Ordinami.itOpening a restaurant remains one of the most beautiful and riskiest ventures you can undertake in Europe: margins are tight, competition is everywhere, and mistakes made in the first six months can be paid for years to come. This checklist does not replace accountants and consultants, but puts things in order — which is half the work.
1. Before the location: finances and concept
- Honest business plan: initial investment, six months of reserve cash, break-even point in weekly covers. If the numbers only work with a full house every night, they don't work.
- Clear concept: what you are, for whom, at what price. "A bit of everything for everyone" is the premise of most closures.
- Area studied in person: lunch and dinner traffic, competitors, parking. Hours on the sidewalk, not just maps.
2. Bureaucracy and requirements
Opening a VAT number and choosing a company form with an accountant; SCIA at the town hall; health and safety requirements and HACCP plan; professional requirements for food service (SAB or equivalent experience); accessibility, chimney, and acoustic impact if you have a real kitchen; safety training for staff. Realistic times: months, not weeks — start them in parallel with the location work. Get a complete list in writing from your accountant and town hall: details change from town to town, and surprises during construction cost weeks.
3. Menu and suppliers before opening
The menu should be designed with the food cost next to each dish, not written the week before opening: few items, calculated margins, tested suppliers with trial orders. Golden rule for debut: short menu. It expands later, based on sales data; shortening it afterwards, in front of customers, is much more painful.
4. Minimum digital equipment
In 2026, some tools are basic infrastructure, not optional: telematic register and POS (mandatory), curated Google card from day one, digital menu with QR and allergens according to regulations, active social channel even before opening to build anticipation. It's convenient to build the menu digitally from the start: in the first months, you'll change dishes and prices continuously, and doing so without reprints is a concrete operational advantage. With Ordinami, you can create the menu in advance, have it tested by friends on their phones, and arrive at the opening with QR codes on the tables and six languages already ready.
5. The first weeks
Soft opening with friends and acquaintances before the official one; active review collection from day one; and a fixed weekly appointment with numbers — covers, average ticket, food cost — because the first three months say almost everything about the course to correct. When the project takes shape, put the menu online among the first things: it's the only piece of the checklist that can be completed in one evening. And keep a margin of energy to correct the course: the restaurant you open is never exactly the one you designed, and that's normal.