Opening a restaurant, food truck, or ghost kitchen

The six phases of opening

1. 01

   Concept & feasibility

   Startup costs, site selection, and whether the numbers work at all.

   • How to Estimate Restaurant Startup Costs (Before You Sign Anything)

     The eight-line budget model first-time restaurant owners actually need, with realistic bands, the swing factors that move the total, and a worked example.

     10 min read
2. 02

   Legal & money

   Entity structure, financing, insurance, and the books.

   • Restaurant Financial Basics: The Numbers That Decide Whether You Make It

     Prime cost, food cost, the P&L lines that actually move, and why a profitable month can still miss payroll. The restaurant numbers that decide the outcome.

     11 min read
   • Restaurant Legal Structure: LLC, S-Corp, and What to Ask Your Attorney

     What sole prop, partnership, LLC, S-corp election, and C-corp each do to your liability, taxes, and ability to raise money — so the hour you pay your attorney for isn't vocabulary.

     12 min read
   • Restaurant Insurance, Coverage by Coverage: What Each Policy Actually Does

     Nine coverage types, what a bundled BOP quietly leaves out, and how to read the certificate your landlord just demanded — sorted by who is actually requiring what.

     9 min read

   From the equipment guides

   • Equipment Financing for Restaurants: How It Works and When It Makes Sense 8 min
3. 03

   Space & buildout

   Lease, layout, ventilation, and whether the building can carry your equipment.

   • Commercial Kitchen Hood and Ventilation: What It Costs and Why It Delays Openings

     A commercial hood system is a five-figure line item most first-time operators never budgeted. Here is what it includes, what it costs, and how to read a quote.

     10 min read · restaurant
   • Commercial Kitchen Layout Guide: Plan the Space Before You Buy the Equipment

     The layout is what tells your electrician, plumber, and hood contractor where everything goes — and what turns equipment shopping from guesswork into a measuring exercise.

     10 min read · restaurant
   • Will Your Building Support Your Equipment? A Restaurant Utilities Capacity Guide

     Before you sign the lease, find out what the building can actually supply. Gas capacity, electrical service, hot water, and grease — the checks that decide whether your equipment list is possible.

     9 min read
   • Negotiating a Restaurant Lease: The Clauses That Decide Whether You Survive It

     Rent is the number everyone negotiates. The clauses that end restaurants are the other eight — who owns the hood, whether you can ever sell, and what the guaranty really costs.

     11 min read · restaurant
4. 04

   Licensing & permits

   Health department, permits, and the inspections that gate opening day.

   • Working With Your Health Department: Plan Review, Inspections, and Getting Open

     Plan review gates your opening date. Here's the sequence, what goes in the packet, what the pre-opening inspection checks, and what to do if you fail.

     8 min read
   • Restaurant Permits and Licenses: The Complete Checklist (And What Order to Do Them In)

     Every permit you need to open a restaurant, in dependency order — which one blocks which, what to start on day one, and why liquor decides your opening date.

     10 min read
   • Ghost Kitchen Setup and Delivery Economics: Who Holds the Permit, and What It Costs to Make the Model Work

     Whose permit covers you in a shared kitchen, what occupancy class a production-only kitchen lands in, and the markup math that decides whether delivery-only clears.

     12 min read · ghost-kitchen
   • Food Truck Licensing and the Commissary Requirement: What's Actually Different About a Mobile Permit

     The commissary agreement is a monthly cost and a permit gate most first-time truck operators never budget for. What it commits you to, and the four agencies that have to sign off.

     12 min read · food-truck

   From the equipment guides

   • NSF, UL, ETL, and ENERGY STAR: Which Equipment Certifications Actually Matter? 8 min
5. 05

   Equip & staff

   Buying equipment, choosing a POS, and hiring your first team.

   • Hiring Your First Restaurant Team: Roles, Timeline, Pay, and the Compliance Floor

     Who to hire and in what order — plus everything that attaches to you the minute someone accepts the offer: I-9 timing, tip credit mechanics, minor labor, scheduling ordinances.

     13 min read
   • Choosing a Restaurant POS System: The Cost Structure Nobody Shows You

     The software subscription is the small number. Payment processing is the big one, and every POS comparison buries it under a features grid. Compute your own effective rate before you sign.

     11 min read

   From the equipment guides

   • The Complete Restaurant Equipment Checklist for New Owners 9 min
   • Food Truck Equipment Guide: Outfitting Your Kitchen on a Budget 9 min
   • Ghost Kitchen Equipment Guide: What to Buy (And What to Skip) 9 min
   • How to Buy Used Commercial Kitchen Equipment: The Complete Guide 9 min
   • Where to Buy Used Commercial Kitchen Equipment: 12 Best Marketplaces, Dealers & Auctions (2026) 11 min
   • How to Inspect Used Commercial Kitchen Equipment Before You Buy 9 min
   • The Most Trusted Commercial Kitchen Equipment Brands (And Why They Hold Their Value) 9 min
   • Commercial Kitchen Equipment Lifespan: When to Repair and When to Replace 8 min
6. 06

   Launch & operate

   Marketing, online ordering, and the numbers you watch after opening.

   • Your Restaurant Website and Online Ordering System: What It Has to Do in 2026

     Delivery apps take 15-30% of every ticket. Here's what your own site has to do to win those orders back — the commission math, the schema, and the nine questions that pick a platform.

     12 min read
   • Menu Engineering and Food Costing: Pricing for Profit, Not for a Percentage

     Pricing every dish to a flat 30% food cost underprices your cheap plates and prices your best ones off the menu. Cost a recipe right, then price it in dollars.

     11 min read
   • Local Marketing for a New Restaurant: What to Do in the 90 Days Before You Open

     Most restaurant marketing advice opens with Instagram and buries the free listing that actually feeds 'restaurants near me.' Here's the sequence, starting the day you sign the lease.

     11 min read