What does it cost to open a restaurant?
Add up your opening budget for Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad, line by line. Your own quotes, plus the figures that have a published source.
Your restaurant
Before you open
Paid once. Leave a field empty to use the figure shown, where there is one.
What the landlord asks for up front, from your own quote.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Flooring, counter, lighting, signage and washrooms, from a contractor's quote.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Cooking, refrigeration and preparation equipment, from a supplier's quote.
You chose new equipment. Ask suppliers to quote for that.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Tables, chairs and fixtures for the dining room.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Food authority licence and any other registration fees.
Using Rs 1,500 to Rs 150,000.
Food authority licence only. The fee depends on the category the authority assigns. Other registrations are not included.
Source: Punjab Food Authority, checked 29 September 2026.
Ingredients and packaging for the first weeks.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
What the electricity and gas companies charge to connect you.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
What you plan to spend on the launch.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Cash kept aside to run the restaurant until sales cover the costs.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Every month
What it costs to keep the doors open. Staff cost is the number of staff times the pay per person.
Monthly rent, from your own quote.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Average monthly pay for one member of staff.
Using Rs 40,000.
The legal minimum for an unskilled worker. Cooks, baristas and managers are paid more.
Source: Government of the Punjab, Labour and Human Resource Department, checked 29 September 2026.
Electricity, gas, water and internet for a month.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
What you pay each month for your POS and other software.
Using Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
Bhookly's published monthly price, from the Starter plan to the Growth plan.
Source: Bhookly's published prices. See pricing
Anything else you pay every month. Enter 0 if there is nothing else.
No published source, so no default. Enter your own quote.
Estimated budget to open a café in Lahore so far
Rs 1,500toRs 150,000
Counts 1 of 9 lines paid before opening. Left out, with no figure yet: Deposit and advance rent, Fit-out and interior, Kitchen equipment, Furniture and fixtures, First stock, Utility connections, Launch marketing, Working capital. The real total is higher.
- Deposit and advance rent
- Not entered
- Fit-out and interior
- Not entered
- Kitchen equipment
- Not entered
- Furniture and fixtures
- Not entered
- Licences and registrations
- Rs 1,500 to Rs 150,000
- First stock
- Not entered
- Utility connections
- Not entered
- Launch marketing
- Not entered
- Working capital
- Not entered
Estimated monthly running cost
No total yet. These monthly lines have no figure: Rent, Staff, Utilities, Other monthly costs.
- Rent
- Not entered
- Staff
- Not entered
- Utilities
- Not entered
- POS and software
- Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000
- Other monthly costs
- Not entered
Estimated time your working capital covers
Not worked out. Working capital is not entered, and these monthly lines have no figure: Rent, Staff, Utilities, Other monthly costs.
These are estimates for planning, not quotes. Build your budget from written quotes for your own location and size.
How the figures are chosen.
Every result is an estimate for planning. It is not a quote.
Last verified 29 September 2026. Reviewed by Sameer Shahid, Founder, Bhookly.
- A figure needs a source
- A starting figure appears only when it comes from a published source: a government fee schedule, a wage notification, or Bhookly's own price list. The source and the date it was checked are shown under the field.
- No source, no figure
- Rent, deposit, fit-out, kitchen equipment, furniture, first stock, utility connections and marketing have no starting figure. They differ too much by location and no published source covers them reliably. You enter your own quotes.
- Empty lines are left out
- A line with no figure is not counted as zero. It is left out, and the result tells you how many lines it counts, so you know the real total is higher. The budget to open and the monthly running cost are each called a total only when every line that applies has a figure. Until then each is shown as the cost so far, beside the lines it leaves out, and the months your working capital covers are not worked out.
- What your choices change
- The city sets the minimum wage and the food authority's licence fee. Owned premises remove the deposit and the rent. A cloud kitchen has no furniture line. In Karachi, the food authority lists its licence fee by category of business, so you pick the category that names yours.
Things people usually ask us.
Still have a question? Message us and we reply the same day.
How much does it cost to open a restaurant in Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad?
It depends mostly on your rent, your size and how much you spend on fit-out and equipment, and those differ from one street to the next. This calculator adds up your own quotes with the few figures that have a published source, and shows the total as a range.
Why are some lines empty?
A line has a starting figure only when we found a published source for it, such as a government fee schedule or a minimum wage notification. Where there is none, we leave the field empty for your own quote instead of guessing.
Where do the starting figures come from?
Each one names its source and the date we checked it, under the field. You can open the source yourself, and you can replace any figure with your own.
Does choosing used equipment change the total?
No. We have no published source for the difference in price between new and used kitchen equipment, so the calculator does not apply one. Your choice is printed on your plan, and you enter the quote you get.
What does the staff figure cover?
The starting figure is the legal minimum wage for an unskilled worker in your city. Cooks, baristas and managers are paid more, so change it to the average you expect to pay.
What does Bhookly cost?
Bhookly plans are Rs 10,000–15,000 a month. That is the starting figure on the POS and software line, and you can change it. No setup fee and no long-term contract.
Does the calculator cover tax registration?
No. It covers cost only. The steps for registering with the tax authorities are in the restaurant tax starter pack.
What happens to the figures I enter?
They stay in your browser and in the page's address. We save them only if you ask for the full budget plan, and a saved plan is deleted after 90 days.
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