long-lead equipment. At 60 days, you lock the menu, vendors and systems. At 30 days, you hire, install and pass inspections. In the last two weeks, you train, rehearse and run soft openings. Permits, inspections and liquor licenses set the real schedule, so start those first.
Below is the full checklist, 60 tasks in eight phases, each with a suggested owner. It’s also a free printable PDF with columns for owners and due dates, plus a daily opening checklist for once you’re open. Most opening a restaurant checklist downloads sit behind a sign-up form. This one doesn’t.
Download the free restaurant opening checklist (PDF): 6 pages, print-ready, free to share and adapt.
In this guide
- How long does it take to open a restaurant?
- 6 to 12 months out: plan, fund and sign
- 90 days out: permits, build-out and long-lead orders
- 60 days out: menu, vendors, systems and brand
- 30 days out: hire, install and inspect
- 14 days out: train and rehearse
- 7 days out: how to run a soft opening
- Opening day checklist
- The first 30 days after opening
- Daily restaurant opening checklist
- Mistakes that delay restaurant openings
- FAQ
- Sources
How long does it take to open a restaurant?
Plan on about four to six months from a signed lease to opening day in a former restaurant space, and longer for a conversion or a new build. Add the months before the lease for planning and funding, and most independent restaurants take 6 to 12 months from idea to first guest.
Three things decide the timeline more than anything you control inside the building:
- Permit and plan review. Building permits, and in many places a health department plan review, have to be approved before construction starts.
- Inspections. You can’t open until the building, fire and health inspections pass and you hold a certificate of occupancy and a food permit.
- The liquor license. In some states it takes a few weeks. In quota states or backlogged cities, it can take many months.
Start those three as early as possible and check on them every week. Everything else on this list can be compressed. They can’t.
6 to 12 months out: plan, fund and sign
This is the phase where most of your money gets committed, so slow down. The lease and the space decide your build-out cost, your rent and much of your sales potential. Don’t sign until the numbers work in a business plan and a lender has given you a term sheet.
- ☐ Write the business plan and startup budget, and stress-test the sales forecast at 80% of plan (Owner)
- ☐ Line up funding: owner equity, SBA or bank loan, investors. Get a lender’s term sheet before you sign a lease (Owner)
- ☐ Form the legal entity (LLC or corporation) and get a free EIN from the IRS (Owner)
- ☐ Hire a restaurant-experienced attorney, accountant and insurance broker (Owner)
- ☐ Choose the location. Inspect hood, grease trap, walk-in, HVAC, gas and electrical capacity in second-generation spaces (Owner)
- ☐ Check zoning, parking and signage rules with the city before you sign (Owner)
- ☐ Negotiate the lease: tenant improvement allowance, free rent during build-out, personal guarantee limits, exclusivity (Owner)
- ☐ Check liquor license availability and cost in your town (quota states can take months and six figures) (Owner)
- ☐ Hire an architect or designer and, if needed, a kitchen designer (Owner)
Two things first-time owners skip here: checking zoning and signage rules with the city before signing, and asking why the last restaurant in a second-generation space closed. Our guide to restaurant startup costs shows how much the type of space changes the budget, and the restaurant business plan guide has a free template for the plan a lender will ask for. The EIN is free and takes minutes online at IRS.gov, so don’t pay a service for it.
90 days out: permits, build-out and long-lead orders
At 90 days, the critical path is permits and equipment lead times. Hoods, walk-ins, custom millwork and signage can take weeks to arrive, so order them as soon as the drawings are final.
- ☐ Submit plans for building permits and, where required, health department plan review (Owner)
- ☐ Apply for the liquor license if you have not already (Owner)
- ☐ Sign the general contractor with a written schedule, milestones and a change-order process (Owner)
- ☐ Order long-lead equipment: hood and fire suppression, walk-in, custom millwork, signage (Owner)
- ☐ Open utility accounts: gas, electric, water, trash, recycling, grease hauling, pest control (Owner)
- ☐ Register for state sales tax and payroll tax accounts (Owner)
- ☐ Hire the general manager and chef or kitchen manager (Owner)
- ☐ Draft the menu and start recipe testing (Chef)
- ☐ Choose a POS, payroll and scheduling system and online ordering platform (Owner)
Put the contractor’s schedule on one page with milestone dates, and agree on how change orders get approved and priced before work starts. Change orders are where build-out budgets break.
This is also when you bring in your general manager and chef. They need time to build the menu, the systems and the team. Our restaurant manager job description covers what that role should own.
60 days out: menu, vendors, systems and brand
At 60 days, the restaurant starts to exist on paper and online. The menu gets finalized and costed, vendors get set up, the POS gets built and the brand goes live.
- ☐ Finalize the menu. Cost every plate and set prices (Chef)
- ☐ Write recipe cards and plating specs with photos (Chef)
- ☐ Open accounts with broadline, produce, meat, beverage and smallwares suppliers; set delivery days (GM)
- ☐ Bind insurance: general liability, property, workers’ comp, liquor liability, business interruption (GM)
- ☐ Set up the POS menu, modifiers, taxes, tip settings and reports (GM)
- ☐ Claim and complete your Google Business Profile; set up website and social accounts (GM)
- ☐ Write the employee handbook and job descriptions; post job ads (GM)
- ☐ Get a music license if you will play recorded or live music (GM)
- ☐ Confirm the construction schedule and book final inspections (Owner)
Cost every plate before you print a menu. Our food cost calculator handles recipe costing with trim and yield, and the menu pricing guide shows how to turn plate costs into prices. When you set up payroll, get the tip rules right from day one: under federal law, employers can pay tipped employees a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour only if tips bring them up to the full minimum wage, and many states set higher floors.
Claim your Google Business Profile early. It’s where most guests will find your hours, menu and photos, and reviews start building from the first day.
30 days out: hire, install and inspect
The last month before opening is about people and inspections. You need a full team hired and on the schedule, every piece of equipment working, and every inspection passed.
- ☐ Finish hiring. Complete Form I-9 and tax forms for every new hire (GM)
- ☐ Make sure the person in charge on every shift will hold a food protection manager certificate where required (Chef)
- ☐ Publish the training schedule for the last two weeks (GM)
- ☐ Install, test and calibrate every piece of equipment; keep warranties and manuals in one binder (Chef)
- ☐ Pass building, fire and health inspections; get the certificate of occupancy and food permit (Owner)
- ☐ Receive smallwares, china, glassware, linens and uniforms (GM)
- ☐ Test the POS end to end: orders, printers, card payments, online orders, end-of-day reports (GM)
- ☐ Start pre-opening marketing: signage, social, local press, neighbor and business invitations (GM)
- ☐ Set up cash handling, safe and banking procedures (GM)
Two compliance points to get right. Every new hire needs a completed Form I-9: the employee fills in Section 1 by their first day, and you complete Section 2 within three business days of their start date. And check your local food code: under the FDA’s 2022 Food Code, the person in charge during service should be a certified food protection manager, and many states and counties have adopted that rule. Food handler cards for line staff are a separate requirement in some states.
Book inspections as early as your contractor will allow, and walk the space with your contractor before the inspector does. A failed inspection can push the opening by a week or more.
14 days out: train and rehearse
Two weeks is the minimum training window for a new team. Spend the first week on the menu, the stations and the steps of service, and the second on full-speed rehearsals.
- ☐ Place the opening food and beverage orders (Chef)
- ☐ Train the kitchen station by station; run full menu tastings (Chef)
- ☐ Train the floor team on the menu, steps of service, POS and allergens (GM)
- ☐ Run mock services with staff as guests (GM)
- ☐ Post required permits, licenses and labor law posters (GM)
- ☐ Build the week-one schedule with extra coverage (GM)
- ☐ Set par levels, prep lists and opening and closing checklists for each station (Chef)
Run mock services with staff and their families as guests. Time the tickets, practice the POS on every kind of order (splits, voids, comps, modifiers, online orders) and make sure every server can answer allergen questions. Post your permits, licenses and required federal and state labor law posters where staff can see them.
7 days out: how to run a soft opening
A soft opening is a small, invitation-only service before the public opening, used to find problems while the stakes are low. Most restaurants run two or three.
- ☐ Run two or three soft openings: friends and family, neighbors, local businesses (GM)
- ☐ Collect written feedback from guests and staff after each one (GM)
- ☐ Fix ticket times, plating and station bottlenecks; trim the menu if needed (Chef)
- ☐ Deep clean front and back of house (GM)
- ☐ Confirm vendor deliveries for opening week (GM)
- ☐ Confirm opening-day staffing, cash on hand and an emergency contact list (Owner)
How to run one well:
- Invite fewer guests than you think. About half of your seats is plenty for the first one.
- Use a shorter menu. Cut the slowest or hardest dishes for the first service, then add them back.
- Decide on pricing upfront. Free, discounted or full price with a thank-you dessert. Tell guests in the invitation.
- Ask for feedback in writing. A short card with three questions (food, service, what to fix) works better than asking at the table.
- Debrief the same night. List every problem, assign an owner and fix the top three before the next service.
Opening day checklist
On opening day, the goal is a calm, normal service. Don’t change the menu, the layout or the systems that morning.
- ☐ Pre-shift meeting: menu changes, sections, goals (GM)
- ☐ Line check every station: temperatures, labels, pars (Chef)
- ☐ Walk the dining room, restrooms and entrance as a guest would (GM)
- ☐ Keep a running list of issues to fix after service (GM)
- ☐ Thank the team and debrief after close (Owner)
Schedule extra people for the first week, especially on the line and at the host stand. Keep the list of problems going and work through it every morning.
The first 30 days after opening
The first month decides whether the numbers in your plan were right. Track them weekly, not monthly.
- ☐ Review sales, food cost and labor cost every week (Owner)
- ☐ Compare actual food cost with plate costs; fix the biggest gaps (Chef)
- ☐ Respond to every online review in the first month (GM)
- ☐ Hold a staff check-in at two and four weeks (GM)
- ☐ Compare cash on hand with the working capital plan (Owner)
- ☐ Adjust the menu based on what sells and what earns (Chef)
Compare actual food cost with your plate costs every week; the gap is waste, portioning or theft. Read every review and respond to each one in the first month. And check cash against your working capital plan: in RestaurantOwner.com’s survey, the median new restaurant took five months to turn a profit, and a quarter took a full year. Our guide to restaurant profit margins shows what a healthy P&L looks like once you’re running.
Daily restaurant opening checklist
Once you’re open, the opening checklist becomes a daily routine. Here is a daily restaurant opening checklist for the manager, the kitchen and the front of house. The printable PDF has the same lists formatted to post at each station.
Download the free restaurant opening checklist (PDF)
Manager
- ☐ Disarm alarm, walk the building, check for overnight problems
- ☐ Count the starting cash and set up drawers
- ☐ Check the reservation book, catering orders and staff call-outs
- ☐ Review yesterday’s sales, voids and comps
- ☐ Run the pre-shift meeting
Kitchen
- ☐ Check and log walk-in, reach-in and freezer temperatures
- ☐ Turn on and check hood, ovens, fryers and dish machine
- ☐ Receive and check deliveries against invoices
- ☐ Complete the prep list and set every station to par
- ☐ Label and date everything; rotate stock first in, first out
- ☐ Line check before doors open
Front of house
- ☐ Set tables, check chairs and menus
- ☐ Clean and stock restrooms
- ☐ Stock the server station and bar
- ☐ Check lights, music and temperature
- ☐ Turn on POS terminals and printers
- ☐ Unlock the doors and flip the sign on time
Add a closing checklist for each area that mirrors this one, and have the manager sign off on both every day.
Mistakes that delay restaurant openings
- Signing the lease before checking zoning, parking and signage. A permit denial can kill a deal after you’ve committed.
- Ordering the hood and walk-in late. These are the most common long-lead items and they hold up inspections.
- Treating the liquor license as paperwork. In quota states it can take months and cost six figures.
- No written change-order process with the contractor. Small changes add up fast when nobody approves them in writing.
- Hiring too late, or training for only a few days. New teams need two weeks, minimum.
- Skipping the soft opening. Problems you find with friends and family are problems the public never sees.
- Opening with no cash reserve. Every opening runs over somewhere. Keep at least three months of fixed costs in the bank.
FAQ
What do I need to open a restaurant?
You need a business plan, funding, a legal entity and EIN, a signed lease, building and health permits, a certificate of occupancy, a food service permit, insurance, a sales tax permit, trained staff and, if you serve alcohol, a liquor license. The checklist above puts them in order.
How far in advance should I start planning a restaurant opening?
Start 6 to 12 months before your target opening date. Permits, build-out and the liquor license usually take longer than expected, so begin those as soon as the lease is signed.
What is a soft opening for a restaurant?
A soft opening is a limited, invitation-only service held before the public opening to test the kitchen, the floor team and the systems. Most restaurants run two or three soft openings in the final week, often with a shorter menu.
How long before opening should you hire staff?
Hire the general manager and chef about three months before opening, and the rest of the team about three to four weeks out, so there is time for at least two weeks of training.
What permits do you need to open a restaurant?
Most restaurants need a business license, a building permit and certificate of occupancy, a health department food service permit, a fire inspection, a sign permit, a sales tax permit and, if serving alcohol, a liquor license. Requirements vary by state, county and city.
Is there a free restaurant opening checklist PDF?
Yes. The RestaurantMode restaurant opening checklist is a free 6-page PDF with every task from 12 months out to the first month after opening, plus a daily opening checklist. You can download it above without signing up.
Sources
- US Food and Drug Administration, FDA Food Code (2022 edition, section 2-102.12 on certified food protection managers)
- Internal Revenue Service, Get an employer identification number
- US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Completing Form I-9
- US Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped employees under the FLSA
- RestaurantOwner.com, 2018 Cost to Open a Restaurant Survey release, via PR Newswire
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Alcoholic Beverages FAQs