How many staff members should I hire before opening a restaurant?

There is no single staff number that fits every restaurant before opening. In most restaurants, the right team size depends on service style, opening hours, seat count, menu complexity, and how much work the owner plans to cover personally.

Start with the roles you must cover

Before hiring by headcount, define the functions that need to be covered on day one. A small cafe may open with a compact team, while a full-service restaurant usually needs broader front-of-house and kitchen coverage from the start.

• Front of house: host, servers, cashier, bar staff, floor supervisor
• Back of house: head chef or kitchen lead, line cooks, prep staff, dishwashing
• Support: cleaner, stock receiver, or shared utility support if needed

What is a practical starting point?

For a small restaurant, many operators open with a lean team of around 6 to 12 people, including kitchen and service staff. For a cafe or quick-service concept, that number may be lower, while a larger full-service venue or bar with long trading hours may need significantly more.

A useful way to estimate is to match staff to each shift rather than the whole business. If one shift requires 2 kitchen staff, 2 servers, 1 cashier, and 1 dishwasher, you then add coverage for days off, peak periods, and management oversight.

How it is typically planned

Most restaurants build staffing in layers. They first identify the minimum team needed to open safely and serve consistently, then add flexibility for weekends, holidays, and unexpected absence.

• Estimate expected covers per day and busiest trading hours
• List every station that must be staffed during service
• Decide which roles the owner or manager will personally cover at launch
• Add backup capacity for breaks, leave, training, and turnover

Common opening examples

Small cafe

A neighborhood cafe may open with a manager or owner, 1 to 2 baristas, 1 kitchen or prep person, and 1 service or clearing staff member, then add part-time support for rush periods.

Casual restaurant

A casual dine-in restaurant often starts with a kitchen lead, 2 to 3 cooks or prep staff, 2 to 4 servers, 1 cashier or host, and 1 dishwasher, depending on seat count and opening hours.

Bar or cocktail venue

A bar usually needs stronger evening coverage, so staffing often centers on bartenders, floor staff, barbacks, door or host coverage, and cleaning support.

Avoid two common hiring mistakes

Understaffing creates slow service, quality issues, and team burnout. Overstaffing raises payroll pressure before sales patterns are clear. A measured launch team with some part-time flexibility is commonly the safest approach.

If your menu is broad, your kitchen usually needs more prep and station coverage. If your service model is simple and the menu is tight, you can often open with fewer people and scale up after the first few weeks.

Menuviel provides clearer launch planning through structured menus

With Menuviel's centralized menu management, item descriptions, categories, variations, and availability can be organized before opening, which makes it easier to judge how complex service and kitchen prep will be. A clear digital menu also helps teams train faster, especially when different menus, seasonal items, or drink lists need to be managed consistently.