- F2P layout uses 7 tables with 6 stools each for the optimal free customer floor.
- Carbon industrial dishwashers beat titanium washers for value; place four around the base.
- One dedicated waiter fills coffee only; turn fill coffee off on everyone else.
- Food pantry milestone reward belongs next to the stoves so every NPC stays in range.
- Roof check: if the roof won't place, a wall or window is missing somewhere.
F2P Layout Overview: Customer Floor
The best Run a Restaurant F2P layout keeps everything the customer touches on one floor, with the kitchen boxed in behind walls and windows so NPCs never wander astray. Start with seven tables — the proven sweet spot for free-to-play players — then ring every table with six stools so no arriving customer is left standing.
Video Highlights:
- Full free-to-play floor build from tables to final walls
- Seven-table optimal seating using only free stools
- Coffee machine placement so waiters refill mid-route
- Farm and ranch automation settings for 7 staff
- Cash register plus fossil tip-jar exit loop
The core zones break down like this:
| Zone | Key Items | Placement Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Seating | 7 tables, 6 stools each | Central floor, evenly spaced |
| Washing | 4 carbon industrial dishwashers | One per corner of the base |
| Host stands | 1–2 host stations | Central position if only one |
| Coffee | 2 coffee machines | Middle of the floor, near waiters |
| Checkout | Cash register, tip jars, fossils | Right beside the exit door |
Seven or eight tables is the tested optimum for free-to-play. Every table needs six stools — customers without a seat stall your entire income loop.
Kitchen Setup: Stoves, Fridges, and Staff Stats
Place titanium stoves (or rusty stoves if you're brand new — free-to-play is about your level) on the golden platforms: line up stoves facing the serving stand so chefs grab ingredients from the fridge and cook almost instantly. Four professional fridges go around the stove cluster, and the food pantry milestone reward — the easiest of the three milestone rewards to earn — sits right beside the stoves so its range bubble covers every worker.
The single most important staff setting: only your last-unlocked (seventh) waiter should have fill coffee set to priority high. Turn fill coffee off on every other waiter. If you only have six staff unlocked, keep coffee on for everyone until the seventh arrives.
| Equipment | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Titanium stoves | 6–7 | Sixth and seventh face the serving stand |
| Professional fridges | 4 (floor) | Direction doesn't matter, flow looks cleaner |
| Food pantry | 1 | Middle, next to stoves |
| Prop kitchens | 3 | Black Market spawn, roughly 250k each |
| Carbon dishwashers | 4 | Two titanium ≈ four carbon in throughput |
Box the kitchen in completely with walls and windows. If NPCs can path into the kitchen or around cookers, they go astray and your flow collapses. A missing roof piece means a wall placement is wrong.
Farm and Ranch Automation
Build a second floor above the base: fill the lower level with fridges for storage, then construct the farm on top. A proven starter split is three rows of wheat, four to five rows of corn, a greenhouse, and coffee filling the middle — you generally need more corn than wheat. Place fridges in a three-by-three grid pattern between crop rows so farmers never walk far. Add a large sprinkler in the center, offset one block so the corn edges stay covered.
For the ranch, face two animal feeders toward each other, start with nine chickens and fill the rest with cows, then adjust based on which stockpile runs low. Wall the ranch off entirely and leave one opening so the rancher loops between fridge and animals nonstop.
| Worker | Target | Priority Settings |
|---|---|---|
| Farmer 1 | All crops | Harvest/store high, coffee beans on |
| Farmer 2 | All crops | Same as farmer 1 |
| Farmer 3 | Wheat | Store ingredients low |
| Farmer 4–5 | Corn | Store ingredients low |
| Lead rancher | All animals | Every task enabled |
| Other ranchers | — | All tasks off; lead handles everything |
There is no perfect fixed animal count — it depends on what you've unlocked. Stress test your farm: if eggs pile up, swap chickens for cows, and vice versa.
Step-by-Step Build Order
Follow this order to avoid rework — building tables first and walls last prevents blocking your own placement.
Customer Floor
Place 7 tables, add 2 coffee machines in the middle, then ring all tables with 6 stools each.
Kitchen Core
Add 6–7 stoves facing the stand, 4 fridges, the food pantry beside the stoves, and 4 carbon dishwashers around the base.
Staff Settings
Copy stats across all staff; disable fill coffee on everyone except the last-unlocked waiter, who gets fill coffee priority high.
Walls, Windows, Roof
Wall the exterior following the stool line, box in dishwashers with windows, add an industrial doorway, then confirm the roof places.
Exit Loop
Put the cash register beside the door, line up fossils, and place tip jars in a boxed-in corridor so customers pay and tip on the way out.
Upper Floor
Fill the lower level with fridges, build the farm on top, then add the walled-off ranch with feeders facing each other.
F2P vs Pay-to-Win Comparison
F2P Setup
- 7 tables, free stools
- 4 carbon dishwashers
- Slower but steady income
- No gamepass zones required
P2W Setup
- Expansion zone space
- 2 titanium dishwashers ≈ 4 carbon
- Faster cooking throughput
- Higher upfront cost
Hybrid Approach
- F2P floor layout
- Add titanium washers later
- Move layout forward with expansion
- Best long-term value
If you own the expansion pack, simply shift the entire layout forward — the free-to-play design ports over with minimal changes. Prop kitchens from the Black Market (rare center-of-map spawns, roughly every 3 hours, about 250k) slot in next to fridges to boost the kitchen; even three make a visible difference.
A well-built free-to-play layout pushes a few thousand per cycle with near-instant dish pickup, chefs grabbing ingredients within one block, and dishwashers keeping pace — strong output for zero spend.
Leave one wall opening near the dishwasher corner. Cleaners path faster from any angle, and removing a single wall saves them an extra stud per trip.
F2P Layout Checklist:
- Place 7 tables with 6 stools each
- Install 4 carbon industrial dishwashers
- Set fill coffee off on all but the seventh waiter
- Unlock and place the food pantry milestone reward
- Complete walls, windows, doorway, and roof
- Build the fridge-storage floor and upper farm
- Set up the fossil and tip-jar exit corridor
FAQ
Q: How many tables should a free-to-play Run a Restaurant layout use?
Seven tables is the tested optimum for free-to-play, with eight also viable. Each table needs six stools so every customer has a seat and your seating loop never stalls.
Q: Should I buy titanium dishwashers for the F2P layout?
Not necessarily. The titanium dishwasher buff is very small, so four carbon industrial dishwashers around the base deliver similar total throughput for far less cost. Two titanium washers roughly equal four carbon ones.
Q: Which staff member should fill the coffee machines?
Only your last-unlocked (seventh) waiter, with fill coffee set to priority high. Turn fill coffee off on all other staff so they focus on serving. If you have six or fewer staff, leave coffee on for everyone.
Q: How do I get prop kitchens in the free-to-play layout?
Prop kitchens spawn rarely at the Black Market in the center of the map, potentially every 3 hours, and cost about 250k. Place them beside your fridges; even three improve kitchen efficiency noticeably.