Revision 1

Overview

The Restaurant is one of nine business types available in inZOI, introduced as part of the v0.5.0 update in December 2025. Restaurants let your Zoi prepare and sell cooked meals to visiting customers, turning the Cooking skill into a direct source of income. Of all the food-related business types, the Restaurant preset focuses on full meal service with activities like "Order" and "Drink a Beverage" enabled by default, making it the go-to option for players who want to run a sit-down dining establishment.

Running a restaurant requires more hands-on work than some other business types. You need to keep the kitchen stocked, manage employees, set your menu, and maintain customer satisfaction to grow your reputation. The payoff is a steady stream of Meow that scales with your business level and the quality of food you serve.

Setting Up a Restaurant

Before you can start serving food, you need to purchase a commercial property and register your business. The process follows the same steps as any other business type in inZOI.

Step 1: Purchase a Business Property

Open the Edit City window and look for lots marked as "Business Property" in the property description. Business properties range from around 20,000 to over 100,000 Meow depending on lot size and location. Pick a lot that fits your budget and has enough space for a kitchen, dining area, and counter.

Step 2: Register Through the Business App

Once you own the property, open the smartphone (press P) and select the Business App. From there, register your new business by completing these steps:

1. Name your business in the Business Settings tab.

2. Set operating days and hours in the Business Hours tab. You can run the restaurant solo at first without hiring anyone.

3. Select the Restaurant preset from the Business Type tab. This automatically configures customer activities like "Order" and "Drink a Beverage" to match a restaurant environment.

4. Choose your menu in the Recipe tab. Pick which cooking recipes you want to serve.

5. Configure customer targeting in the Player Settings tab. Make sure "Order" is listed under customer activities, as this is what makes visiting Zois actually purchase your food.

Step 3: Furnish and Equip the Space

Enter Build Mode to lay out your restaurant. The physical setup directly affects customer satisfaction, employee efficiency, and revenue. A well-designed layout keeps the workflow smooth and encourages customers to stay longer.

Required Equipment

Every restaurant needs specific furniture and equipment to function. Missing even one critical piece (like the kiosk) will prevent customers from making purchases.

When searching for equipment in Build Mode, type "kiosk" or "market stand" in the search bar to find these items quickly. The production workflow is straightforward: your Zoi (or an employee) prepares dishes at the kitchen equipment, the finished items get placed on the market stand automatically, and customers walk over to purchase them.

Cooking Skill and Menu Selection

The Cooking skill determines which recipes your Zoi can prepare and the quality of the resulting dishes. Higher skill levels unlock more advanced (and more expensive) recipes, which directly increases your restaurant's profit potential. There are 23 meal recipes available in early access, ranging from simple pancakes to elaborate dishes like steak.

You can level up Cooking by interacting with the refrigerator and preparing meals repeatedly. At first, only four recipes are available. Another way to improve the skill is by watching the cooking channel on TV under the Entertainment section. Extended viewing provides steady skill gains.

When selecting your menu through Business Settings, you are not locked into the preset recipe list. You can customize which dishes your restaurant serves, including items outside the default restaurant menu. This flexibility lets you focus on the highest-margin items or build a themed menu. The menu you set in Business Settings also guides employees when they prepare food autonomously.

Combining Skills for a Full Menu

A Zoi who develops both Cooking and Baking can operate a restaurant that serves a full range of items: savory main courses from Cooking, baked desserts from Baking, and beverages from Coffee Craft. This combination provides the most versatile business setup available in the game, allowing you to serve breakfast pastries in the morning and full dinner plates in the evening.

Hiring and Managing Employees

You can run a restaurant solo at first, but as your business grows you will want to hire help. Employees are hired through the Business App and can be acquaintances or household members. As your business level increases, you unlock additional employee slots.

Employees perform tasks automatically once assigned. The full list of tasks they can handle includes taking orders, cooking, preparing drinks, displaying items on the market stand, handling payments at the kiosk, cleaning, making repairs, and watching the counter. For a restaurant, you want to assign employees based on their strengths:

Employee salaries are calculated based on your business level, the employee's salary rank, and their working hours. Salaries are paid out after business hours. Keep an eye on labor costs during the early stages, as wages can eat into thin profit margins when your restaurant is still building its reputation. Some players report that a single forced employee at a low-level business can cost more per day than the revenue generated.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is the engine that drives your restaurant's growth. Satisfied customers return more often, leave better reviews, and help raise your business level. The game evaluates satisfaction based on several factors:

As your business value grows, more customers will visit your restaurant. However, a higher business value also raises customer expectations. A one-star restaurant with cheap furniture and slow service may satisfy visitors at that tier, but the same setup at a three-star level will generate complaints. Scaling your quality alongside your reputation is essential.

Revenue and Profitability

At the end of each business day, profits are calculated and logged automatically. You can review your total income, total expenses, and net profit through the Profit Summary menu in the Business App.

Community reports indicate that food businesses typically earn between 4,500 and 13,000 Meow daily, depending on star rating, product selection, and how actively the player manages the establishment. Active management makes a significant difference: players who visit their restaurant regularly and keep the kitchen running report earning 13,000 Meow or more per day, while unattended restaurants may generate only around 6,000 Meow.

Tips for Maximizing Profit

• Focus on expensive recipes. Higher-level cooking recipes sell for significantly more than basic dishes. Leveling up your Cooking skill to unlock premium items is one of the fastest ways to increase revenue.

• Cook group meals. Group meals sell for roughly ten times their production cost, making them far more profitable than individual servings.

• Pre-stock outside business hours. Use the time before opening to prepare dishes and fill the market stand. This ensures customers can order immediately when doors open, maximizing the number of sales per day.

• Grow your own ingredients. Ingredients like vegetables and meat can be grown in your garden or purchased from the Pocket Market. Growing them yourself cuts recipe costs and boosts net margins.

• Manage labor costs carefully. Only hire employees when you genuinely need them. In the early stages, running the restaurant solo keeps overhead low until revenue can support wages.

• Keep the restaurant attended. Businesses left unattended for multiple days lose reputation quickly, reducing customer count and revenue. Visit regularly to maintain your star rating.

Comparison with Other Food Businesses

InZOI offers several food-related business types, each with a different focus. The table below compares the Restaurant with the Cafe, Bakery, and Bar.

Cafes are generally recommended as a first business due to their low setup requirements. Restaurants demand more equipment, a higher Cooking skill, and more careful employee management, but they offer a broader menu and the potential for higher daily revenue once established. Bakeries sit in between, requiring the Baking skill instead of Cooking and focusing on pastries and desserts rather than savory meals.

Players who want maximum flexibility often combine Cooking and Baking skills, then open a Restaurant that also serves baked goods and coffee. This effectively merges the strengths of all three food business types into a single establishment.

Business Levels and Growth

Your restaurant starts at a low business level and grows as you accumulate revenue and maintain customer satisfaction. Higher business levels unlock several benefits:

• More employee slots, allowing you to hire additional staff and delegate more tasks.

• More customers visiting your restaurant each day, increasing potential revenue.

• Higher star ratings, which serve as a visible reputation indicator.

The tradeoff is that higher business levels also raise customer expectations. Visitors to a four-star restaurant expect better furniture, faster service, and higher quality food than visitors to a one-star establishment. If your service quality does not keep pace with your reputation, satisfaction scores will drop and customers will stop coming. Scaling your restaurant gradually by reinvesting profits into better equipment and decor is the safest approach.

Running Multiple Restaurants

A single household can own multiple businesses, including several restaurants. This lets you build a franchise if you have the Meow and the management bandwidth. Each restaurant operates independently with its own business hours, employees, menu, and reputation. Keep in mind that businesses left unattended lose reputation quickly, so spreading yourself too thin across many locations can hurt all of them. Most players find it more effective to fully develop one restaurant before opening a second.

Troubleshooting Common Issues