Are you a foodie a good chef, or an entrepreneur interested in any kind of food business? Then you can think of the enormous possibilities of restaurant business ideas.
The restaurant business is not just about opening a restaurant where people come, order food as per the given menu, and eat what is served to them. As a matter of fact, the restaurant business has come far ahead of the conventional ideas of a typical restaurant. Your innovative ideas can get you the desired profit from the restaurant business.
People in most cases love to eat out or order from eateries. Keeping this in mind, you can work on a restaurant business idea that suits you. Your love for food and serving well will get you a good income from your food business.
26 Restaurant Business Ideas
1. Theme Restaurant
Themes are ruling everywhere, in every aspect. Hence a theme restaurant can be a promising restaurant business idea for you. It can be a theme of a particular décor like a fairy tale, Hollywood Movies, Tribal, or Marvel characters. Otherwise, you can have a theme restaurant based on any food genre or region. Your innovative thinking and respective arrangements will get you more clients and more profit.
2. Food Truck
The food truck is an already established concept and a great restaurant business idea. Serve freshly made fast food or any specific kinds of food like Italian, Lebanese, or Chinese, and take your cart to busy areas. Good food will work as word-of-mouth publicity and give you referral business, increasing your profit with time. The food truck is one of the most popular low-budget restaurant business ideas as it does not have to pay space rent.
3. Food Cart
The food cart is a small-scale edition of a food truck and a profitable restaurant business idea. You can station your cart at a fixed place or take it to nearby places. Selling popcorn, ice cream, French fries and other varieties of fast food is a good option for your food cart. Keeping a heating arrangement in the cart is a great idea.
4. Pop-Up Restaurant
The pop-up restaurant is a great restaurant business idea to show your culinary skills and innovative concepts. Such restaurants are operated at temporary locations, but you have plenty of such locations like hosting a special food fair, using a rooftop, a housing complex, or the kitchen of a restaurant during off hours, and so on. You may have a lot of movements in this business, but it is indeed a rewarding business as the returns are high.
5. Waterfront Restaurant
Waterfront Restaurant is an excellent restaurant business idea providing a natural ambiance as well as good food. You can start this type of restaurant on the banks of a river, in front of a lake, or at the beach, wherever the waters are visible from the dining table. God décor and specialty food like local favorite dishes or coastal cuisine can be the trump cards for your business.
6. Family-Style Restaurant
Family-style restaurants are good for large families and are among the most lucrative restaurant business ideas at present. You can start this business with sitting arrangements for large families and having dishes that complement each other. Along with that, the dishes must have quantities so that they can be served to a large number of people within a family.
7. Interactive Restaurant
Interactive restaurants are the modern concept of dining. This type of restaurant lets customers interact with the chef, giving them personal suggestions or preferences and sometimes even preparing their meals in the restaurant kitchen. The kitchen of your restaurant must be open or interactive, where the customers can get in. It gives a different kind of experience to the customers rather than only ordering and eating. The profits from such restaurants are quite high.
8. Vegan Restaurant
Opening a vegan restaurant is a great restaurant business idea. Vegan food and lifestyle are gaining popularity now. Hence this restaurant will fetch you high profits as vegan food is prepared with special care without any kind of animal products and priced high. Popular vegan food includes items like Chickpea and Kale Soup, Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Chowder, Broccoli or Green Pea Fritters, Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Arugula, Vegan Banana Pancakes, etc.
9. Gluten-free Restaurant
Gluten-free food is preferred by a large number of people mainly due to health reasons and sometimes by preference. Hence gluten-free restaurants can be a profitable restaurant business idea for you. Gluten-free food avoids gluten-rich food like wheat and some other grains.
Items like Quinoa Power Salad, Salmon & Asparagus with Lemon-Garlic Butter Sauce, Cabbage Soup, Spinach & Mushroom Quiche, Almond Flour Cake, Roasted Honeynut Squash, Baked Banana-Nut Oatmeal Cups, etc are some of the popular gluten-free dishes.
10. Fast Food Restaurants
Fast food is everyone’s favorite and a fast food eatery is an excellent restaurant business idea. You can make it dining in a restaurant a takeaway center, or home delivery. Either way, it is profitable. Serve popular dishes like burgers, French fries, patties, wraps, pasta, and pizzas, and start making a good profit from the beginning.
11. Japanese Restaurant
Japanese food has gained immense popularity in recent years. That is why opening a Japanese restaurant can be a lucrative restaurant business idea for you. Have a traditional Japanese décor for your restaurant and serve globally popular Japanese dishes like Sushi, Soba and Udon Noodles, Tempura, Miso Soup, etc. Hiring an authentic cook is the key to the success of your restaurant.
12. Food and Entertainment Restaurant
Offer some dose of entertainment like live music, dance, or stand-up comedy in your restaurant and increase profits with time. This concept is a popular and accepted restaurant business idea. Appoint good entertainers and arrange superior food along with cool and comfortable décor for the all-around entertainment of your customers.
13. Seafood Restaurant
Seafood is popular and a dedicated seafood restaurant attracts a lot of food lovers. You can start a seafood restaurant as your restaurant business idea and get high profits. Procure fresh and good quality seafood from authentic vendors to serve the best quality food. Serve popular dishes like Crab Cakes, Oysters Rockefeller, Shrimp Cocktail, Ceviche, Fish Tacos, Paella, Tuna Tartare, etc.
14. Buffet-Only Restaurant
Buffet-only restaurants are preferred by many people and are considered a great restaurant business idea. You can start a buffet-only restaurant in a place that has enough space. Arrange for buffet lunches and dinners serving multiple cuisines like continental, American, Chinese, etc. Authentic food is very important for your buffet-only restaurant. Apart from that, you need to arrange for comfortable sitting arrangements.
15. Juice Bar
The juice bar is a good restaurant business idea and can get you high profits. Serve fresh juices of different types of fruits like orange, watermelon, pineapple, apple, lime, pomegranate, grapes, etc. You can also serve some snacks or bakery items.
16. Open a Café
A café or a coffee shop is also a popular restaurant business idea. It needs a good location, cool décor, and prompt service. Serve good quality coffee with a lot of varieties along with snacks, savories, and baked food. Good crockeries and cutleries are also necessary.
17. Cat Café
Cat cafes are a great attraction for cat lovers and a good restaurant business idea. Here, the customers come, drink coffee, and get the chance to watch several cats playing inside the café. They can also cuddle the cats. It is a place of relaxation and wellness for many people and a profitable business for you. Keep the cats vaccinated, well-fed, and taken good care of.
18. Open an Ice Cream Parlor
There is hardly a person not fond of ice creams. Hence opening an ice cream parlor can be a lucrative restaurant business idea for you. Serve ice creams of reputed brands and a variety of flavors and arrange for prompt service. Cool décor is also necessary.
19. Kids’ Restaurant
Kids have their choice of food and ambiance. That is why opening a kids’ restaurant is a great business idea for you. Pay attention to the décor that must be child-friendly and attractive with posters, motifs, and images of cartoon characters, fairy tales, Marvel characters, etc. Serve food liked by the kids like fast food, ice creams, cakes, pastries, shakes, and juices.
20. Beauty Bar
The beauty bar is a profitable restaurant business idea. It combines the facilities of a salon with a bar. Hence you have to make both arrangements. The décor should be cool and casual with low-key music playing in the background. It provides great comfort and relaxation to your clients fetching high profits for you.
21. Cloud Kitchen
Cloud kitchen is a widespread concept in the restaurant business idea. As an owner of a cloud kitchen, you can rent out parts of the kitchen space to small restaurants that want to expand, food delivery businesses, etc. You will need a large space and all the necessary equipment as an investment for your business. Cloud kitchen business will give you high returns.
22. Food Supply
Food supply is a money-making restaurant business idea. You can start this business by supplying food to individual customers, offices, households, parties, etc. Getting attached to food delivery apps will also get you many orders. Serve good and healthy food with smart packaging for repeat orders.
23. Fine Dining
Give your customers a fine and supreme experience in your fine dining restaurant. It is a high-end restaurant far above the standard restaurants, serving exquisite food. Excellent décor, expensive tableware, and high prices are the specialties of this restaurant business idea. You need to hire an especially skilled chef, serving persons, and other staff for your fine dining restaurant.
24. Farm-to-Table Restaurant
Serving farm-fresh food to customers is a special feature of farm-to-table restaurants. You can open such a restaurant and get good profits from this restaurant business idea. Here you have to get connected to a farmers’ market and buy fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, or dairy and prepare food from them for your customers. Fresh and hygienic food will fetch high prices resulting in profits for you.
25. Open a Pub
The pub is a great restaurant business idea as it is preferred by the younger generation. In a pub, you mainly serve beer, wine, and some other drinks as well as cocktails. Finger food like Fried Mac and Cheese Balls, Stuffed Mushrooms, Whipped Deviled Eggs, Buffalo Cauliflower Bites, Chicken, Buffalo, and Onion Rings are also served. If you have a local brewery, you can take your supply from them for local flavors. Cool décor is also necessary for this business.
26. Barbeque or BBQ Restaurant
Different types of food cooked in fire and smoke, served piping hot, barbeque or BBQ food are preferred by many people around the world. Hence, opening a BBQ restaurant can be one of the best restaurant business ideas for you. You need to have the gadgets and serving utensils for a BBQ restaurant. The main attractions of a BBQ restaurant include Steaks, Slow-cooked ribs, Sausages, Burgers, Pork and Marinated Tofu, and Grilled Bell Pepper Skewers for vegans. You can arrange for outdoor dining too.
Restaurants are sustainable business concepts. You have to find the restaurant business idea that attracts and suits you.
Editorial Team at 99BusinessIdeas is a team of experts led by Rupak Chakrabarty with over 25 years of experience in starting and running small businesses. Started in 2010, 99BusinessIdeas is now one of the largest free small business resources in the industry.