Bistro City beginner's guide: your first 10 levels
In Bistro City, three things matter most at the start: keep at least one cook and one waiter working, build your menu from dishes you can actually make, and keep your restaurant clean. Get those right and customers keep coming, coins keep landing and your level bar keeps filling.
This Bistro City guide walks through how your restaurant works, then gives you a checklist for your first 10 levels.
Game data as of 10 October 2026.
How your restaurant works
Your restaurant earns when customers are seated, cooked for, served and paid, and every meal also gives gourmet points that raise your level. Every customer goes through the same loop:
- A customer walks in and picks a chair.
- They choose a dish from your menu.
- A cook prepares it at a free stove.
- A waiter carries it to the table.
- The customer eats, then pays when the plate is cleared.
Each meal you serve pays coins and gives you gourmet points, which fill your level bar. A dish at level 1 gives 1 gourmet point per meal; every dish level adds 0.2 more.
Your staff
Your staff have three jobs:
- Cook: takes orders and cooks at a stove.
- Waiter: carries finished dishes to tables and clears plates.
- Cleaner: picks up trash around the restaurant.
Work time and rest
Every staff member has work time, which runs down while they work. A rested cook takes about 16 seconds per dish; a tired one takes up to 32 seconds. When work time runs out, that person stops.
Staff who are set to rest recover work time three times faster than they use it, up to a maximum of 4 hours. A resting staff member sleeps in a free bed if you have one, and some beds speed up recovery.
Why your restaurant closes
Your restaurant only opens when at least one cook and one waiter have work time left and are not resting. If either is missing, customers turn away. When you see the closed sign, check your staff first.
How many staff you can hire
| Level | Staff you can have |
|---|---|
| Start | 2 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 |
| 8 | 5 |
| 11 | 6 |
| 14 | 7 |
| 17 | 8 |
| 21 and up | 9 |
Hiring someone also gives you 10 gourmet points.
Choosing your menu
Your menu has four courses: starters, mains, desserts and drinks.
- At the start you serve 1 dish per course.
- From level 10 you can serve 2 per course.
- From level 20 you can serve 3 per course.
- Drinks unlock at level 15.
Pick dishes whose ingredients are easy to get. Onion Soup (onion, garlic, bayleaf) and Garden Salad (salad, tomato, egg) only use one- and two-star ingredients, so they are easy to keep levelling. See how to learn and level up dishes for the details.
Keep it clean
A clean restaurant keeps customers coming: trash makes new customers leave, and dirty plates and broken toilets slow your service. Clear them with staff or by clicking them yourself.
- Trash drives customers away. The more trash on the floor, the more likely a new customer leaves. A cleaner picks it up, or you can click it yourself.
- Clear plates yourself when your waiters are busy: click a plate and it is cleared in a few seconds.
- Toilets: from level 8, some customers need the toilet after eating. Toilets can break; click a broken one to fix it.
Clearing plates, fixing toilets and repairing items by hand all count towards trophies.
Levelling up
Gourmet points come from five sources:
| Source | Gourmet points |
|---|---|
| Serving a meal | 1 at dish level 1, up to 2.8 at dish level 10 |
| Learning and levelling up a dish | 25 for learning, then 50 to 800 per level-up |
| Hiring a staff member | 10 |
| Trading an ingredient | Equal to the rarity of the ingredient you give (1–5) |
| Helping a friend's restaurant | Up to 15 per help |
Each new level can give you a bigger room, more staff, more dishes per course and, from level 6, garden plots. The full table is in the Bistro City level table.
Daily habits that pay off
Four quick daily habits keep coins, points and ingredients coming in: the food quiz, helping friends, the market and your garden.
- Answer the daily food quiz. You have 10 seconds; a right answer wins an ingredient.
- Help friends' restaurants. Fix a fire, a leak or another problem. The first friend you help each day pays 500 coins, the second 100, the next three 50 each, and after that 15.
- Check the market for the ingredients your dishes need.
- Water your garden once you reach level 6.
Your first 10 levels checklist
In your first 10 levels, focus on keeping the restaurant open, levelling a few cheap dishes and building daily habits. Work through this list in order:
- Hire your first staff and give them a cook and a waiter job.
- Put one dish on each course and keep it on the menu.
- Learn your first new dish as soon as you have its ingredients.
- Level up a cheap dish a few times for the one-off bonus points.
- Place a table and chairs near the stove so waiters walk less.
- Keep the floor clean, or assign a cleaner.
- Rest staff before they run out, so the restaurant stays open.
- Answer the daily quiz every day.
- Visit and help friends for coins and points.
- At level 6, plant your first seed in the garden.
Next, read Bistro City ingredients and trading to keep your kitchen stocked.
New to the game? Start with what Bistro City is.
FAQ
Why is my restaurant closed?
Your restaurant only opens when at least one cook and one waiter have work time left and are not resting. Wait for them to recover, or give the job to another staff member.
How do I get more staff?
The number of staff you can hire grows with your level, from 2 at the start to a maximum of 9 from level 21.
What is the fastest way to earn gourmet points early on?
Keep your restaurant open and serving, and level up your dishes. Learning a dish and each level-up give a one-off bonus, from 25 up to 800 points.