GTA Restaurant Business

Ideas for Restaurant Business in GTA.


GTA  Ideas for first Restaurant Job.
Our protagonist may start a job working at the restaurant, there will be probably just five jobs at each restaurant to start with.  Each job in order of pay starts with the lowest being the dishwasher.  




Next would be the waiter, (or two waiters), then the chef, then manager, who later is replaced by the matradee or host, who takes calls and bookings finally the owner who is the sleeping partner who technically earns the most money because he has nothing to do in the business. 


"Button Pressing Hero" Sequences.
I can hear you saying, this is supposed to be like GTA, but you have got me doing jobs and pressing button sequences. Well, button pressing sequences was in CJ's San Andreas with the low-rider and the disco side missions and then recently in The Ballad of Gay Tony.  


I never thought that I would enjoy doing the dance sequences, (since I am not keen on "Controller Hero", (Oh sorry, I mean "Guitar Hero"). Look it is not a damn guitar! Can't anyone see that!   It's not like you would be able to play a real guitar after using it. 


The best version of this would be the drum-kit. would that be "Drum Hero"? Rather than pressing colored buttons on a guitar shaped controller, you can actually hit colored pads laid out just like a set of drums. A lot more realistic!


This is why I know people will have a lot of fun doing the button pressing sequences, because it is very similar to "Controller Hero", (and a lot of people are addicted to "Guitar Hero", including my own kids). We could have the radio playing any of your favorite music, in any of those situations, to keep you in time! Happy?


Dish-Washer.
So you start as a dishwasher, and just as you get started you receive a call from a new contact you have made. Similar to how Tony Montana got started in Scar-face. This new contact offers you a job unloading a ship at the dockside. We will cover this in another article.


If you take this job it will interfere with your restaurant work, you will get the sack, [you will not be able to work for this restaurant owner for one month], but you really should take the job, because the pay is to good to pass up.  However, we will ignore this offer of work at the docks for now and just concentrate on the types of jobs available in the restaurant for this article.


Working in the restaurant.  
Starting as a dishwasher, the work could be portrayed by a button pressing sequence, similar to  that when dancing, or just like the BMX bike fixing style in the game Bully .  

I am showing this video as an example of working activity, via a pressing buttons sequence, although I do not personally like the spinning toggles action.












The plates washing sequence would play just like the dancing does in G.T.A. The Ballad of Gay Tony.  Where Luis Lopez dances, to a button pressing sequence . 














Just listen to this example button sequence, so that you know exactly what I'm trying to say.
[Red, blue, blue, green,. Red, blue, blue, green. Red, blue, blue, green. Red, blue, blue, green].
Next the dish-washing sequence would speed up slightly, as you progress to the next sequence.  
[Red, blue, green, blue. Red, blue, green, blue. Red, blue, green, blue. Red, blue, green, blue].     

Sorry, I'm nearly done, bare with me!


Next the dish-washing sequence would speed up slightly again, as you progress to the next more difficult sequence. [Red, blue, green, green, blue. Red, blue, green, green, blue. Red, blue, green, green, blue. Red, blue, green, green, blue]. 


While still pressing these buttons our protagonist is shown in animation, taking plates from a dirty pile on the left, scraping the left-overs off into a slops bin, washing the plates in the sink, and placing them in a clean a pile on the right. If you make a mistake when pressing the buttons, you fumble and nearly drop a plate if one button is pressed wrong, or drop the plate and smash it if two buttons are pressed wrongly. 


If you can cat back into sequence by the third button, then you can continue, but get the third button wrong and you go into a cut-scene of you sweeping up the broken crockery and putting it in the bin. You must then restart the sequence at the slowest speed. 


You also have the option to stop whenever you want within the sequence by pressing red, red, red, in time, within the sequence. This is easy to do and will not result in you dropping the plate, although you will fumble on the first red.  The second and third red confirm that you want to stop dish-washing. The button sequences file code, just needs to have no button sequences in it that have red, red, red. or red, red. OK!


You little dish-washer you!
Obviously this is not a nice job, our protagonist does not want to be doing it for long. And so we  will want to train up someone as soon as possible to do the work for us.  We do this by taking a new person along and getting him to help us.  When you start dish-washing, with someone by your side, that person starts to learn the job.  


You start the dish-washing again in exactly the same way, pressing buttons in sequence, and your character starts doing the dish-washing animation again.  This time however, the person by your side starts drying the dishes that are on the right and places them on the rack behind him.  


If you can get through the whole sequence without breaking the plates, then you have  successfully trained the new worker.  If you break any plates, to a certain degree, the new worker can still be trained, but he will break the same amount of plates that you broke.  


Workers, in all types of jobs, keep their skills learned, in their skills stats. So, you might be lucky to find people, (unemployed pedestrians), that already have the skills you need. The skill level can be represented by the level of button sequences achieved. 


If there are "six" sequences of buttons in the dish-washer job, and you find a person or train a person to level "three" before you break a plate, and if then you are happy with this level, you should hire them and they will work to this level each time before breaking a plate, then stop to clean it up, and then start dish-washing again. 


Drying works in the same way as washing, (only with different sequences of buttons to press), and you can set the workers to schedule: wash then dry, wash then dry, over and over.  They will wash till they stop for some reason, either a breakage or running out of plates, or come to the full extent of the "six" max buttons sequence. Then they will shift to the next scheduled item of drying.  


The last job to do is empty the bins, but this should just be, stand near the bin and you get an option to empty bin. 'Yes or No', if yes you pull out the bin-liner, now you need to manually walk it to the bins outside and standing near the bin, another  option says, throw in bin. This can be the same for 'bodies', or 'guns', or 'bags of money or jewelry'. Anything you are carrying in your hands or over your shoulder!


Scarface.
Scar-face was released in 1983 directed by Brian De Palma.
Oliver ‘F-beep’ Stone ‘F-beep’ wrote the ‘F-beep’ thrilling, expletive-packed ‘F-beep’ screenplay.
The groundbreaking cult film starred Al Pacino as Tony Montana, whose intelligence, guts, and ambition help him rise up from a dishwasher to being the head of his own criminal empire. Tony’s eventual paranoia and love of excess proved to be his undoing and he lost everything. 


Teamwork makes the dream work!  
Working in the restaurant is the waiter perhaps two or more if needed. A waiter gives out the menu's, takes drinks orders, returns with the drinks, takes the food order and takes that order to the chefs counter. When the food is ready, he takes the food to the table, perhaps he even takes more drinks or bottled-wine orders from the table.  


There may even be a second course and, or dessert.  when the patrons have finished their meal, the waiter collects the plates from the tables and takes them back into the kitchen and places them to your left to be washed.  


Carrying plates and trays of drinks. The challenge can be similar to those toggle-balancing skills you have to complete in Assassins Creed, where you have to balance on a beam, only that here, we are balancing a tray, or up to three plates at a time in our arms, walking them through an obstacle course  of tables and guests and setting them down on the correct table.


Finances.
I have based my initial costings on only one sitting at each table per evening, although if guests leave and free up a table, the table can be reset and new diners sat to eat, with the last sitting being 9pm so that they have time to eat their meal. 10pm is closing time, but the doors are locked at 9 to 9.15pm, since this is the last time people can be sat down for a meal.


The Matradee may still answer the phone, because calls might come in for a table for another evening. This is why the planner style of the Matradee's book is required. We could even have the Matradee working from 11am to man the phone. (I don't know yet).


The waiters should also have to set the tables, This is also done with a button pressing sequence, similar to the dish-washing.  I have an idea for the way drinks and food orders are taken, just for the purpose of learning the job and teaching others. It is only a short lived job for you, but it teaches you how things are done.


Drinks and Food Orders.
Drinks and food orders are given to the waiter at the table, similar to the usual button pressing sequence. However the sequence has a delay that you have to remember.  You would get a call at a table. When you approach you get asked if you would like to take the order, (this is only to make sure you are ready to watch and study the sequence that will play as soon after you press the x button), to say; "yes, can I take your order please"?


You would then get the sequence something like; [Red, blue, green, green, yellow, blue, red]. Then you would have to go to the bar or cooks counter and press the same sequence. The cook or the barman would start to prepare the order, drinks take one minute each, meals take three minutes each. (This is seconds in real time), per diner.


Everyone who works in the restaurant has to work together.   
The Matradee, is the main person who unlocks the door and greets the guests. Sometimes pedestrians will come in off the street, but if they are not dressed accordingly, the Matradee will not let them in.  The Matradee will also take calls when people ring to make a booking reservation. Reservations can be made for other evenings.


Dress Code;
No jeans, trainers, plym-soles, golf-shoes, boots, T-shirts, hats. All VIPs must have, males, penguin-suit and females, evening-dress and high heels. All others, males, black trouser with any color evening jacket, shirt with tie and shoes. Females should still wear evening dress, or a skirt and blouse. Nothing slutty, no prostitute dress style.


Telephone Reservations : The way the calls work.
The phone rings and the Matradee answers.  The customer on the phone will ask if there's any tables available asking for either VIP1, VIP2, or Ordinary Table, (by number).  [This works just like the way the mobile phone works in G.T.A. currently, when one of your friends calls you to ask if you'd like to go on a date.   They wait for the reply, by waiting for you to press a button for yes or no].


The Matradee's reservations book opens and the reservation asked for, is highlighted against the relevant table number on the evening requested.  If the reservation is for the same evening, the Matradee will put a sign "Reserved" on the table asked for. If the reservation is for another evening the reservation will show in the book.


Reservation Unavailable.
I would like the highlight to blink if there is already another reservation for that table. The Matradee can (you select another table or time offer), say that the time and table requested is unavailable, but that he has got table 3 at 9pm.   


The Matradee.  
Next, if you are the Matradee, you will need to use the 'look toggle lever' to look around the restaurant for free tables.  If there are free tables, then you need to answer "yes" in reply. Obviously, if there are no tables, or if you have a cue of people waiting, that would use up the tables, [then because those people have been waiting, they would take precedence over the phone call reservation], and you would answer "no" to the phone reservation.


To be, or not to be. (In your seat at the restaurant).
When a table is reserved, a name of the caller gets written in the Matradee's book against a table number. If the Matradee gets stood up, it is up to you as the Matradee to remember the callers name in case the caller does it again. Everyone deserves a second chance, but one way for others to cause trouble for your business is to make false reservations.


If people have a reservation, then they will come into the restaurant through the reservations door within 60 minutes from the phone call. The Matradee must give the people with reservations priority over everything else, even if the phone is ringing, or if people are at the door waiting to come in. 


Locked Out.
The door to the restaurant for people "without reservations" is locked so that the people cannot enter.   They have to wait outside of the door till they have been inspected for correct appearance.  Upgrades to the restaurants and shops, are for an apron to be placed outside of the shop or restaurants to protect the customers waiting outside against rain.  


The people without reservations, will enter the restaurant at the other side. The Matradee would greet them, and sit them down in the waiting area where the waiter will given a menu and bring them drinks from the bar, [or coffee],  and take their food order.  My own idea, is that the waiting area has two booths, for people to wait and have drinks.  


An idea for a larger upgraded restaurant is a 24 table layout, seating 6 diners at each. Two of the tables are $100 per head VIP anything on the menu, others are 2 at $80, 2 at $60, 5 at $50, 4 at $40, 9 at $30, The layout is complete with Ladies and Gents toilets Ballad of Gay Tony style.


Start Small.
In the basic starter version, the restaurant starts off small, laid out with main entrance at the front and seating for the people waiting for a table with ladies and gents toilets off to each side.   The waiting area leads back into the main restaurant area.  The restaurant area could have six tables set around a slightly raised stage in the center that has a grand piano for a musician to entertain the guests.  


Later the restaurant could be upgraded to 24 tables. At the other side is a cocktail bar drinks lounge.  It's for use after the guests have had their meal, or for people with reservations.  People with reservations, always come dressed in the right attire.


Again, more upgrades can be available to the restaurant business, that being the addition of the piano and pianist and even the opening of the cocktail lounge.  The pianist is not just a fixture, he could be the next group of five workers, that are upgrades as and when you upgrade the premises.  


Ideas for the next five workers!  
Two cocktail barman, one Concierge, a Footman in the males toilets, [like the one in G.T.A. Ballard of Gay Tony], a Barman in the waiting area drinks bar.


Two cocktail barmen, who can juggle with bottles, mixers and drinks glasses.  Again, you would have to train these guys yourself, and this would work in a similar way, to the way the dish-washing and dancing control works.  You would have to learn this skill working for someone else at a cocktail bar. 

This is a prime example of what you can expect to have to learn to be able to operate a business successfully in the game world.  


The Concierge.  
The Concierge, would be dressed in a red tunic, and stand outside on the pavement to greet and open car doors. The Concierge and the waiter are the two people who mainly get tips, whereas the Matradee may be considered too posh to tip.  


Casino.  
The next upgrade would be to add the casino, with roulette, poker, backgammon, craps-table and of course the cashier. That's five more people.  It would be considered a separate business, but only be available to you, if you have a restaurant up and running first.       



Notes:-
The Concierge; is an employee, either a man or a woman who lives on the premises of an apartment building or a hotel, and serves guests with duties similar to those of a Butler.  The term Concierge evolved from the French Comte Des Cierges, [ the keeper of the gate or keeper of the candles ]. In medieval times, the Concierge was an officer of the King who was charged with executing justice, with the help of his bailiffs.  


The Matradee; is an employee, either a man or a woman who is in charge of taking reservations and seating people at fancier, more upscale restaurants. They also will sometimes list off the specials of the day.

Niko.

If the LISTEN NOW LINK is not working or unavailable, then

CLICK THIS LINK to open the recordings page and
SELECT THE POST you want to listen to, from the list.

Article © AndyGold 2011, all other material used like but not limited to images and video, is copyright to either its creator or originator or is used under a creative commons / public domain license.