Guide

Restaurant Staffing Plan: How Many Staff You Need and What They Cost in India

By Poonam Shrivastava · 27 October 2026 · 8 min read

In short

A full-service restaurant in India needs roughly one staff member for every 2.5 to 3.5 seats, so a 100 seat restaurant runs on 30 to 40 people across two shifts, with the kitchen taking 40 to 45 percent of the headcount. A 2,000 square foot cafe runs on 8 to 12, a QSR on 10 to 15, and a single-brand cloud kitchen on 6 to 10. Staff cost should land at 18 to 25 percent of sales. Hire the general manager and head chef three months before opening, the kitchen and floor teams six weeks before, and train for two to three weeks on the actual menu and service steps.

Staffing is the second largest cost in a restaurant after food, and the one owners plan last. A staffing plan written before the lease is signed tells you what the venue will cost to run, when to hire, and whether the kitchen you have drawn can be run by the team you can afford. Here is how we build one.

Basis: headcounts and salary ranges below are typical figures from Table & Fork projects in Delhi NCR, Pune and Bengaluru in 2026. Salaries vary with city, cuisine and experience; treat them as planning ranges.

How many staff does a restaurant need?

Start from seats and dayparts, not from a wish list. A full-service restaurant needs roughly one staff member for every 2.5 to 3.5 seats across all shifts, with the lower ratio for fine dining and the higher for casual dining. The kitchen takes 40 to 45 percent of headcount, service 35 to 40, and management, bar, stewarding and support the rest. Two shifts a day and a weekly off for everyone means the number on the roster is always higher than the number on the floor at any moment.

Format	Typical headcount	Split
Full-service restaurant, 100 seats	30 to 40	Kitchen 14 to 18, service 12 to 15, bar 2 to 4, management and support 3 to 5
Bar or taproom, 200 seats	35 to 50	Kitchen 12 to 16, bar 8 to 12, service 12 to 16, management and support 4 to 6
QSR or fast casual	10 to 15	Kitchen 6 to 9, counter and delivery 3 to 5, manager 1
Cafe, 2,000 square feet	8 to 12	Baristas 2 to 3, kitchen 3 to 4, service 2 to 3, manager 1
Cloud kitchen, one brand	6 to 10	Kitchen 5 to 8, packing and dispatch 1 to 2, kitchen manager 1

Which roles does a restaurant need?

Management: general manager or restaurant manager, an assistant manager for the second shift, and a cashier or accounts assistant.
Kitchen: head chef or executive chef, sous chef, chefs de partie for each section, commis cooks, a tandoor or specialist cook where the menu needs one, and kitchen stewards for dish wash and cleaning.
Service: captains or supervisors, stewards or servers, hosts where the format needs them, and runners in larger rooms.
Bar: bar manager, bartenders and bar backs, with a head brewer and assistant in a brewery.
Support: housekeeping, security where the landlord does not provide it, and a delivery coordinator if aggregator orders matter.

What do restaurant staff cost in India?

Typical metro monthly salaries in 2026: commis cooks 15,000 to 22,000 rupees, chefs de partie 25,000 to 35,000, sous chefs 45,000 to 70,000 and head chefs 80,000 to 1.5 lakh and above for a known name. Stewards earn 15,000 to 22,000 with service charge on top where it is shared, captains 22,000 to 32,000, bartenders 20,000 to 35,000, and restaurant managers 50,000 to 90,000. Add 15 to 20 percent to the salary bill for provident fund, state insurance, meals, uniforms and transport. The total should land at 18 to 25 percent of sales at maturity; above 28 percent the model needs a smaller team or a higher average spend, not a smaller menu.

When do you hire before opening?

The general manager and the head chef come in three months before opening, because they recruit everyone else and write the SOPs. Sous chef, bar manager and captains follow at eight weeks. The kitchen, service and stewarding teams join six weeks before opening so that two to three weeks of training on the real menu, the service steps, the point-of-sale system and hygiene happens before the soft launch, with a buffer for the people who do not turn up. Hire 10 to 15 percent above the roster you need, because some will leave in the first month.

How do you reduce staff attrition?

Front-line attrition in Indian restaurants commonly runs at 40 to 60 percent a year, and every departure costs weeks of training and a dip in standards. The venues that hold their teams do the unglamorous things: pay on the first of the month without fail, pay provident fund and state insurance correctly, share service charge transparently, give a real weekly off and a duty meal worth eating, publish rosters a week ahead, and promote from within on a visible path from commis to chef de partie or steward to captain. Accommodation or a transport allowance is often what keeps a good cook in a city where rents are rising.

Which labour rules apply to a restaurant?

Shops and establishment registration in the state, which sets working hours, weekly offs and overtime; provident fund registration once the establishment has 20 or more employees; state insurance for employees under the wage ceiling; the state minimum wage for each skill category; and a written offer letter and attendance records for everyone, which the inspections and any dispute will ask for. Treat compliance as part of the staffing budget from the first month.

Department-wise staffing plans, sourcing and screening, SOP and service-standards training are part of the Table & Fork operations and manpower programme. If you are opening in Delhi NCR, Pune or Bengaluru, our services page explains what that covers.