I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy running a restaurant. I noticed that while managing my own restaurant Sims would get up to have their drink and then sit back down again (I'm using Chez Sul Sul) but when my own Sims when to another restaurant in town they didn't do that? The other restaurant was downloaded from the gallery and was much more cramped than mine so no idea why that happens.
I would have prefered to hire my own Sims who lived in houses and not out of world Sims and also be able to wait/cook if necessary. However, i was able to clean when my two waitresses were busy and most of the time was spent in greeting customers and chatting with them. I'm only on day four, using cheats because I wanted to get the experience without worrying about money.
If anyone is interested here is what I did for the first four days: From watching live streams I decided to have the most basic items for each menu (meaning 1/5 difficulty). Hired chef, waitress and host with at least two bars in one of their skills. Paid for training for all three. Opened at 9am each day, disallowed new customers around 3/4pm and closed at 5/6pm. I didn't know what Comp Food meant, it didn't have a description like the other options - I don't eat out myself - so I was a little miffed at giving away free food. Oh, complimentary food, sheesh. End of day one: 1.5 stars. I made sure to praise the staff around noon. Only advertisings I paid for was the silver.
Day two: Started off with training again, focused on customers, cleaning and praising. Used points to get another chef and waitress. Redecorated. I noticed Sims only came alone, in pairs, threes and very rarely fours. Again it could be because of the size of the restaurant. Bar stools and counters are useless, so I got rid of those and added more tables. End of day two: 3 stars. Redecorated the eating area.
I replaced the long table with two smaller ones to seat four Sims each, just didn't take a screenshot yet.
Day three: Exactly the same but paid for the highest training available. Changed menu to 2/3 difficulty and earned 4 stars by the end of the day.
Things that annoyed me: if there are too many customers the host walks out of the front door with them, chats then takes them to a table. Waitresses spent a lot of time on their phones, I purposefully didn't add in speakers or TVs. Either customers switched seats or my cooks took too long, but sometimes the customers sit there and the food doesn't arrive until much later on a different table. Cleaning up those dishes resets the customer and they leave. I bought the bin that gives back cash as the outdoor one kept getting kicked and trash was left outside or besides eating customers.
Although I do prefer being a customer, managing a restaurant was a lot of fun. The best part was redecorating of course. I'll be moving on to a larger restaurant once my Sim rests for the weekend.
I do love that Sims are flirty but what if you're just friends?
As someone who loves to build this pack came with a lot of things that can be used around the home, retail lots and of course restaurants so if you don't enjoy the managing aspect you'll love decorating and going on dates/family dinners.
