Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator Preview

I got the chance to check out the Steam Early Access of Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator, a, uh, restaurant simulator. Developed and published by Biotech Gameworks, you’ll be put into the shoes of an up-and-coming restaurant owner and chef. You won’t only serve kebabs (actually, it’ll be a couple of hours before you can) but a variety of dishes made by hand. So let’s check out what’s heating up in the kitchen.

As usual in these simulator games, the story of Kebab Chefs! is that you've been put in charge of your family's restaurant, which has seen much better days. It’s up to you to get things back into working order and turn this rundown corner into a bustling fancy restaurant. Soon enough, you'll be competing against gourmet chefs to become the best cook in the area. This is mostly an excuse to give you a goal other than running the place, but that’s fine. I don’t expect much more than a set-up and an objective.

So, let’s get cooking, which is a lot more involved than I expected. The closest thing I can compare it to is Cooking Simulator. You’ll be doing a lot of the prep work and cooking manually, following a recipe to the letter and ensuring everything is properly cooked and served at a good temperature. However, unlike that game, not everything is a physics object, so sadly, no wild shenanigans that will end with something blowing up. Also, you’ll need to source the ingredients yourself by going outside and buying the foods from various shops. There’s a lot of running back and forth, and you do have to keep your ingredients from spoiling. If you need help, you can always hire employees to help lighten the load of everyday work.

However, there’s much more to running the restaurant than just obtaining the ingredients and cooking. You’ll need to serve customers, clean plates, clean the floor, and throw out trash before, during, and after opening your restaurant for the day. While you don’t need to cook for every customer, as every finished recipe provides four servings, you will be busy ensuring customer happiness and making sure your restaurant is clean and up to code throughout your shift. Let the trash and dirt pile up too much, and you should be expecting a visit from the health inspector to shut it all down.

Now, this may seem a little stressful, but you’ll have plenty of time to prepare. Time only passes when your restaurant is open, so you're free to buy your groceries, clean, and prepare dishes at your leisure. Heck, you might as well do some goofing off at the bar by playing darts or trying your hand at blackjack.

From what I got from my time with Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator, there is already some fun to be had here, and there’s still more coming in the future. There is four-player co-op and even Twitch integration, if you're interested in that, and the roadmap is looking quite good, looking to add an extended storyline, more ways to cook, and even the ability to visit gourmet restaurants. If you’re interested, check out Kebab Simulator: Prologue for a free sample of what’s to come.