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Restaurant business plan template

A plan you fill in, section by section: the concept, menu, location, customers, competitors, staff, start-up costs, monthly costs, a sales forecast and your break-even. The sums are done for you. Download a tidy PDF to show a bank or a partner.

Last updated 20 October 2026

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Write your plan

Fill in each section. The numbers add up as you type, and the plan stays saved on this device.

This is an example plan for a made-up restaurant. Replace every section with your own, or .

Cover

Restaurant name

Your name and roleoptional

Town or cityoptional

Dateoptional

Phone or emailoptional

Currency

Colour

Summary

Write this last: what you will open, where, and what you are asking for.

The concept

Type of businessoptional

The idea

What you serve, how, and why people will choose you.

The menu

About the menu

How big it is, what it changes with, drinks, set menus.

Sample dishesoptional

Location

The site

Where it is, the size, who is around it, and why it suits you.

Seatsoptional

Target customers

Who will eat with you

Who they are, when they come, and what they want.

Competitors

Staffing

RolePeopleCost each a month

Cost each a month = pay plus anything you pay on top, such as employer taxes or pension.

Staff a month$17,600

Start-up costs

Your own money going inoptional

Total start-up costs$107,000

Still to findLoan or investment$67,000

Monthly running costs

Staff (from step 8)$17,600

Running costs a month$27,100

Sales forecast and break-even

Customers a day

Average spend each

Days open a month

Food and drink cost

% of sales

Use your own numbers, without sales tax. The food and drink cost is what the ingredients cost as a share of the price; the recipe cost calculator works it out per dish.

Sales a month$46,800

Food and drink cost$14,040

Running costs$27,100

Profit a month$5,660

Customers a day to break even63

Months to earn back start-up costs19

Business plan

Rosa's Kitchen

Rosa Bianchi, owner and head chef

Riverside

Summary

Rosa's Kitchen will be a 40-seat neighbourhood restaurant serving fresh pasta at lunch and dinner, six days a week. We have found a corner site near the station and are putting in our own savings. This plan asks for a loan to cover the rest of the fit-out and the first months of trading.

Figures are the owner's own estimates, without sales tax.Page 1 of 5

Page 1 of 5

Rosa's Kitchen · Business plan

The concept

Fresh pasta made in an open kitchen every morning, with sauces from family recipes. Simple, good-value food in a warm room, for a quick lunch or a relaxed dinner. Takeaway and our own online ordering from the first day.

Type of businessCasual restaurant, 40 seats, lunch and dinner

The menu

A short menu that changes with the seasons: eight pastas, four starters, three desserts, wine and soft drinks. A set lunch on weekdays, served in 30 minutes.

Sample dishes

Price

Tagliatelle with slow-cooked ragù

$16

Spaghetti carbonara

$15

Potato gnocchi, tomato and basil

$14

Tiramisu

Location

A corner unit on the high street, two minutes from the station, with 40 seats inside and 12 outside in summer. Offices nearby for lunch; houses and flats around it for dinner and takeaway.

Seats40

Target customers

Office workers at lunch who want a proper sit-down meal in under 45 minutes. Families and couples who live nearby, in the evening and at weekends. Takeaway customers ordering from our own page.

Figures are the owner's own estimates, without sales tax.Page 2 of 5

Rosa's Kitchen · Business plan

Competitors

Pizza place on Station Road
They do well: Fast, cheap, open late
How we are different: Fresh pasta and a proper sit-down meal

Chain Italian in the shopping centre
They do well: Known name, big menu
How we are different: Made fresh every day, family-run, better value

Sandwich cafés near the offices
They do well: Quick and easy at lunch
How we are different: A hot set lunch in 30 minutes

Staffing

Role

People

Each a month

A month

Head chef

$3,800

Cook

$2,600

$5,200

Kitchen porter

$2,000

Front of house

$2,200

$6,600

Staff a month

$17,600

Figures are the owner's own estimates, without sales tax.Page 3 of 5

Rosa's Kitchen · Business plan

Start-up costs

Item

Cost

Kitchen equipment

$35,000

Fit-out and furniture

$30,000

Lease deposit and legal fees

$12,000

Licences and permits

$2,000

First stock

$5,000

Opening marketing

$3,000

Money for the first three months

$20,000

Total start-up costs

$107,000

Our own money$40,000

Still to find (loan or investment)$67,000

Monthly running costs

Item

A month

Rent

$5,000

Gas, electricity and water

$1,400

Insurance

$300

Card fees and software

$600

Marketing

$500

Repairs and cleaning

$400

Loan repayment

$1,300

Staff (see Staffing)

$17,600

Running costs a month

$27,100

Figures are the owner's own estimates, without sales tax.Page 4 of 5

Rosa's Kitchen · Business plan

Sales forecast

Customers (covers) a day75

Average spend per customer$24

Days open a month26

Sales a month$46,800

Food and drink cost (30% of sales)$14,040

Running costs a month$27,100

Profit a month$5,660

Sales a year$561,600

Profit a year$67,920

Sales a month = customers a day × average spend × days open. Profit is before tax and before the owner's own pay, unless it is in the running costs.

Break-even

Sales a month to cover all costs$38,714

Customers a day to break even63

Months to earn back the start-up costs19

Break-even sales = running costs ÷ (1 − food and drink cost %). Customers a day = break-even sales ÷ (average spend × days open).

Figures are the owner's own estimates, without sales tax.Page 5 of 5

Check the costs behind each dish

The free recipe cost calculator works out what each portion costs, so your food cost and prices in the plan are your own.

Cost a recipe

How it works

1
Read the example
A plan for a made-up 40-seat restaurant is filled in, so you can see what goes in each section. Start a blank plan when you're ready.
2
Fill in your sections
Write about your idea, menu, site and customers. Add your staff, start-up costs and monthly costs; totals, profit and break-even add up as you type.
3
Download the PDF
Check each page in the preview and download one tidy A4 PDF with a cover. Your plan stays saved in this browser to come back to.

Questions owners ask

Answered, plainly.

A summary, the concept, the menu, the location, your target customers and competitors, who you will employ, what it costs to open, what it costs to run each month, how much you expect to sell, and when you break even. The template has a section for each, in that order.

Sales a month = customers a day × average spend per customer × days open a month. The food and drink cost is taken off as a share of sales, then your running costs, which leaves the profit or loss a month. Use figures without sales tax.

Break-even sales a month = running costs ÷ (1 − food and drink cost %). Divided by your average spend and days open, that gives the customers a day you need to cover every cost. The tool also shows how many months of profit it takes to earn back your start-up costs.

No. It is a template: you write every section in your own words and type your own numbers. The tool lays it out and adds up the figures. A plan in your own words is easier to explain to a bank or a partner.

Your own, from your recipes and supplier prices. The recipe cost calculator works out what each portion costs; divide that by the price without tax to get the share. The example uses a made-up figure.

Yes. It stays in this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to us and there is no account. Clearing your browser data removes it, so keep the PDF.

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Restaurant business plan template

Last updated 20 October 2026

Free

No sign-up

Saved on your device

Restaurant business plan template

Write your plan

How it works

Read the example

Fill in your sections

Download the PDF

Answered, plainly.

What goes in a restaurant business plan?

How is the sales forecast worked out?

How is break-even worked out?

Does the tool write the plan for me?

What food and drink cost should I use?

Is my plan private?

Ready to open? Take orders from day one

Restaurant business plan template

Write your plan

How it works

Read the example

Fill in your sections

Download the PDF

Answered, plainly.

What goes in a restaurant business plan?

How is the sales forecast worked out?

How is break-even worked out?

Does the tool write the plan for me?

What food and drink cost should I use?

Is my plan private?

Ready to open? Take orders from day one