Every opening team asks us the same question sooner or later: how many do we actually need? How many wine glasses, how many plates, how many gastronorm pans?
We've supplied restaurant openings for 15 years, so we went back through the opening orders of 16 London restaurants, tapas bars and cafés, from 16 to 120 covers, and worked out what they really bought. Here's what we found.
A 50-cover opening needs around 140 different items
That's not 140 pieces. It's 140 different products, from main plates and steak knives to deli tubs, squeeze bottles and wet floor signs. Most of them are small, cheap and easy to forget until the week before you open.
That's why we put everything on one quote, grouped into dining room, bar and kitchen. One list means nothing gets missed, and your team isn't juggling a dozen suppliers in opening week.
Plan for about 12 glasses per cover
The restaurants we looked at bought between 7 and 14 glasses per cover, typically about 12. For 50 covers, that's roughly 360–720 glasses.
The biggest share is the main wine glass, typically 144–240 per 50 covers. Many restaurants now choose one good all-rounder rather than separate red and white shapes. It's simpler for staff, easier to store and cheaper to replace.
Glass also breaks faster than anything else on the table, so err towards the top of each range.
The 24cm plate is doing more work than you think
We expected restaurants to buy more large main plates than anything else. They don't. Typical openings bought 100–250 plates of 19–25cm, but only 40–100 plates of 26cm or more.
Many kitchens now serve mains on a 24cm plate, which also works for starters and desserts. Fewer sizes means less storage, faster service and simpler reordering.
Typical quantities per 50 covers
| Item | Typical per 50 covers |
|---|---|
| Main wine glasses | 144–240 |
| Water glasses or tumblers | 72–192 |
| Champagne or sparkling glasses | 48–84 |
| Plates, 19–25cm | 100–250 |
| Plates, 26cm and over | 40–100 |
| Table knives | 96–120 |
| Table forks | 96–144 |
| Espresso cups and saucers | 60–110 |
| Ramekins and dip pots | 80–200 |
From the opening orders of 16 London restaurants, tapas bars and cafés we've supplied.
Your menu changes these numbers a lot. A small-plates menu can need up to 250 side plates, and steak on the menu adds 36–48 steak knives.
The kitchen depends on how hard it works
Kitchen kit varies more than anything else. A busy, all-day kitchen bought about twice as many gastronorm pans and containers as an evening-only room of the same size. So start from your service style, not just your covers.
Order the slow things first
Most UK-stocked tableware, glass and kitchen kit arrives in 1–2 days. But plates with your logo take 6–8 weeks, and handmade French stoneware can take 4–6 weeks. Printed glasses take about 3 weeks.
So talk to suppliers three to four months before you open. Choose anything branded or handmade first, and leave the stock items until the last couple of weeks. If your site isn't ready, ask your supplier to store everything and deliver in opening week.
Get the full checklist
We've put every item and every quantity into a free, printable checklist, with lead times and a simple opening timeline:
• The Restaurant Opening Kit Checklist: dining room, bar and kitchen, with quantities per 50 covers
• The Café and Bakery Opening Kit Checklist: coffee station, counter and bakery kitchen, with quantities per café