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Gameplay Overhaul Mod

Burglars, Dine Out, Gardening improvements and more! Support my project to improve The Sims 4's gameplay on Patreon.

The Sims 4 Dine Out Game Pack

Building a Restaurant Part 1: (Lot Type Requirements)

You can build your own restaurant in Dine Out, fully staff it, customize the menu, and run it.

To even begin managing a restaurant in The Sims 4 Dine Out, you must first own one. This guide will teach you to build your own. First, know that unless you're cheating, building/placing one from manage worlds will not be a shortcut to ownership. You'd then need to pay the lot value to purchase the restaurant. So, if you've saved up some money from your Sim's careers or other money-making methods, you may want to start with what you have. I'd estimate you wanting a decent chunk of Simoleons (at minimum 12,000-15,000) before ever starting this process, because you will need to put funds into the restaurant to pay employees and cover expenses. If you just buy one that someone else has built, you'll need even more Simoleons because it's probably not built on a budget. So, I'll cover making one from scratch and the requirements to do so.

Making Your Own Restaurant
Consider your size needs and also that you might expand the building. You can own more than one restaurant, so you could start with a small diner and later sell it, only to build a bigger restaurant. Click in the bottom right corner of the screen and select, 'Buy a Restaurant'.

You must transfer funds to your restaurant to begin construction. I suggest at least 12-15k on hand. It's expensive to start, and you won't be rolling in Simoleons your first day.

You need to first cover the cost of the lot and transfer money to it. When you first pick a lot, you'll be prompted to transfer funds to the business. Like with The Sims 4 Get to Work, the owner can remove or add funds to the business at any time. The game recommends $10,000, and it's a good starting point. I think you'll need more like $15,000 due to Chef's Stations being so expensive. You can always add more. If you start a restaurant and don't have enough money, you can even leave build mode, go home, make more cash, and return with more to finish construction. Click the little icon in the bottom left corner when you're in build mode on your restaurant lot to transfer funds.

Qualifying a Building as a Restaurant

Restaurant Lot Requirements
For a lot to be complete and allow you to open the restaurant, you will require the following items. Thankfully there's no strict building code. You only need:

• 1 Toilet
• 1 Sink
• 4 Dining Spots (Tables, bars with seats)
• 1 Chef Station
• 1 Waiter Station
• 1 Host Station
• 1 Dishwasher (Recommended)

Toilet/Sink - these two are obvious. Visiting Sims need a place to use the restroom, and you can provide that. You really only need one or two bathrooms at most. Ensure they are separated by a wall if you make more than one.

Booths were a little clunky in my review copy, but they are possible and I expect them to improve.

Dining Spots & Booths - The game pack introduces booths. You can use any proper-height two square table. Tables that are three full squares long will not work, despite it being symmetrical with the booth. Booths are meant to serve four Sims maximum. A corner booth will allow two Sims to be served and takes a single-square table. Most other table/chair arrangements are obvious, therefore the focus on how booths work in Dine Out. If you have trouble making a true booth with two sides, try to place the table first THEN the booth seats. Know that 2/3 of your visits will be 1-2 Sims, while family gatherings are a bit more rare - this will help you decide the proportion of smaller to larger tables.

Three stations are required for your employees. They're rather costly, but necessary to operate.

Host Station - If you've been to a restaurant, you know the host will seat guests. Place this near the entrance of your restaurant so the host can direct Sims to an empty spot.

Waiter Station - It's obviously more efficient if these are nearby the tables, so that waiters can get menus for visiting customers.

Chef Station - This is the most expensive item - they're $3300. Note that the Full Disclosure Chef Station must be placed along a wall within the restaurant. As though you were making a room for the kitchen. It will create a hole in the wall through which waiters can get the food, and management can even speak to the chef. I found it hard to place, and they'll probably fix this, but once it's placed you can fiddle with it, select it again, and hopefully get it to face the direction you want. The second type of chef station is much easier to handle. Place these so the areas the plates go are closer to the waiters, with the chefs in the back.

Dishwashers (and trash cans) may be helpful to cleaning up after guests.

Dish Washer (Not Required) - While a Sink may be used to wash dishes, you really want a dish washer for efficiency's sake. Somewhere near to the tables so that waiters do not have to walk far to take care of them. This lets them spend less time in a public bathroom - either impeding Sims who need to use it or else just taking longer to do a job. A waiter could also be blocked if a Sim's in the restroom. You can get by with a sink early on, but you want your waiters serving Sims and clearing tables, and a real dish washer will get the job done. It also looks better and can be placed much closer to tables.

Other Dine Out Guides

• Placing a Restaurant - How to use the new restaurants
• Making a Restaurant - Making a new restaurant from scratch
• Staff - Managing the staff of a restaurant you own
• Run/Own the Restaurant - advice for managing the restaurant as Owner
• Advertising, Customers & Critics Dealing with customers, and utilizing advertising
• Menu Guide, Markup & Food Difficulty - Selecting a proper markup for the restaurant
• Star Ratings - Star Ratings and how they're calculated
• Restaurant Perks - List of Restaurant Perks and their effects
• Restaurant Perk Cheats - Unlock perks without Restaurant Perk Points.
• Known Bugs & Tips for Usability of Restaurants

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