Restaurant pre-opening checklist (India) — T-90 to Day +7

Format drives every downstream decision: kitchen layout, licences, POS scope, staff count, aggregator strategy. Changing it after T-60 means redoing utility load, equipment POs, and hiring plan.

Every other licence application asks for the rent agreement + landlord NOC as proof of premises. Unsigned lease = no FSSAI, no Trade Licence, no GST registration possible.

FSSAI takes 30–60 days to issue. Operating without it on Day 0 attracts penalty up to ₹5 lakh under Sec 63 of FSS Act. Central licence required if turnover > ₹20cr or multi-state ops.

You need a GSTIN to issue a tax invoice on Day 1, to onboard with Swiggy/Zomato, and to claim ITC on equipment purchases. Allow 7–15 working days.

Mandatory under state S&E Act for any commercial premises with employees. Required to open a current account, register with EPFO/ESIC, and renew annually.

Local municipal corporation (BBMP / BMC / MCD etc.) issues this. Without it, your premises is technically operating illegally and the corporation can seal it.

Liquor licences take 3–6 months in most states and have public-objection windows. If the bar P&L depends on liquor margin, missing this on Day 0 wipes 30–40% of revenue.

Equipment list, kitchen layout, supplier search, and POS configuration all hang off the menu. A frozen menu at T-90 prevents the classic "we added a tandoor in week 6" cascade that delays opening by 3 weeks.

Imported items (combi ovens, espresso machines, cold rooms) have 8–12 week lead times. Locking the list at T-90 means POs can be raised at T-60 and equipment lands at T-30.

Investor reality check before any capex hits. If breakeven covers/day exceeds 1.5x your seating turnover capacity, the unit economics are broken before you open the doors.

Indian restaurants take 6–9 months to hit positive cash flow. Opening with < 6 months runway is the #1 reason first-time owners shut down within Year 1.

Need a separate business account before vendor POs, GST registration, and payment gateway onboarding. Personal account fund-flow muddies the books and triggers IT scrutiny.

Kitchen designers control the most expensive sq-ft in the restaurant. Engaging them late means civil work has to be redone at T-60 to fit the equipment grid.

Once the slab is poured, plumbing changes cost 10x. Final drawings must include grease trap location, water supply points, drainage slope, and equipment power outlets.

A 60-cover casual dining typically needs 50–80 kW. Sanction takes 30–45 days. Opening on a residential connection trips on the first lunch service.

Restaurants consume 800–1500 litres/cover/month. Without a sanctioned commercial line you depend on tankers, which means a single dry day shuts service.

PNG requires Gas Distribution Co. survey + safety NOC, lead time 45–60 days. LPG manifold needs PESO approval + fire NOC.

Fire NOC is mandatory for any premises with assembly area > 100 sqm in most states. Inspection takes 30 days; rectifications add another 15. Operating without it = sealing risk.

Restaurants with seating > 36 covers or DG > 5 kVA fall under SPCB consent. Mandatory for FSSAI Central licence and operating multi-cuisine kitchens.

Indian equipment vendors need 40–50% advance for fabricated items (hood, exhaust, work tables). Imported items lock 30% on PO + 70% before BL release.

FMCG distributors offer 7–15 day credit only after 2–3 months of consistent purchase history. Locking suppliers at T-60 means credit lines are open by T-7.

Vegetables are 18–22% of food cost and the highest-variance line. Mandi sourcing needs a runner; app sourcing needs a cut-off time discipline.

Protein is your biggest food-safety risk. Supplier should provide FSSAI licence copy, daily temperature log, and accept rejects without dispute.

Aggregator launch demands branded packaging from Day 1 for organic photo CTR. Printed packaging requires 5,000-unit MOQ and a 10-week press cycle.

Aggregator onboarding takes 4–6 weeks. Submitting at T-60 means you go live within 7 days of opening, which protects Day 7 revenue.

A single kitchen fire wipes 6 months of capex. WC is statutory if you have 10+ workmen. Buy at T-60 so cover starts before equipment lands at T-30.

Cooking line first → vendor commissioning → refrigeration last. Refrigeration commissioning needs ambient temperature stable, which is impossible during civil dust.

SPCB and resident-association complaints kill more restaurants than competition. ESP / scrubber installed on Day 1 prevents kitchen smoke escalation in week 4.

FSSAI inspection asks for daily temperature logs from Day 1. Install loggers (digital, downloadable) before opening, not after the first audit notice.

KOT printer placement (1 per kitchen station) determines kitchen workflow. Procuring late means you wire the terminal in the wrong spot and rip cables in week 2.

POS menu mapping (modifiers, taxes, channel pricing) takes 2 weeks. Doing it at T-30 means Day 1 menu is bug-free and aggregator inventory is in sync.

EDC machines from banks take 15 working days. UPI QR + Razorpay can go live in 48 hours but bank EDC has the lowest MDR for cards above ₹2,000.

Restaurant invoice MUST show GSTIN, HSN 9963, "Restaurant service @ 5% (no ITC)" or 18% (with ITC if AC + bar combined). Wrong format = customer complaint + GST notice.

Menu mix on Day 30 will not match the menu mix on Day 1 — but knowing target contribution margin per item lets you re-price intelligently after the first 100 covers.

Recipe cards are the only thing that survives chef turnover. Without them, food cost drifts up 4–5% within 3 months as portions creep.

Aggregator menu photos drive 60% of conversion. Their in-house shoot books out 3 weeks ahead and has format constraints (square, white background, hero plating).

Hiring at T-7 means staff arrive without uniforms, without PF/ESI registered, without basic SOP exposure. They learn on customer time = bad first reviews.

Labour inspection in week 2 will ask for these. Use /tools/attendance-register for the muster format. Maintained from Day 1, not retrofitted.

Salary slip with EPF + ESI + PT breakup is mandatory under Payment of Wages Act. Operators who hand out cash without slips get caught in the first inspection.

EPF mandatory at 20+ employees, ESI at 10+ in notified areas. Registration takes 7–10 days. Late registration = backdated contributions + 12% interest.

Day 1 inventory needs to land on credit, not cash, or working capital evaporates in week 1. Suppliers honour T-60 negotiations only if you confirm credit at T-14.

Cash float should be enough to give change for the first 30 covers without breaking large notes. Use /tools/cash-variance from Day 1 to track close-out variance.

Uniform consistency on Day 1 is a CTR signal in customer photos. Chef coats and non-slip footwear are also a workplace safety + WC insurance requirement.

FSSAI mandates documented pest control by a licensed agency with monthly visit log. Reactive pest treatment after a customer complaint costs the restaurant a 1-star Zomato review.

Trial cooking exposes equipment hot-spots, recipe yield drift, plating bottlenecks. Always do 3 rounds: solo chef, full team, full team + timed service.

SOPs taped at the workstation outperform 50-page manuals. Opening SOP, closing SOP, daily-cleaning checklist, weekly-deep-cleaning checklist — that is enough for Year 1.

POS muscle memory takes 3 days. Without it, captains punch wrong KOTs on Day 1, kitchen fires the wrong dish, and the customer leaves a "slow service" review.

Menu-on-paper to menu-on-POS conversion always reveals 10–15% missing modifiers (extra cheese, spicy, jain). Catch this at T-7, not on Day 1.

Printer failure on Day 1 lunch = manual KOT slips = kitchen errors compound. Test from POS terminal → kitchen printer → bill printer with 20 dummy orders.

Day 0 dine-in surge + aggregator orders = kitchen melt. Bring aggregator live on Day +3 once dine-in flow is calibrated.

Google Business Profile takes 3–5 days to verify. Without verification on Day 1, "near me" search doesn't surface you. Verified profile = 4x walk-in discoverability.

Hero photos drive 60% of aggregator CTR and 80% of Instagram engagement. Schedule the shoot during a trial cooking round so plating is consistent with what guests will see.

AC trips, speaker hum, glare on customer-side seats — all show up at full load. Test before reviews start showing up.

Soft launch is for kitchen pacing, not PR. Invite people who will give honest feedback and forgive mistakes. NOT food bloggers — they come on Day +14.

A trained mystery diner catches service gaps that staff and friends miss — wait time, order accuracy, billing accuracy, tip handling, washroom cleanliness.

Inspectors and excise officers ask to see the licence folder, not your phone. Laminated copies displayed at billing counter signal "this place runs tight".

Fire NOC and fire-safety drills require extinguishers tagged with last-service date. Untagged extinguishers fail inspection and can void insurance after a fire.

Kitchen burns and cuts happen. First-aid box is mandatory under Factories Act / S&E Act. WC insurance claims require documented first-aid administration.

First missed return is the most expensive — late fees compound and ITC blocks downstream. Subscribe the .ics into the manager + accountant calendars before opening.

First-day photos circulate on guest social media within hours. Mismatched uniforms or missing name tags read as "amateur" in those photos.

Cash float counted + signed in writing by manager + cashier creates the audit trail Day 0 close-out variance computes against.

Staff meal = recipe + service rehearsal + team rapport + the chef gets a final tasting of the actual day-1 plating. Costs ₹300 per head, returns 10x in service quality.

Without a recorded float, every cash variance computation is meaningless. Use /tools/daily-sales-report to capture float + denomination breakup.

Use /tools/daily-sales-report and /tools/petty-cash-voucher to print the templates. Manager fills DSR at end of shift; cashier issues petty cash vouchers for any sub-₹500 purchase.

Premature aggregator-on = kitchen overload + bad reviews from delayed orders. Many successful operators stay aggregator-off for the first 72 hours.

Day 0 has the highest probability of complaints. Pre-briefing stations and giving the manager an explicit complaint-escalation tree prevents an unhappy guest from becoming a 1-star review.

A late opening on Day 0 is the customer's first signal about your discipline. Open on time even if 1 station is still settling — recover the station, not the timing.

Day 0–14 is the only window when guests are excited enough to leave a 5-star review unprompted. After that you have to ask.

First 5 bills expose every POS misconfiguration: tax rate, modifier price, payment gateway sync, KOT print delay. Audit them before bill #20.

Day 0 cash close sets the discipline. Use /tools/cash-variance for the close-out math. Note variance reasons in writing — these are tomorrow's training points.

A pattern emerges by Day 7: persistent over-shorts mean dropped covers, persistent over-rings mean cashier nicking. Decide on counter-measures before the leak hits ₹50k/month.

Aggregator settlements lag by 7–10 days and net-of-commission, taxes, insurance, late-cancel deductions. Reconciling early establishes the dispute-window discipline.

Restaurant staff often need weekly or fortnightly cycles. Lock cycle, cut-off, advance policy in writing — verbal commitments cause attrition in week 4.

Day 7 food-cost is always 4–6% above target due to opening waste, recipe drift, supplier teething. A first reading establishes the baseline you measure improvements against.

Frontline staff catch service gaps owners never see. A 30-min retro in week 1 captures the biggest wins; without it those issues become normalised by week 4.

Replying to reviews in week 1 trains the algorithm and the customer base that you read feedback. It changes the review tone within 30 days.

First GST return shapes how the accountant maps your POS data. Get this right and monthly compliance becomes a 30-min job; get it wrong and the next 6 months are reconciliation hell.

Suppliers calibrate to clients in the first month. Structured feedback now (preferred SKUs, reject criteria, delivery window) sets the relationship for the year.

FSSAI licence display is mandatory at the entrance. GST registration certificate display is mandatory at the principal place of business. Most opening checklists miss this until the first inspection.