You've completed the opening tutorial. You have $7,500 in the bank and a ton of options in front of you. What now? Only you can really decide what your restaurant will turn out like in the days to come, but here are a few pointers in getting the most buzz out of your first few days. (Buzz is the method of driving traffic into your restaurant, so that 40-60% buzz or higher will result in many customers throughout the day, whereas buzz below 20% will result in very few customers).

Before we buy foods, we need to understand the ideas behind Boosters and Detractors. While buzz is built by maintaining perfect orders throughout the day, you can also boost up buzz considerably via Flex Buzz, which is buzz that is added and detracted during certain times of the day depending on what's on your Active Menu. Let's take a look at some of the more important Boosters and Detractors you'll need to keep an eye out for when buying foods:

Afternoon Delight - A great way to add buzz during slow afternoon hours, however with only a 2.5% increase of buzz you'll need to add a few of these foods with this Booster on your Active Menu to really make a difference.


Morning Aroma- That delicious smell of fish in the morning doesn't appeal to everyone, ya know. Having a food with this Detractor will cause a -5% dip in buzz from opening through noon. You can offset this with some Breakfast foods, however those aren't available until your first star, so plan accordingly.

Work Liquor- detracts -5% buzz for the entire day due to complaints of alcohol in a professional business tower. Only Beer and Wine suffer from this detractor, but due to the ease of serving for Beers and the potential money from Wines (when upgraded), it's a hit worth taking.


Rainy Companion- boosts up buzz during the rainy afternoon hours. Because this Booster only goes into effect during a rainy day, it's impossible to plan future buzz opportunities with it. You shouldn't necessarily take this Booster into account when buying a food due to the unpredictability of weather. Still, when it does rain, take advantage with any bought food that does have this Booster!

Late Night Chow- A nice 5% buzz boost for the evenings after your dinner rush hour. This is a great way to close out the day and the potential buzz that can be had with just a few of these foods on your Active Menu can be quite big!


Munchies- This food is never ordered during Rush Hours. While that doesn't really affect you when you only have one of these foods on your menu, it can be a major disaster if you have 2-3 of these on an Active Menu at once, as Rush Hours are prime money making opportunities.


Fatty McFats and Health Nuts- Two of the biggest buzz boosters/detractors you can have on your Active Menu. In order for these to kick in, you'll need two Health Nut foods or greater and three Fatty McFats foods or greater. The buzz lasts all day, and you can easily gain (or lose) 20% buzz with careful menu planning!


Staple Foods and Menu Rot- it's always good to have at least 3 staple foods purchased, as foods with Menu Rot will need to be taken off the Active Menu after two days or suffer -5% buzz. The downside to Staple foods are that they provide lower income than most foods (the exceptions being Soups and Wines when upgraded).

Creating the very first day of your restaurant can be quite a monumental task, so let's break down what you have to start with:

• $7,500 in starting funds.
  
  
• 30% buzz boost for the first few days, which will help deter any bad performance or poor menu planning.
  
  
• Three major kitchen equipment purchases available, which opens up more foods to buy.

There's no real right or wrong way to build up your menu. It really all depends on what you want: an easy menu to ease into the basics, or purchasing foods that have many upgrades and will stay with you well into the future. However there are some factors you should consider:

• Be careful in placing too many fatty foods together. This will result in the "Fatty McFats" detractor on your menu.
  
  
• Try to purchase at least one staple item. Menu rot can be a problem for early restaurants who don't have too many foods to replace them with.
  
  
• Try not to put more than one deep fried food on the Active Menu at a time- they can take a while to make and can be quite fatiguing to make for the entire day.
  
  
• You'll notice the flex buzz boosters during parts of the day- this will be a big factor in bringing in crowds once your initial 30% buzz boost wears off.
  
  
• Try to diversify as much as possible for your opening menu. Don't feel the need to spend all your funds as more equipment will open up in the first few days.
  
  
• Be sure to try out foods before purchasing to see how difficult they may be!

You'll also notice with each food page you can view the Boosters and Detractors on the left, as well as view the upgrade path of the food by clicking the top right icons. Upgrades will gradually be unlocked to purchase throughout the course of the game.

There's always something happening in Cook, Serve, Delicious! each day, whether it's a new upgrade, new equipment, new events or new opportunities. Here's some guidance for the first few days:

Tip Jars and Table Snacks- Buy these immediately when offered! They increase customer patience and allow for more income during the day. If you're still having problems with customers leaving before being waited on, you can move on to other equipment purchases that help alleviate this problem such as Air Conditioning.

Crazy Dave's Bets- During the game you'll receive the opportunity to put $300 down for a Crazy Dave bet. These are challenges that task you with putting certain foods on the menu and making a certain number of combos. They're geared to beginners/intermediate players, but be warned- if you lose the bet, you also lose the $300! Win, and you'll double your money. It's your call!



CookBets- These randomized bets require a silver ticket to enter, and once unlocked (during the eighth day of the game) will grant three silver tickets to the user. You can earn more by going on dates (later in the game), getting some via random emails, or buying them directly in the Equipment menu once you reach three stars. Warning: these are meant for advanced players only, and can be extremely difficult! They are randomized each day but are skewed to be challenging. Good luck, because you're gonna need it.


Robberies- These can be a major hassle to deal with, resulting in stolen funds and decreased buzz for the next day if you don't catch the robber in time! To do so, you'll need to draw a picture matching the description of the robber. To practice this event, select "Practice Chores" in the Gallery/Tutorials menu option. It will be the very last chore to practice. (Handy tip: robbers only strike when security is the most lax at 10am, 11am and 9:30 pm.)


There's quite a bit more that happens during your career as a Chef... going on dates, funding projects via ClicknStart, Catering Events, being on the Iron Cook television show, and some secret events... but hopefully this guide has helped you make the tough early decisions of building your restaurant. Good luck!