44 Unique Restaurant Ideas to Inspire Your Theme or Concept (2022) – On the Line | Toast POS
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What does it take to be a successful restaurateur?
For starters, it takes hustle, thick skin, and an endless amount of creativity. And with more restaurants than ever before for guests to choose from, that last one can make or break you.
With so many restaurants out there today and new ones popping up all the time, you have to ask yourself: How can I make my restaurant stand out? What can I do to get people excited? It all comes back to great ideas. When you tap into your creativity — and stay true to your values and vision — you can grab guests’ attention and keep them coming back for more.
To get you feeling inspired as you embark on your journey to opening a restaurant, we’ll share 44 ideas to create an unforgettable restaurant concept, with examples of real restaurants that have cracked the code to creativity. But before we do that, let’s hear from real restaurant industry folks on the inspiration behind their businesses.
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Restaurant Floor Plan Templates
Use these restaurant floor plan templates to get inspired as you map, or reimagine, the layout and space setup for your restaurant.
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Real Restaurateurs Share Ideas That Inspired Them
Great ideas and concepts might get you far in the restaurant industry, but they’re nothing without that initial spark of inspiration. Without that spark and the fire that comes with it, you might not have what it takes to push through the very real challenges involved in opening and running a restaurant.
Many times, restaurant owners are fueled by universal goals and passions, like building a strong sense of community, providing for their families, and creating new opportunities. To understand what made them decide to embark on this journey, we asked restaurant owners to take a moment to reflect. Here are the reasons — short and to the point — why they opened a restaurant.
“Our chef, Douglass Williams, opened this restaurant to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a chef. He is truly the embodiment of MIDA. I partnered with Douglass prior to opening because we shared a similar vision that a restaurant can be a transformative landmark for a community and that MIDA is the perfect venue to execute an amazing hospitality concept while also standing up for the values we believe in.” – Seth Gerger, general manager of MIDA in Boston
“I opened because I have always had a passion for the restaurant industry and saw a void in the market that I thought I could fill.” – Adam Talbert, owner of 312 Beef and Sausage in Freeport, Illinois
“I opened because I was an upstart kid that worked in restaurants my whole life and was convinced I could do it better.” – Nick VanArsdell, owner of Lucky Slice in Utah
“I opened because I wanted to build a legacy for my family.” – Addam Oliver, co-owner of Bernie O’s in North Muskegon, Michigan
“I opened because I wanted to bring something to my community that they would be proud of.” – Logan Hostettler, general manager of 1894 Lodge in New Washington, Indiana
“I opened because I wanted to introduce and share delicious Filipino cuisine with everyone in our community. My daughter has been in the restaurant business for many, many years and I thought it would be great to use her talent and skills managing our own full-service restaurant.” – Teresita Herradura, owner of The Corner Q in Lorton, Virginia
“My partners and I opened our first restaurant because we love food and serving people. We love the fast pace of a restaurant. We saw it as an opportunity to earn a living doing what we love.” – Jeff Jacobson, COO of Costa Vida with locations across the U.S.
“I opened because there was a need in my community to keep the American Legion Ball open and my wife and I are good at this business. It provided an opportunity to become part of our new community, as well as create jobs for it.” – Brian Bonnell, owner of Sutton Legion in Sutton, Nebraska
“I opened because I was looking for a local opportunity to make people smile!” – Kim Wilhelmson, owner of Koehn Bakery in Butler, Montana
“Katie [co-owner of 3 Little Figs] came from the advertising world and I came from the live concert industry. We were both involved in creating entertainment, designing, editing, and coordinating productions. Eventually we decided that we wanted to create something of our own that could support our family and represent our values and all the things we loved. We just traded clients and crowds for customers… crowds of customers, thankfully!” – Andy Rooney, co-owner and general manager of 3 Little Figs in Somerville, Massachusetts
Spark: Served by Toast
Learn how Toast is building better experiences for restaurants, guests, and staff at Spark, an innovation event for restaurant people.
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Restaurant Opening Calculator
This calculator lays out some of the fundamental financial costs of opening a restaurant, so you can start planning and bring your dream restaurant to life.
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