Opening a restaurant or café? Everything to print before day one

The weeks before a restaurant opens are chaos. Kitchen equipment, licences, hiring, the menu tasting, the interior contractor who is always one more day away. Print and packaging tend to get left until the end, and then everything is ordered in a rush from whoever can do it fastest.

This checklist is here so that doesn’t happen. Go through it early, tick what you need, and order it together.

On the table

• Napkins. Tissue napkins for casual dining, airlaid for a premium table. Our napkin guide compares them.
• Cutlery pouches if you lay tables in advance
• Coasters, especially if you serve drinks
• Placemats. Paper placemats double as a menu or a story about the place.
• Table tents for specials, Wi-Fi details or a feedback QR code
• Refreshing towels for after the meal

Menus

• Dine-in menus. A menu book for full service, a single card for a café
• Takeaway menus and flyers for the neighbourhood
• Drinks and dessert menus if they change more often than the main one

Print menus on a heavier stock with a lamination or coating, because they get handled every day. Keep a little room for the prices and dishes you will inevitably change in the first month.

Counter and takeaway

• Cups for coffee, tea and cold drinks. See single-wall vs double-wall cups.
• Takeaway bags in two or three sizes
• Food boxes for whatever travels: burgers, pizza, noodles, salads
• Greaseproof paper for wraps and trays
• Stickers for sealing bags and labelling boxes

If delivery is a big part of the plan, read delivery packaging that survives the ride.

Cups and bags in one look. Brand shown is a sample.

Front of house and billing

• Bill books and KOT pads if you aren’t fully digital
• Bill folders for the table
• Visiting cards for the owner and manager
• Feedback cards or a printed QR card

Signage and the opening

• Standees and posters for the entrance
• Opening invites for friends, family, neighbours and local press
• Flyers for nearby offices and housing societies
• Sunboard signs for the menu board or the washrooms

Team

• Aprons for the kitchen and bar
• T-shirts or polos for service staff
• Caps for the kitchen
• ID cards if you need them

How to order it without the chaos

Finalise your logo first. Everything else depends on it. If you only have a rough version, send it anyway. We’ll set it up properly. See how to prepare your logo for print.

Order the whole set together. One quote, one mockup of everything, one GST invoice. The colours match because the same people set up and check every piece. This is most of what we mean by you run the business, we handle the branding.

Start with sensible quantities. You don’t know your real numbers until you’ve been open a few weeks. Order enough to open with and reorder once you know what moves. Your files stay on file, so the reorder is one message.

Leave time. Don’t make printed packaging the last thing on the list. Get the mockups done while the kitchen is being fitted. We confirm the delivery date in your quote, once you approve the mockup.

Opening soon? WhatsApp us at +91 98210 32163 with your logo and the opening date. We’ll send a list of what we’d suggest for your kind of place, with a mockup. Or browse the restaurant and café starter sets.