The ninety days before a restaurant opens
Openings fail on schedule, not on concept. The kitchen is not the problem; the problem is that hiring started too late, training was compressed into four days, and nobody ran a full-volume rehearsal before real guests walked in. This is the sequence that prevents it.
A restaurant opening needs ninety days of structured preparation before doors open. Hiring begins at day sixty, training at day thirty, and the last two weeks are rehearsal at real volume. The most common failure is compressing training to make a lease date; the cost of opening two weeks late is almost always lower than the cost of opening badly, because the first two hundred reviews are permanent.
Ninety to sixty days out
This period is about everything that has a lead time you cannot compress. Permits and equipment do not care about your opening date.
- Confirm the permit pathHealth, building, occupancy, liquor, signage. Establish the actual inspection sequence and who signs off. Liquor licensing is the most common cause of a delayed opening and the least controllable.
- Lock equipment deliveryConfirm lead times in writing. A single piece of long-lead equipment arriving late reshapes everything downstream.
- Finalise the opening menuSmaller than you want it. Every additional item is another spec, another training module and another thing to execute badly in week one. You can extend the menu in month three.
- Cost every itemPlate cost, theoretical food cost, contribution margin. Pricing decided after this, not before.
- Set up vendors and accountsDistributor agreement, produce, protein, beverage, smallwares, linen, waste. Credit applications take longer than anyone expects.
- Order the technologyPOS, kitchen display, scheduling, payroll, inventory. Installation and configuration is a two-week job, not an afternoon.
- Post the leadership rolesGeneral manager and kitchen leadership must be hired before hourly recruitment starts, because they should be hiring their own teams.
Sixty to thirty days out
Hiring and documentation. This is the phase most commonly shortened, and the one where shortening does the most damage.
- 01
Hire above-store and management first
They need time in the building before they are teaching anyone. A general manager hired three weeks before opening is learning alongside the staff rather than leading them.
- 02
Write the training program
Station by station, with a written standard and a test. If the SOPs are not documented yet, this is the deadline. See the SOP guide.
- 03
Recruit hourly staff
Over-hire by fifteen to twenty percent. Attrition between offer and opening week is normal and planning for it prevents a scramble.
- 04
Build the opening schedule
Every day from training start to two weeks post-opening, with names on it. Opening weeks need more labor than the model allows; budget for it deliberately.
- 05
Configure the POS
Menu, modifiers, pricing, routing, reporting. Then have someone who was not involved test every item and every modifier combination.
- 06
Start local marketing
Signage on the building, neighbouring businesses, local press, community accounts. The local store marketing work starts now, not at opening.
- 07
Book the inspections
Health and occupancy scheduled, with slack. Failing an inspection and waiting for a re-visit is a two-week delay.
Thirty to seven days out
Training and rehearsal. The whole point of the previous sixty days was to arrive here with time to practice.
- Classroom then stationTwo days on brand, standards, safety and service; then station training with a written test at the end of each. Nobody works a station uncertified.
- Cook the whole menu repeatedlyEvery item, every cook, until specs are consistent without reference. Photograph the correct plate and post it at the station.
- Run timed volume drillsNot a leisurely walk-through. Fire tickets at the volume you expect on a Friday and find where the line breaks while it is still free to find out.
- Test off-premise separatelyPackaging, hold times, delivery handoff. Off-premise is usually a third of opening volume and is almost never rehearsed.
- Complete final inspectionsHealth, occupancy, fire. Everything signed before friends and family.
- Stock to parFirst full order placed and received with time to correct what is missing. Do not receive your opening order the night before.
The final week
Three rehearsals with real people. Each is a genuine test, not a party, and each should produce a written fix list.
- 01
Friends and family, seated slowly
Half capacity, limited menu, staff and family. The purpose is to find the obvious breaks in service flow.
- 02
Friends and family at volume
Full capacity, full menu, timed. This is where ticket times, expo and the pass are genuinely tested.
- 03
Soft opening to the public
Limited hours, limited covers, no marketing. Real guests with real expectations and a controlled ceiling.
- 04
Debrief after each
Thirty minutes, written fix list, owners and deadlines. A rehearsal without a debrief was just a free meal.
- 05
Decide honestly on the date
If the third rehearsal goes badly, delay. Opening badly is far more expensive than opening late, and the reviews from week one do not expire.
The first two hundred reviews are permanent. Everything in the final week exists to protect them.
The first two weeks live
Opening day is not the finish line. The two weeks after it determine whether the operation stabilises or entrenches bad habits.
- Over-staff deliberatelyRun above model for two weeks. Speed and accuracy matter more than labor percentage while the team is still learning.
- Leadership on the floor for every shiftBoth openings and closings, every day. Standards set in week one are the standards you keep.
- Daily debriefFifteen minutes after close. What broke, what to change tomorrow. Daily until the fix list is empty.
- Read and respond to every reviewAll of them, within twenty-four hours. Early reviews carry disproportionate weight and early responses shape the pattern.
- Watch food variance from week oneNew teams over-portion. Catching it in week two is a conversation; catching it in month three is a habit.
- Do not extend the menu yetThe pressure to add items starts immediately. Wait until the current menu is executed consistently for a month.
Common questions
How long before opening should we start hiring?
Management at sixty days, hourly staff at forty-five to thirty. Over-hire by fifteen to twenty percent because attrition between offer and opening is normal.
How many training days does a new restaurant need?
Two to three weeks for a full-service concept, less for limited service. The compressed four-day version is the single most common opening mistake and shows up immediately in ticket times and early reviews.
Should we do a soft opening?
Yes, and treat it as a test rather than an event. Limited hours, limited covers, no marketing spend, and a written fix list afterwards. Three graduated rehearsals is better than one large party.
What if we are not ready on the planned opening date?
Delay. The cost of two more weeks of rent is almost always lower than the cost of two hundred early reviews describing a restaurant that was not ready, because those reviews do not expire.