Restaurant Tycoon 3 Guide: Your first few minutes

A common early mistake is buying furniture and lighting before you have enough staff to handle the customers you already have. Follow this rough spending order: clear walkways and basic seating first, then hire the staff you're short on, then upgrade those staff, then add kitchen equipment, then more seats, and finally decoration and bigger builds. Adding seats too fast means orders and dishes pile up. Only expand seating once your current customers are being handled comfortably.

• Keep all walkways clear chairs and decorations placed in paths stop staff and customers from moving.
• If cooking is slow, hire or upgrade a chef before anything else.
• If service is slow, hire or upgrade a server before anything else.
• Upgrade staff manually from the staff management screen they do not level up on their own.
• Buy kitchen upgrades and then physically place the new equipment purchasing an upgrade alone does not replace the old station.
• Save a cash buffer before any big redesign so you are never caught short when you need staff.

If customers aren't coming in or your income has flatlined, the cause is almost always one specific step that's blocked. Most problems trace back to a walkway that's closed off, a menu with no dishes on it, staff that haven't been manually upgraded, or new equipment that was purchased but never actually placed. Dirty tables with leftover dishes or unpaid bills also stop new customers from being seated at those spots.

• Walkway from the entrance to the tables is fully clear decorations or chairs might be blocking it.
• At least one dish is on your menu customers cannot order from an empty menu.
• Staff have been manually upgraded in the staff management screen.
• Every kitchen upgrade you bought has been placed as a physical station in build mode.
• No tables are stuck with dirty dishes or uncollected bills those seats stay locked until cleared.
• Your staff count can handle your current seat count.