Starting a Restaurant - Creating Your Concept

After years of hearing your family and friends tell you that you need to open your own restaurant, you've finally decided to take the plunge. Starting your own restaurant can be very exciting, but it does take a lot of heard work and planning.

One thing that many people overlook when going through the planning for their new restaurant is developing the right concept. If you don't pick the right concept early in the process, it can cost you a lot of time and money later. The concept you choose will guide a lot of other decisions as you work through the restaurant business plan.

A restaurant concept is basically describing what type of restaurant you're starting. Is your restaurant going to be fast food or full service; continental or ethnic foods; formal or family oriented? There are a lot of styles and combinations that you can choose from, and each one will help determine everything from what items are on your menu, to what equipment you'll need in your kitchen, to what table settings to buy.

The two main categories of restaurant concepts are fast food and full service.

Fast Food/Quick Service

Fast food and quick service restaurants typically offer menu items that can be quickly put together so the customer has a relatively short time to wait for their food. Customers order their food at the counter (or at a drive through window), and wait while their food is prepared. Once their food is prepared, they carry their food to the table, or take it to go.

After their meal, customers usually are expected to clean the trash from their table and throw it away. There are no servers, so if there is anything you need, you go back to the counter to get it.

McDonalds, Taco Bell, Panera, and Chipotle are fast food or quick service restaurants.

Full Service