The Sims 2: Nightlife/Restaurants

The restaurant system is a new concept introduced in The Sims 2: Nightlife. This page will discuss how to build your own restaurant and how to dine out.

Building a Restaurant
A restaurant is not a specific type of lot but is instead a group of objects on any community lot. They can only be built on community lots. To build a restaurant all you need is If any of these objects are missing from the lot, the host podium will have an under construction sign on it. If you have all these objects than you have a restaurant, but keep these tips in mind:
 * 1) Host Podium
 * 2) Community Stove
 * 3) Tables/Islands
 * 4) Chairs/Barstools
 * Have lots of space between your furniture. Too many objects can cause clogging and traffic jams.
 * Have a separate room for the kitchen and keep the path free from objects
 * Booths can be built but make sure they're not built around one-tile tables
 * You only need one podium and one stove, regardless of how many tables you have.

Restaurant Staff
Here is an overview of each staff member and how they work in the restaurant.


 * Waitor/Waitress- Takes your sims order and delivers food. When ordering your sim will socialise with the server and gain relationship points. this will continue until you place an order. Be careful not to have a negative relationship with him or her because if you do there is a chance that they might 'accidentally' drop your order on you. Having food dropped on you causes a memory and decreases a relationship further.


 * Host/Hostess- Escorts your sim to a table. With a high relationship with the host there is a chance that he or she may comp part of or the whole cost of the meal. When your done, click on him or her to pay for the meal


 * Chef- Cooks your meal. You can not socaialise with him at all. He is only there to cook.

Dining at a Restaurant
This section provides a quick overview of how to dine out properly. To begin, click on the host podium and select Be Seated or Be Seated at counter How your seated depends on whether your in a group, on a date or just by yourself.


 * If your Sim arrives by himself, he will be seated alone. This occurs even if there are other household members on the lot.
 * If your Sim is on date, both Sims will be seated together.
 * If your Sim is in a group, they will either
 * Be seated on a large enough table
 * Be seated between two tables
 * Be seated side by side on a counter
 * Or be rejected if there is not enough room

Once your Sim has been seated the waitor will arrive and take your sims order. As stated above, he or she converse with your sim and increases relationship points with them. There are several self-explanatory options on him. Ordering chef's choice orders each Sim's favourite food. For restaurant purposes, every Sim is assigned a favourite food that is indicated in a thought bubble. The following is a list of restaurant food. It includes some exclusive foods as well: Note that this is not the full range of possible food on The Sims 2.
 * Baked Alaska
 * Chili Con Carne
 * Crepes Suzzete
 * Filet Mignon
 * Fried Chicken
 * Hamburger
 * Cake
 * Lime Seared Pawns
 * Lobster Thermidor
 * Mac and Cheese
 * Nectarine Tartlette
 * Omelette
 * Pork Chops
 * Grilled Ribs
 * Salad
 * Salmon
 * Spaghetti

While dining, you have access to several dining socials. These are not exclusive to restaurants. For full deatails see New Socials Previously, when sims dined on a meal, they would finish the meal no matter how full the other needs were. Now there is a chance that a sim could fall asleep in their food if the energy need is low enough. This is embarrasing and can lower a date score.

When you've finished dining click on the waitor, the host or the host podium to pay for the cost of the meal. However if you don't want to pay for the meal, you can attempt to scam the restaurant out of their food. Firstly click on the host podium while your sim is still eating and select Skip Out on Bill. For a head start, make sure the host is busy before pulling the scam. Next you have to stay away from your host for forty-five seconds. If the host gets close enough to your sim then he or she has been busted. They have to pay and lose relationship points with the host. To confuse the host click away from him and select Go Here, then cancel the interaction and tell your sim to go to another area. This will confuse the host as he reacts to where the sim is going, not where he or she is. Alternatively, if your sim is the opposite sex of the host, then they can hide in the bathroom. Hosts won't go into the opposite genders bathroom. Not even to catch a scammer