There are thousands and thousands of games available to smartphone users through either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Whether you’re on Android or iOS, you will find games for almost every niche out there like archery games or even different types of solitaire apps. Out of these games and genres, you’ll find the restaurant game niche, which we will talk about in this article. Let’s go over the best restaurant games for smartphones!
Inside This Article
What Are Restaurant Games?
The best restaurant games will have you imagining the gentle throbbing of lit flames in a hot stove while anticipating the delicious smell of steak, bacon, and sausages. All the while, you’re busily managing your staff to keep everyone happy and content. Although restaurant games have a lot of overlap with another niche genre, cooking games, this is mainly due to both games having elements of fast food management and customer service. While there is the element of serving customers food and handling the day-to-day problems of restaurants and bakeries, the one big difference between them is where they focus.
Compared to cooking games that lean heavily on the actual cooking and food service, restaurant games are more focused on growing the business and managing your soon-to-be solid hold on the food market. That said, you could say that restaurant games are a subset of both management and tycoon games, depending on the game’s playstyle.
The Best Restaurant Games
For this list of the best restaurant games, you’ll find that we’ve chosen a little bit of everything you can manage in the restaurant genre. You’ll see games with a wide range where you are in charge of diners, cafes, restaurants, and even a food truck!
We’ve chosen games available on Android and iOS devices and ranked them. We are basing their rank not only on their Apple or Google store review scores but also on how much we love the game and how unique they are for us. There would also be a few games where managing the restaurant is moved a bit more to the side, and the plot and character interactions that play out is more important instead.
1. Food Street
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Supersolid Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Food Street is the perfect example of a restaurant game, which is why it’s taking the top spot on this list. Food Street has all the mechanics of most “freemium” games. This means that the game has timed actions and in-game currency like gems and coins.
Aside from its freemium model, Food Street is a good example of the best parts of restaurant games. It doesn’t just have a single-player segment, but it also has multiplayer through in-game “Food Clubs” and seasonal events.
The game starts you off with a simple cafe that you can slowly build up. Improvements in the game slowly add up so that you can leave serving guests one at a time by yourself to actually getting your dream restaurant by hiring people to do that instead.
Get Food Street from the Google Play Store
Get Food Street from the Apple App Store
2. Hungry Hearts Diner: A Tale of Star-Crossed Souls
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: GAGEX Co. Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Although we have ranked Hungry Hearts Diner as the second game on our best restaurant game list, this game takes the top spot in terms of storyline. The game has a heartwarming and sweet plot where you play as a hardworking old lady who has opened her shop and her heart to her customers for decades. The goal is to serve the best home-cooked meals to the tired working adults and students that come into your family-run diner. Aside from listening to the woes and stories of your customers, your goal is to slowly build up your store’s available cooking equipment and tools.
Aside from the high review scores on both Apple and Google app stores, the game would have been first if it had more options to upgrade and get hired help for granny. This game also spawned a game series with up to the third game available in English. While leaning a bit more into the cooking game genre due to the timed orders, Hungry Hearts Diner is, without a doubt, one of the best games in either genre.
Get Hungry Hearts Diner from the Google Play Store
Get Hungry Hearts Diner from the Apple App Store
3. Delicious – New Beginning
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: GameHouse Games
Price: Free trial version; In-game purchase of $9.99 for the full version.
Another game from a long-running series, Delicious – New Beginning is one of the many Delicious games available for smartphones. The game starts out simple enough with Emily O’Malley going back to Snuggford to settle down with her husband due to their newborn daughter Paige. After a while doing nothing but home chores and taking care of her family, Emily gets the itch to start putting her hand back in the restaurateur business, something she had already achieved tons of success within previous games.
Delicious is part of a series that’s taken both cooking and restaurant games as their core mechanics. Due to this, you’ll find yourself behind the counter and serving patrons during the day but hard at work deciding on upgrades and work settings by sunset. Those that want good restaurant apps games should look into the entire Delicious series on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Get Delicious – New Beginning from the Google Play Store
Get Delicious – New Beginning from the Apple App Store
4. Animal Restaurant
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: DH-Publisher on Google Play Store; Wěi Wáng (伟 王) on Apple App Store
Price: Free with in-app purchases
One of the best restaurant games, this impossibly cute app is called Animal Restaurant. Focusing more on the management side of the genre, the game has an adorable art style filled with cats, rabbits, and other furry critters. Originally wandering the woods with scuffed and matted fur with a hungry, grumbling stomach, you find yourself in a clearing with a restaurant built under the roots of a tree. With the restaurant short of hands and you willing to work to eat, Chef Gumi brings you into the soon-to-open restaurant.
Gameplay-wise, the game works similarly to other management games where you click and respond to customer orders and get paid in in-game currency. You then use the currency, fish, to trade for better working facilities, more food recipes, and hire more staff. The game has a nice story that you follow along as the restaurant gains popularity and patrons.
Get Animal Restaurant from the Google Play Store
Get Animal Restaurant from the Apple App Store
5. Cafeland – World Kitchen
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: GAMEGOS
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Cafeland – World Kitchen is a game that falls a little bit short against our first game on the list, Food Street. Despite that, Cafeland is a good alternative to Food Street due to its many similarities in terms of both playstyle and game mechanics. Another similarity is that both work on a “freemium” model where the game is bright, colorful, and cartoony but has features that let you buy in-game currency using real-world money.
Aside from the similarities, Cafeland – World Kitchen has a few unique traits that go in its favor. These traits include a more balanced shift to managing the different restaurants and cafes instead of just serving and taking orders from customers. Cafeland also has the advantage of having a robust worldwide player ranking system that lets you see your scores against the top scorers in the world. This system also lets you send your help to friends and send gifts to them.
Get Cafeland from the Google Play Store
Get Cafeland from the Apple App Store
6. Bakery Story 2
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Storm8 Studios
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Bakery Story 2 is the second game in Storm8 Studio’s Bakery Story series. Judging from its mechanics, we can say that it’s something different from the rest of the restaurant app games on this list. The game has a cute plot where you’re given a tiny spot to open your bakery, your dream job. From that tiny space, you’ll slowly rake in money, patrons, and recipes that will let you move on to better and bigger shops.
As a freemium game, Bakery Story 2 lets you have the option of buying for yourself some in-game currency to help you in the game. Although the game is pretty generous when it comes to rewards and points, you might want to take advantage of their “Starter Pack” that would net you some early coins, gems, and oven mitts.
Get Bakery Story 2 from the Google Play Store
Get Bakery Story 2 from the Apple App Store
7. My Cafe
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Melsoft Games Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Quite similar to the previously mentioned Bakery Story 2, My Cafe places you in the shoes of a new cafe owner. Your job in this game is to slowly build your dream cafe where people can mingle, relax, and eat in your carefully constructed shop.
Gameplay-wise, the game plays like your typical freemium game with in-game currency available to buy and timed actions. Where it does excel, though, is its decoration and shop builder that is surprisingly well built. This system is good enough to make us think of the earlier Sims 1 and Sims 2 games due to how you place furniture and how you choose them from the list. My Cafe offers not just a story-rich single-player game, but it also lets you compete against and join other players through multi-player tasks and activities.
Get My Cafe from the Google Play Store
Get My Cafe from the Apple App Store
8. Diner Dash Adventures
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Glu Games Inc.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
The eighth game on our list is Diner Dash Adventures. It is part of the long-running Diner Dash game series and is the second smartphone game for the franchise. The game still stars Flo, the much-loved heroine of the Dash games, who has come back to her hometown to discover that Mr. Big has plans to take over the entire town! Your job in this game is to slowly revitalize the buildings and places in your hometown and help the people with their hopes and dreams.
Gameplay-wise, Diner Dash Adventures is a good mix of features from the “Dash” game series. Although a lot of your time would be spent cooking and serving customers in your diners, restaurants, and hotels, the main pull of the game is actually managing these locations and renovating, decorating, and exploring Flo’s hometown!
Due to the slight lean on the “cooking” side in this game, Diner Dash Adventures is also the seventh game in our best cooking games list.
Get Diner Dash Adventures from the Google Play Store
Get Diner Dash Adventures from the Apple App Store
9. Food Truck Pup
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Game Start LLC.
Price: Free with in-game purchases
Food Truck Pup is another insanely cute restaurant game. Compared to the cat-centric Animal Restaurant, Food Truck Pup stars, well, a pup. You play as an adorable Shiba Inu down on his luck until you start up your idea to create your food truck in the local park. This game has a lot going for it, like the many mini-games it has. Some of these mini-games include garden mechanics, ingredient procurement, and people hiring games.
Food Truck Pup has a lot of customization available, the first of which is your pup. You have a room full of different doggos to choose from, including Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. Aside from that, the game also lets you not just improve your truck’s cooking equipment, the staff, and the truck itself!
Get Food Truck Pup from the Google Play Store
Get Food Truck Pup from the Apple App Store
10. Restaurant Tycoon
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: AppOn
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Another game with a unique art style, Restaurant Tycoon is a classic example of a restaurant game. As it runs on a freemium model, you would see ads once in a while as you play the game. You can also buy boosters and in-game currency, but you can get through the game just fine by playing it daily. The in-game currency, at first, would only let you upgrade your first restaurant. Over time, though, the game will let you expand into other locations and businesses.
The gameplay works just like most of the best restaurant games and is split into two modes. One mode is the timed “waiter” mini-game where you get and serve customer orders by clicking and moving your character. The second mode, though, lets you upgrade and pay for new workers, machines, and cooking tools that make it easier to play.
Get Restaurant Tycoon from the Google Play Store
Get Restaurant Tycoon from the Apple App Store
11. Night Restaurant
Platform: Android
Developer: GamesUnion Technology Co. Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
An Android-exclusive game, Night Restaurant has a lot going for it. From its calming traditional Japanese theme to the slow-paced gameplay, this game is a fun time-waster when you need to unwind. Although it does not have the heartwarming plotlines and stories that Hungry Hearts Diner has, it has its own charm. Part of it is due to the game creators and their decisions themselves. While the game is made by a Chinese company, the game’s theme is distinctly Japanese and yet, the in-game currency is measured in “W” or won, a Korean currency.
Aside from the slightly eccentric decisions on the game maker’s part, Night Restaurant is a solid restaurant game app. Gameplay lets you have control over a lot of decisions that matter in-game and simulate the day-to-day decisions of an actual restaurant. These include the shop’s recipes, furniture, arrangement, and staffing. Overall, the game is a nice addition to its genre niche.
Get Night Restaurant from the Google Play Store
12. Fairy Bakery Workshop
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Winning Starters on Google Play Store; Pujia8 Limited on Apple App Store
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Fairy Bakery Workshop or Fresh Bread! Fairy Bakery on the Apple App Store is a fun bakery simulation that lets you experience owning a bakery. Although a freemium game, Fairy Bakery Workshop is not your usual bland money sink. Aside from the impressively adorable graphics, the game is pretty well thought out. This is due to the wonderfully written plot that anyone can easily follow as it goes through the mechanics and options available in the game.
You start off with a small bakery where you do everything from baking bread to handing out fliers on the street to attract customers. All of these activities come in as fun mini-games that shows you how hard it is to actually run a bakery.
Get Fairy Bakery Workshop from the Google Play Store
Get Fairy Bakery Workshop from the Apple App Store
13. The Ramen Sensei 2
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Kairosoft Co. Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
The only game on this list from the respected developer Kairosoft, The Ramen Sensei 2 is the 13th game on this best restaurant game list. Well known for their tycoon games, Kairosoft designed The Ramen Sensei 2 following the same idea. This time though, you are in charge of a fledgling ramen shop. From your small almost-empty shop, you would slowly build up a reputation with your specially made recipes and dishes.
The gameplay for Ramen Sensei 2 is quite simple and follows the formula of other Kairosoft games. You start off slow with a recipe or two, enough to upgrade your original shop. This success only starts to snowball as you continue playing the many mini-games, including an amusing pachinko mini-game. By the end, you’ll be able to move on to bigger shops with even more options as you sit back and watch the gold come in by itself.
Get The Ramen Sensei 2 from the Google Play Store
Get The Ramen Sensei 2 from the Apple App Store
14. Hello Kitty Cafe
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Sanrio Digital
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Part of the gigantic Hello Kitty games franchise, Hello Kitty Cafe is Sanrio’s take to create the best restaurant game for smartphones. A fun gem of a game, Hello Kitty Cafe has all the basics and requirements for the genre, including store and equipment upgrades, staff management, and recipes. Aside from the allure of playing characters from Hello Kitty, the game is pretty bog-standard. There isn’t a lot to say about Hello Kitty Cafe aside from being a relatively good example for the genre.
Get Hello Kitty Cafe from the Google Play Store
Get Hello Kitty Cafe from the Apple App Store
15. Cinema Panic 2
Platform: Android and iOS
Developer: Boomware Studio
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Cinema Panic 2 is another freemium game, with its own unique twist, of course. Rather than the well-used restaurant or bakery themes, this time, you are in charge of a cinema concessionaire stand instead! Although a divergence from the usual restaurant game, Cinema Panic 2 plays a lot like Diner Dash. This similarity includes its stage-level “paths” and freemium in-game currencies. Aside from the unique theme, this game is slightly above the cut compared to other freemium restaurant games. This is mostly due to the quality of gameplay that lets it close off our list of the best restaurant games.
Get Cinema Panic 2 from the Google Play Store
Get Cinema Panic 2 from the Apple App Store
Managing That Michelin Star
There you have it, our list of the best restaurant games available on Android and iOS devices. While the games we have chosen for this list work on most iOS and Android versions, if the games won’t run or run slowly, it may be time to upgrade your phone. If you do want to upgrade, it might be a good idea to start off by looking at our lists of the best gaming tablets and the best gaming phones.
