I got this game as I love the tycoon games like zoo tycoon, roller coaster tycoon, etc. also diner dash and that type. It loaded quickly but even after watching the tutorial I couldnt figure out how to play it.
I got to the first place you added stuff to the restaurant wall, and was stuck. I seen no way to figure it out, so I ended up unloading it. The graphics were okay. They werent cartoonlike they were more realistic and you could watch the restaurant from different angles and inside and outside. Supposedly you can build other restaurants but since I couldnt get past the first one, I guess I never will. Definitely would not recommend it for kids.

You got a challenge. I had so much fun with this game that I almost didn't want to beat it. It was so realistic right down to the placement of the tables and lamps! If ever you wanted to know how to really run a restaurant, this game is as close as you get without running a credit check for the loan. Some really tough challenges but also super fun to create a game that really shows your personality. If you love a detail oriented game that doesn't bore you with details then this game is for you. I totally recommend it to anyone that loves to cook or pretend to cook.

My very favorite game of all time is the original Zoo Tycoon, and I found Restaurant Tycoon to be along the same lines, really fun and challenging. The campaign mode has a very cute storyline. You eventually have to manage several restaurants at once, which is no easy task when you're training employees, entering chef competitions, and making sure your chairs are comfy for your customers. The free play mode is great for the detail-oriented Sim player who likes to build things from the ground up. A lot of fun!

This game was pretty fun in general, but not awesome. I started with the campaign mode and had a hard time playing for any real length of time because of the detail that went into each step of the campaign. It would be much better if you could "auto" decorate, but you can't, you have to place every chair and every light fixture, and you don't really know if you did a good job until after you're done. I do like the competition aspect of the game. It's fun that they brought a little Iron Chef into the game play.

Great fun!
That said, check out the creator's home page. It isn't actually compatible with XP.
But I loved it! I could have spent hours a day on it but my kids made me get off the computer.
It's easy enough for kids also.

ever since i first saw this game on shop shelves, i knew right away that i wanted it. trust me, this game is really fun! i mean of course, i didnt have everything i expected but i still love it. it wasnt very hard to download ( and i have a very SLOW computer) so that was good. when i got it, i was like up till midnight playing it!! i started playing it everyday and i never got tired of it.
So here's the just of it. u can do a sanbox game or challenge mode. sandbox lets u pretty much to anything u want. u have a choice of 3 or 4 cuisenes( i forgot if it was 3 or 4), American, Italian, and French. u have a decent amount a cities to build ur resturants in. i mean, its very realistic. the costumers love and hate ur food. they ask u for the recepi (& pay u) or give u a better one for a price. u also get to choose the buildings, designs, furniture, and location. the graphics are pretty good and the sound is ok.
in my opinion, this is one of the best tycoon games i've played and trust me, i have a HUGE COLLECTION of tycoon games so i no wat im sayin. but after a while, i stopped playing it cuz everytime i get a new tycoon-type game, i usually get bored of it after a while (but thats me). anyways, the is a MUST HAVE game. enjoy!

I am a student at the Culinary Institute of America and I LOVE this game. It is a little challenging at times but lots of fun!!

If you love SimCity and The Sims, you will LOVE this even more!! It's like all the good things of those two games rolled into one, with one added benefit: SPECIFIC goals and challenges.
Pros: Excellent challenges, including Iron-Chef type battles, difficult management challenges, endless game-play, great graphics and easy, crash-free operation.
Cons: Challenges are REALLY hard the further you get!!

I got it for my sister-in-law who loves to cook for xmas. She can not stop playing..and my brother stays up till 3am playing after she finally goes to bed. They love it. You get to make all the decisions from top to bottom. From when you open to what you serve. It is totally amazing especially for the price. They are big on computer games so they know what is out there and they rate it up there!

The game is okay i guess, you can use your sims1 skins to update it. All in all, i realised that it was a little short on what i expected.

Este juego es muy bueno, le falta para ser parecido a la realidad pero en general es divertido y te muestra rápidamente como sería la administración de un negocio.

I played this game and the graphics aren't very good. It froze a lot too.

Restaurant Empire is well-done all around. For some the incredible amount of detail may be overkill - for others it might not be enough: that's the curse of any simulation game when trying to cater to us picky tycoon freaks.

The game has a campaign in which you can follow the story of a young chef learning the ropes of the business. There is also a free-build mode where you can setup your own Restaurant empire piece by piece. The game allows for an immense amount of detail: most of which you cannot set to automatic and must manage all the details yourself. This may be a bit much for tycoon gamers who don't want to get bogged down in every detail.

+ Graphics & Sound: the graphics I found to be excellent. Even by today's standards this game should be considered top-notch. For the amount of detail in this game to have excellent graphics along with it says a lot for it. The game is 3D with full camera control. Rotate and zoom in on your chef as he whips up another delicious dessert. The sound is pretty good as well - the music isn't as appealing as the sound effects.
+ Performance: if your system meets the requirements for the game you should be okay. It may run sluggishly if you have a lot of traffic though so be prepared. Update your graphics drivers and sound drivers as well.
+ Gameplay: the game is fun to play. Again if you're not a detail-oriented gamer you may find the amount of information to manage (particularly at the beginning) to be a bit much. You can arrange decorations, configure recipes, set the menu, manage staff, and more. There are different cuisines and each chef that works for you can have specific recipe skills. The game is well-paced and rewarding. I found the game very challenging and I haven't done too well in reaping in the profits as of yet.

In summary this game is very well-done. There may be some holes or points that don't appeal to everyone - but what's new? Overall if you're a detail-oriented gamer you should like this title. To me it was very challenging which is fine but may wear thin on those who don't like to repeat mistakes over and over again.

This game was fun at first, but after a while the game gets boring! So if your the type that gets bored easily, then you might noy want to get this game.

First of all anyone who gave this game a bad review needs to open up there eyes and play it again. I loved this game! i would come home, throw my bag on the ground, run into my room and play. i would stop for dinner go back up and by the time mye eyes started to hurt it was already 10:30 (of course i didn't do my hw those days until like 12) ok so the story is... ur retired uncle owns a resteraunt. once he retired he shut down the buisness. this is where You (Armand LeBouf) comes in! you're a chef that just graduated and it is you're job to get the resteraunt up and running again. Money isn't a problem because you can always take out loans (your loan rate gets higher through out the game)and you will do buisness with people that will provide you with money if you meet their goals. Sounds like all fun and games right? well you're 100% wrong. Your competetor, Omnifood, are no good, lying jerks. they use synthetic ingredients in comps and are always putting people out of buissnes. thats your other goal. SLAM THEM TO THE GROUND! thats all i can say or i'll spoil the game. but the great thing about this game is that if u get stuck on a level you can always restart and it will say "Would you like to restart with easier goals" which is perfect if you're stuck on a level. i loved this game not only because i love to cook and because i want to have my own resteraunt when i'm older (believe me....my dads a designer and i already have made blueprints for my future resteraunts)but also because i love the tycoon games. this game is worth much more then it's going for. although i was quite dissapointed when it ended because i played it non-stop i loved the game!

This game, Restaurant Empire is a really great game like most games when you purchase them for the first time. They are exciting and fun for the first few weeks, then end up on the shelf for future playability when you absolutely have nothing to do. If you like simulation games like "The Sims" for example, then you should buy this game. If you liked the Sims (past tense)when it first came out years ago but have now advanced beyond the continuous "upgrades" and expansion packs, then you better wait for Restaurant Empire 2.

I spent 3 to 4 hours on this game STRAIGHT!! Then I took a 5 minute break and whent right back to the action. Some people say that sim games are complicated, not for me. If you like sim games this will be great for you. I don't sim games are complicated, some I just think are to boring. Not this one trust me. You get to enter food compitions all styles (if you play story mode) if you don't you get to run your own resturant! Get waiters make the food!! AWESOME!! You have three different types of styles there are in the game French, Italian, and of course American. The French is a biggy in this game. Your guy in the game if French {} you can't make him Americian or Italian. The story is awesome there are 18 scenerios in the game. Beat them all ya win. There is a tetorial in the begging of the game to make everything easy for you when i first started out it seemed a little bit complicated for me. It takes around 15-30 minutes to get used to the game then you know it really well. The Americian cuizine is full of the stuff that we eat for supper. Baby Back Ribs, that type of stuff. The Italian cuzine is full of spices, that type of stuff. The French is just well... French. Parmisian Torte, Fried Duck with Asperigus Tips. Also, this is not just a sit down dinner game, well it is kinda KINDA like that at first. As you go to the 3rd or 4th seceniro your resturant(s) get fancy. You can't change this. If you want a sit down dinner game get Fast Food Tycoon 1 or 2. Well hope you enjoy.

This is a pretty fun game to play. You can do so many things, and choose from a ton of different objects and foods. Here are the pros and cons:

PROS:

*The graphics are very good. They're not perfect, but they are pretty well done.

*If you play the game for a little while, you can choose from so many different dishes, from the categories of breakfast, appetizers, soups, lunch, dinner and desserts. Actually, even from the beginning, there are a bunch of different foods you can choose from.

*There is a lot of excitement when playing the Sandbox mode, and Campaign mode. I enjoy playing the Sandbox mode more, because the Campaign mode is more difficult.

*Whenever you start to build a Sandbox mode restaurant, you can choose a chef, from over thirty different ones. You can choose the theme and type of restaurant you would like. Also, picking where you want to put your restaurant is great.

*There are three cities you can go to, including Paris, Rome, and some other one(sorry, I just forgot!).

*You get to hire your staff, including waiters, chefs, hosts, and dishwashers.

*You can even get a mini profile of your customers; that can help you a bunch of the time!

*You can compete in competitions.

*You can win awards and get new decorations to decorate your restaurant inside and out.

*You can make set menus for lunch and dinner. That is REALLY fun!

*All of the dishes come with a set price, but you can change them once you add them to your menu.

CONS:

*It takes forever to finish the game! I haven't even finished it yet!

*The customers complain A LOT and are really ugly. You would think there would be at least SOME good-looking people!

*It takes a long time to build and decorate your restaurant
inside.

So thats it everybody! Go and buy this game now, it is extremely entertaining and fun!

what is all this talk about the game crashing and going slow. it works perfecly on any ram! what so ever the game is realy fun. you get have your own resturast. if you love sims(i do)then you will love this game.(i do)and please no more talk of the game crashing.(thankyou)

I recently received this game and am happy to report that it was easy to install and is not very buggy. The last game I received (Casino Inc.) had lots of bugs, which just ruins the game playing experience.

In Restaurant Empire you are given goals related to owning and operating a restaurant. The first few goals are relatively easy to meet, then they become more difficult. The Help system is WONDERFUL. I highly recommend that you take the tour. It helps a lot.

The game is fun and entertaining. It's not too hard to figure out how to get things done, but it's not so easy that it bores you quickly. I have not beaten the game yet -- which is a good sign that I'll get plenty more playing time out of the game.

Highly recommended.

I LOVE Restaurant Empire! The graphics are pretty good, and the game is pretty easy to use and understand. However, I find the game a bit challenging, because the customers like to complain a lot, but I think it makes the game more fun.

I have not yet actually played a scenerio game, I usually just play sandbox games, so I, personally, cannot speak about the scenerios.

But even though I don't play the scenerio game, I find it very addicting, and absolutely love it. This game, for me, ranks around the top with the other tycoon/empire games I have played.

Restaurant Empire is a well developed game that has the potential if used correctly, which takes a lot of skill. I'm the type of player that doesn't like the tutorial, so this game wasn't one of my favorites. The graphics are bad, and for the most part the game is too. You just sit around waiting for customers to come to your restaurant. Once in a while you get a new recipe, but it isn't all that exciting. But for some reason it keeps you occupied. If you like trying new things and you arent a picky tycoon player you should buy this game. If you are a picky player, you'll find dozens of cons for this game.

I bought this game for $20 with low expectations. Little did I know that it is one of the most in depth, addictive, and just plain fun "tycoon" games on the market! The makers of the game (Empire Software) put the same addictive, realistic factors into this game as they have for other games they've created such as Capitalism 2 (a rare gem). Other reviewers of Restaurant Empire have already told you about its many features, but may I add that despite whatever tiny flaw one may find with the game, it is ONLY $20. You have nothing to lose, except for hours of sleep!
*Note... make sure you check the system requirements for this game to see if you have a compatible graphics card.

This only keeps you amused for a few hours and very quickly loses its gusto.

Ok, so this game isn't exactly new and I didn't just get it either. I'm merely late for writing this review as it took me a little while to really sit down for a while and warm up to it enough to really play it in a manner that allowed me to enjoy it. And enjoy it I did!

This game is a lot of fun. Delaing with it through the first few scenarios may be a little boring, perhaps even a bit easy (part of why it didn't suck me in right away) but as you progress, you have a lot of neat extras (chefs, recipes, restaurants, etc.) and the new scenarios start getting a bit more difficult which makes it more challenging and enjoyable. I have to say, thank God for the feature that allows you to set an easier scenario when you fail at it the first time. I have to admit I've used it on a few occasions.

I don't think, as some reviewers state, that playing this, even excelling at it for hours on end, readies you to take the plung into the real live restaurant business but you do get to see glimpses of it. It helps with business-taking decisions, budgeting, managing resopnsibilities, etc.

A few shortcomings? The sequences between Armand and his uncle are too long and can't be shortened or cut. Overall, no complaints. Also, my computer is kinda old and so's my video card and all that stuff but I never had any problems getting it to work or run.

So, overall, a fun game that will quickly become one of your favorites, especially if you enjoy Sim games. It is a very well done product that'll keep your interest, challenge your skills, become somewhat of an addiction, and most of all, give you hours of fun. So sit through it, you won't regret it!

This game is great! However, if you do not have a 3D video card with at least 64MB and at least 256MB of RAM, do not purchase it. It will run extremely slow and crash. Simply put: GET THE CARD, GET THE RAM, GET THE GAME!!!!

Granted, I didn't find many people with the same issues, and now that I have a new video card I might not have the same problems. But when I first bought this game, I had a great deal of trouble installing the game. Normally this would not deter me, as I've experienced this problem before. However....

Once installed, this game would start what can only be described as a screen flutter. The screen would flutter throughout the gameplay, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. This would continue to the point that certain parts of the screen would not show any text at all, and would run very very slow (if at all). Numerous requests for tech support with the manufacturer of the game came to nothing, as they claimed to never have heard of the problem before.

I'm sure this is a great game, but after having to fight with screen flutters, I gave up. Perhaps when I'm finished with Sims2, I'll try this one again.

For as complicated as it is, it offers little entertainment. I bought this in hope of a less involving but just something to do for fun when you have a half an hour to kill. There is less emphasis on the restaurant part of it and more on the business end, which isn't something I particulary cared for. It does have some pretty good graphics however.

Don't get this game with 128 Ram. I did, and I have pretty slow gameplay, even after I changed the options. It is also tedious setting up menus, making money, and decorating your restaurant.

I bought the game after trying the demo, and to my surprise the it was more fun than I thought it would be. The Campaign mode gives the player goals that must be met within a certain time frame. If you fail, you can do the scenerio over with easier goals which is a plus. The worst part of the game is that it seems to take forever to setup and open a restaurant. But it is worth the time when that restaurant starts making money. The company website offers a patch which allows the player to assign duties to some of the staff. There is also the option to play a sandbox game in which the only goal you need to have is not run out of money.

This is a pretty good game. If your expecting another roller coaster tycoon, you'll get a surprise. This game is much different. It's more realistic than stuff like that. For instance, you are paying your employees more like a thousand bucks a month instead of 200 like in other "tycoon" games. It's good training for business management. You won't find it much fun unless you like managing a business. It also got a lot of mafia and Godfather references. You are sponsored by Don Corleone, who often refers to the *family*. One of your chefs is his nephew, Mario Corleone. He gives you an "old family restaurant" called La Cosa Nostra. Overall, this is a pretty good game. All the customers have the same weird expression, but the gameplay is very realistic.

I got this game for my birthday and it was really fun. It lasted hurs and I got to be a cook, but after a while, the 3D started giving me a headache. It is also sometimes hard to remember all of the keys and buttons.

I have really enjoyed this game. I agree with some of the other reviews that it is a little too easy but it is definitely worth playing. If you like building business kind of games this is one you'll really like.

I think that this game isn't too bad. The graphics aren't too good, but that never really bugged me much. But I'm not even 13 yet, so it would make sense to say that I'm just not as interested in food as older people. My advice is to buy this if you like culinary arts.

Playing the game is at first fun and interesting. However after an hour it can get a bit boring you just watch the people eat and get served. You can see how the costumers are feeling by monitoring them. The complaints range from the server was rude and the let down was you can't do much with the servers but lower the pay or give them training that is boring you kno what would be more intresting if you could talk to the server and give the warning and stuff . Besides that the game is ok game but I've played better