Games Like Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon Game

Create and manage your dream restaurant! Menus, purchasing, décor, staff, equipment, customers… and don't forget the actual cooking! Experience the daily life of a restaurateur and earn your awards from the Michelin Guide.

Why similar: Cooking 36%, Management 30.7%, Simulation 13.3%, Family Friendly 7.6%, Relaxing 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: This is the most direct competitor, offering a realistic balance of kitchen management and restaurant operations.

Recipe for Disaster is a management sim that captures the fast-paced, drama-filled environment of a professional kitchen and dining room. Build your dream restaurant, create recipes, design menus and manage your staff, all while contending with demanding customers and disastrous situations!

Why similar: Cooking 31.3%, Management 27.2%, Capitalism 9.7%, Simulation 9.6%, Character Customization 6.3%

Why You'll Like It: It captures the stressful yet rewarding nature of managing a restaurant staff and menu in a dynamic environment.

TasteMaker is a restaurant tycoon game. Design your own restaurant from the ground up, decorate, create a menu, hire and manage staff, and much more. Keep your customers happy and make a profit to keep the restaurant of your dreams from turning into a nightmare.

Why similar: Cooking 29.6%, Management 27.8%, Sandbox 9.8%, Capitalism 9.7%, Simulation 9.5%

Why You'll Like It: This game excels in the design and layout aspects of restaurant management, allowing for deep customization of your space.

A realistic cooking sim where every ingredient reacts with real physics. Master 80+ dishes in Career mode or go wild in Sandbox as you cook, experiment, or cause total kitchen chaos in a fully interactive chef’s playground.

Why similar: Cooking 50.2%, Simulation 22%, Management 12.7%, Sandbox 8%, Family Friendly 3.4%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a highly detailed, physics-based approach to the actual act of cooking that complements the management side of the genre.

Espresso Tycoon - a coffee shop simulator. Create your brand, decorate the coffee shop, manage your employees, and take care of your customers. Use the 3D coffee editor to create coffee recipes, order supplies, and collect rating points. Build the whole coffee business and complete all the missions!

Why similar: Management 28.4%, Cooking 25.4%, Simulation 11.6%, Isometric 9.7%, Character Customization 9.2%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the niche of coffee shop management with a strong emphasis on design and customer satisfaction.

Big Ambitions is a revolutionary role-playing business sim. Go from nothing to the biggest entrepreneur in New York by opening small businesses or slowly building huge corporations any way you like.

Why similar: Management 52.5%, Capitalism 19.7%, Simulation 14.3%, Sandbox 7.6%, Isometric 3%

Why You'll Like It: This offers a much deeper, city-wide management simulation that captures the capitalist spirit of building a business empire.

Manage your own coffee shop and control every detail to make it the most popular one in town! Roast your own beans and create your recipes. Hire and train your staff, manage your economy and marketing, and destroy your competition to become the ultimate legal coffee monopoly in Coffee Shop Tycoon.

Why similar: Management 41.1%, Cooking 32%, Simulation 17.1%, Relaxing 3.5%, 3D 2.7%

Why You'll Like It: A solid management simulator that tasks you with balancing menu pricing, staff hiring, and shop expansion.

Open your dream restaurant at FPP. Create a unique exterior and interior, hire the best workers and chefs, create a place where people will love to eat, spend time and spend their money. Simulation of the restaurant business.

Why similar: Cooking 31.1%, Management 29.6%, Simulation 13.4%, Sandbox 9.9%, Family Friendly 6.8%

Why You'll Like It: This title provides a comprehensive experience in renovating, designing, and managing your own cafe from the ground up.

Get up before dawn and see what it's like to be a baker! Learn to bake several dozen types of bread. Use realistic bakery machines. Deliver orders to stores, earn, and invest. Use original recipes or experiment with ingredients.

Why similar: Cooking 35.9%, Management 27.6%, Simulation 16.8%, Family Friendly 7%, Relaxing 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the specific craft of baking, requiring players to manage recipes and delivery logistics.

Potion Craft is an alchemist simulator where you physically interact with your tools and ingredients to brew potions. You're in full control of the whole shop: invent new recipes, attract customers and experiment to your heart's content. Just remember: the whole town is counting on you.

Why similar: Management 40.7%, Simulation 19%, Capitalism 15.1%, Sandbox 11.4%, Relaxing 8.9%

Why You'll Like It: While not a restaurant game, its unique recipe creation and experimentation system mirrors the creative depth found in Chef.

Restaurant Empire 2 is the most realistic and comprehensive restaurant business simulation available, featuring 4 cuisines, 600 recipes, 4 huge cities, 2 campaigns with a total of 34 missions, 1400 interior objects, and a mix of business strategy and role-playing gameplay such as cooking contests.

Why similar: Cooking 33.2%, Management 30.8%, Capitalism 12.4%, Simulation 11.7%, Family Friendly 5.1%

Why You'll Like It: A classic management title that remains a gold standard for balancing business strategy with culinary creativity.

Renovate, equip and restore the shine of the food truck that belonged to your father. Create recipes, cook the food and serve customers across an entire city. Customize and upgrade your food truck to reach more customers and expand your menu.

Why similar: Cooking 35.8%, Management 27.9%, Simulation 15.6%, Sandbox 8.3%, Family Friendly 6.2%

Why You'll Like It: This provides a more mobile, first-person perspective on the cooking and management loop found in restaurant games.

Cook and serve your dishes, design and decorate your restaurants, and expand your culinary kingdom with new unlocks, abilities and dishes in procedurally-generated locations. Classic cooking action with permanent roguelite progression. Hire your friends - or do it all yourself!

Why similar: Cooking 49.5%, Management 49.4%, Singleplayer 1%

Why You'll Like It: It combines restaurant management with roguelite elements and automation, offering a fast-paced take on the genre.

Step into the shoes of a hotel owner as you design, build, and manage grand hotels around the world. Juggle demanding guests, frantic logistics, and plenty of unexpected surprises in Hotel Architect; the ultimate hotel construction and tycoon management game!

Why similar: Management 31.4%, Capitalism 14.5%, Simulation 13%, Sandbox 10.5%, Character Customization 7%

Why You'll Like It: It shares the same DNA of building, designing, and managing a service-oriented business with complex customer needs.

Kebab Chefs! is a Co-Op, cooking and restaurant management game that can be played up to 4 players. Design your own restaurant. Cook delicious foods, fill your menu with various recipes, feed customers and become the biggest kebab restaurant in town!

Why similar: Cooking 42.5%, Management 25.7%, Simulation 13.8%, Sandbox 7.6%, Character Customization 5.9%

Why You'll Like It: It offers a fun, collaborative approach to cooking and managing a restaurant with a focus on specific culinary themes.

Startup Company is a business simulation sandbox game where you’re the CEO of a new company. Your job is to build your very own website and compete against the largest tech giants on the planet!

Why similar: Management 60.7%, Simulation 21.2%, Sandbox 6.1%, Moddable 4.3%, Isometric 2.6%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the economy and management aspects of running a business, perfect for those who enjoy the capitalist side of Chef.

Construct and design buildings for optimal working conditions. Hire people to design and release software, so you can defeat the simulated competition and take over their businesses. Manage and educate your employees to make sure they are skilled and satisfied with their job.

Why similar: Management 34.2%, Capitalism 18.3%, Simulation 12.8%, Moddable 11.6%, Sandbox 9.9%

Why You'll Like It: It offers deep management and building customization that appeals to players who enjoy the complex business side of Chef.

Run your own supermarket! Stock shelves, set your prices, take payments, hire staff, expand your store, handle shoplifters, and design your layout. Purchase goods from online or local markets around town, and personally deliver online orders to your customers.

Why similar: Management 48.5%, Simulation 29.2%, Capitalism 12.2%, Sandbox 5.6%, 3D 2%

Why You'll Like It: This game focuses on the retail management side, requiring players to manage inventory and store layout effectively.

Barista Simulator, master the art of brewing with over 30 coffee recipes. Start with a basic setup, upgrade your café, manage your staff, and build your very own coffee haven. Are you ready for the ultimate coffee journey?

Why similar: Cooking 36%, Management 27.7%, Simulation 13.9%, Sandbox 11.7%, Relaxing 5.6%

Why You'll Like It: It offers a realistic approach to crafting beverages and managing a small shop's daily operations.

Design stunning hospitals, cure peculiar illnesses and manage troublesome staff as you spread your budding healthcare organisation across Two Point County.

Why similar: Management 58%, Simulation 27.4%, Sandbox 7.9%, Isometric 2.6%, Family Friendly 1.6%

Why You'll Like It: While set in a hospital, its management, layout design, and staff-handling mechanics are top-tier for tycoon fans.

The public aquarium simulator. Design your displays, look after your fish, manage your staff and keep your guests happy! It's all in a day's work as the curator of your very own Megaquarium.

Why similar: Management 37.1%, Simulation 16.6%, Sandbox 13.3%, Moddable 9.8%, Capitalism 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: This game features excellent design and management mechanics that require careful planning and resource allocation.

Brew your perfect beer in this relaxing home brewing sim. Use a realistic chemistry simulation to brew hoppy IPAs to creamy stouts. Customise your brewing space, create recipes and label your beer, unlock new equipment and enter competitions. Learn to brew, refine your craft and become a Brewmaster!

Why similar: Cooking 31.7%, Management 29%, Simulation 15.2%, Sandbox 12.1%, Relaxing 5.9%

Why You'll Like It: The focus here is on the chemistry and crafting of recipes, which will appeal to those who enjoy the recipe editor in Chef.

Project Highrise is a skyscraper construction and management sim...

Why similar: Management 63.5%, Simulation 25.3%, Sandbox 8.5%, Singleplayer 1.5%, Indie 1.2%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the architectural and management challenges of running a large-scale building, similar to optimizing restaurant flow.

Open your own diner and create custom burgers in this management sim game.

Why similar: Cooking 50.1%, Management 23.3%, Simulation 19.9%, Sandbox 4.2%, Indie 1.5%

Why You'll Like It: A strategy-heavy management game that simplifies the graphics but keeps the core loop of menu design and customer satisfaction.

Welcome to Inn Tycoon! Build, design, and manage your dream inn. Serve delightful meals, offer various services, and hire a stellar staff. Create a top-notch hospitality empire and become the ultimate Inn Tycoon!

Why similar: Management 33.1%, Cooking 22.2%, Capitalism 14.4%, Simulation 12.7%, Sandbox 9.1%

Modern Casino Tycoon Simulation in full 3D glory. Build the casino. Set the odds. Expand into a luxury hotel/casino or go cheap & extract max profits. Keep the vault secure at all times, and beware of criminals & cheaters!!

Why similar: Management 33.3%, Capitalism 19.8%, Simulation 15.4%, Sandbox 12.7%, Moddable 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: This game provides deep design and management tools for running a complex business, similar to the sandbox feel of Chef.

Drill for oil like it's 1899! Turmoil offers players a visually charming, tongue-in-cheek take on the simulation genre inspired by the 19th century oil rush in North America.

Why similar: Management 50.7%, Capitalism 22.9%, Simulation 14.9%, Relaxing 7.6%, Singleplayer 2.2%

Why You'll Like It: A management game that focuses on resource extraction and economy, capturing the competitive business spirit.

Enter the world of elite gastronomy and manage your own restaurant from A to Z: hospitality, cooking, waitering, you do it all! Learn from the best chefs in the world, prepare the most delicious meals to make your customers happy and become a true cooking star.

Why similar: Cooking 51.4%, Management 26.5%, Simulation 18%, Family Friendly 2.1%, 3D 1.2%

Why You'll Like It: A more accessible take on the restaurant management genre that still hits all the core gameplay beats.

Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.

Why similar: Management 39.8%, Simulation 18.5%, Sandbox 14.7%, Capitalism 13.9%, Moddable 10.6%

Why You'll Like It: Its grid-based building and management systems are highly influential for any tycoon-style game involving layout design.

Cook and serve dishes as you run your own seafood restaurant! Unlock new recipes, grow your kitchen with the help of employees, and satisfy every customer’s craving. Expand your reputation, manage resources wisely, and build a seafood restaurant that becomes the talk of the town.

Why similar: Cooking 37.5%, Simulation 21.3%, Management 20.2%, Sandbox 11.2%, Family Friendly 3.3%

Tasty Chef is a cozy restaurant management and cooking game where you build and expand unique restaurants, design menus, order ingredients, prepare dishes step by step, hire helpful staff, and serve customers alone or with friends.

Why similar: Cooking 44.6%, Management 32.5%, Simulation 15.6%, Relaxing 3.6%, 3D 2.2%

Run your own restaurant. Create your menu, hire staff, decorate the place, take orders, serve guests, and grow your business. Food critics, online orders, events, and kitchen chaos are on the menu!

Why similar: Cooking 32.4%, Management 29.7%, Simulation 12.2%, Sandbox 8.7%, Family Friendly 6.1%

Bake, build, and grow your dream bakery cafe! Create delicious pastries, design your space, and serve customers. Play solo or with friends in online co-op to expand your business and experience the excitement of running a bustling cafe!

Why similar: Cooking 39%, Simulation 17.1%, Management 16.4%, Capitalism 13%, Sandbox 10.9%

What if you had it in your power to rid the world of disease, to improve the lives of millions, to ease suffering and cure the sick… and earn a tidy profit? As the head of your own Pharmaceutical Conglomerate you have this power resting in your hands. Will you use it for good?

Why similar: Management 48.2%, Simulation 16.9%, Isometric 9.9%, Moddable 9.4%, Sandbox 7.6%

Why You'll Like It: It challenges players to manage production lines and research, appealing to the analytical side of restaurant management.

Run a roadside Pizza restaurant with your friends. Play solo or in Co-op with other players. Make pizzas fast and fill orders. Keep your customers happy and get more orders. Improve your restaurant as your income increases.

Why similar: Cooking 36.6%, Management 24.2%, Capitalism 15%, Simulation 12.9%, Character Customization 6.9%

Build, manage, and scale your very own Bakso restaurant in this first-person simulator. Design your layout, hire and train various staffs, upgrade your gear, expand your place and satisfy every customer to become the best Bakso empire in the world!

Why similar: Cooking 38.5%, Management 23.4%, Simulation 21.9%, Sandbox 7.1%, Family Friendly 5.5%

Welcome to Wrap House Simulator! Run your own wrap shop, chop, grill, and serve in this cooking adventure. Customize your shop, master the grill, and survive the rush solo or co-op with up to 6 players. Keep up with orders, satisfy customers, and build your dream restaurant!

Why similar: Cooking 39.5%, Management 24.1%, Simulation 14.3%, Capitalism 12.6%, Sandbox 8.4%

Create and decorate your cozy cafe, where guests can enjoy delicious food and drinks. Expand your service with a supermarket offering a wide selection of fresh products, so visitors can not only have a tasty meal but also do some shopping. Play solo or with friends in cooperative mode!

Why similar: Management 31.6%, Cooking 26.3%, Simulation 15.4%, Character Customization 12.3%, Sandbox 6.9%

Welcome to the bustling world of street food! Grill hot dogs, sizzle hamburgers, and serve delicious snacks to hungry customers. Find best spot in the city, perfect your recipes, manage your stand and watch your reputation grow!

Why similar: Management 32.2%, Cooking 29.9%, Sandbox 13.6%, Simulation 13.4%, Relaxing 4.8%

Build, design and manage your own café in this detailed cafe management simulator. Hire staff, craft your menu, serve customers and grow your coffee shop business in a lively island city.

Why similar: Management 30.8%, Cooking 30.7%, Capitalism 14%, Simulation 13%, Sandbox 6.7%

Welcome to the world's most chaotic place! Play solo or co-op with up to 6 players. Run a fast-food restaurant, and work with your friends to expand your business. Take orders, make burgers, and increase your earnings by dealing with customers.

Why similar: Cooking 39.2%, Management 33.7%, Simulation 21.5%, Character Customization 2.8%, 3D 1.4%

Run your dream pizzeria solo or with up to 6 players in chaotic online co-op multiplayer. Cook authentic pizzas, automate your kitchen, customize your restaurant, survive disasters, invest in stocks, gamble and build the ultimate Italian restaurant empire.

Why similar: Cooking 43.6%, Management 29.2%, Simulation 14.5%, Character Customization 11.3%, Singleplayer 1.4%

Cozy Italian Vacation Cafe 🏖️ No timers, No stress 😌 cook traditional dishes 🍝 upgrade and customize 🏠 just drink Prosecco 🥂 relax and grow your dream cafe ✨

Why similar: Cooking 34.3%, Management 29.6%, Simulation 13.1%, Sandbox 8.6%, Family Friendly 6%

Revive a closed-down gaming café and build it into the ultimate gaming hub! Manage rentals, sell gaming merch, and expand with PCs, consoles, and an in-house café to prepare and sell fresh food. Attract customers with unique gaming sections. Can you turn your dream café into a bustling success?

Why similar: Cooking 34.2%, Management 32.8%, Simulation 15.3%, Sandbox 8.1%, Relaxing 4.8%

Craft your culinary adventure in a beautiful pixel art world. Manage your restaurants, forage and hunt for ingredients, befriend locals, and grow your culinary empire. What kind of chef will you be?

Why similar: Cooking 47.1%, Management 36.8%, Simulation 11.5%, Relaxing 4.5%

Restore your fantasy tavern to its full glory. Repair, improve and expand the establishment. Cook delicious food and keep an eye on the mood of the visitors. Create a unique atmosphere for unforgettable adventures!

Why similar: Management 35.6%, Cooking 31.5%, Simulation 14.6%, Sandbox 11.3%, Relaxing 5.3%

Start bake, build, and grow your dream bakery cafe with prologue now! Create delicious pastries, design your space, and serve customers. Play solo or with friends in online co-op to expand your business and experience the excitement of running a bustling cafe!

Why similar: Cooking 36.7%, Management 19.8%, Simulation 16.4%, Capitalism 13.8%, Sandbox 9.9%

Chicken Fries is a first-person restaurant simulator where you run a fast-food kitchen: prepare meals by hand, manage fryers and inventory, serve customers, and survive the daily chaos of a busy restaurant, one chicken at a time.

Why similar: Cooking 40.7%, Management 35.4%, Simulation 15.9%, 3D 3.6%, Relaxing 2.2%

Step into the world of a Restaurateur in Restaurant Owner: Prologue, where you create unique recipes, manage your restaurant, and satisfy customers. Unlock ingredients, design your menu, and start your journey toward becoming a top Restaurant Manager. Your culinary adventure begins here!

Why similar: Cooking 34.5%, Management 31.5%, Simulation 12.4%, Sandbox 10%, Relaxing 5%

In Game Dev Tycoon you replay the history of the gaming industry by starting your own video game development company in the 80s. Create best selling games. Research new technologies and invent new game types. Become the leader of the market and gain worldwide fans.

Why similar: Management 63.6%, Simulation 23.9%, Moddable 4.8%, Sandbox 3%, Indie 2.3%

Buy cooking equipment, prepare delicious meals, and serve hungry customers. Upgrade your setup, read customer reviews, and expand your business to become the top fast-food joint in the city.

Why similar: Cooking 38.6%, Management 34.4%, Simulation 15.5%, Relaxing 4.5%, Sandbox 3.7%

Launch your own business from scratch! Starting with a small coffee booth, build the most popular food service chain in town. Experiment, develop, make a profit.

Why similar: Cooking 36.4%, Management 33.7%, Simulation 14.6%, Sandbox 10.7%, 3D 3.2%

In Game Builder Tycoon, begin as an indie game developer. Personalize your character, craft hit games, manage marketing, research stuff and manage a skilled team. Overcome competition to guide your game development studio to global recognition and dominate the gaming industry.

Why similar: Management 33%, Capitalism 18.2%, Simulation 15.3%, Character Customization 11.2%, Sandbox 8.8%

Welcome to Inn Tycoon: Prologue! Build, design, and manage your dream inn. Serve delightful meals, offer various services, and hire a stellar staff. Create a top-notch hospitality empire and become the ultimate Inn Tycoon!

Why similar: Cooking 30.3%, Management 26.2%, Capitalism 14.7%, Simulation 10.5%, Sandbox 9.5%

Cozy café store management simulator: renovate and decorate, stock shelves, and run the checkout. Roll in deliveries with a cart, set up promotions and hire staff as you expand from a tiny shop into a bustling café.

Why similar: Cooking 36.5%, Management 30.8%, Sandbox 10.2%, Family Friendly 8.8%, Relaxing 6.2%

Run the world's most chaotic fast food joint! Play solo or with up to 8 friends as you take orders, make burgers, and hustle to keep customers happy. Grow your business with every shift.

Why similar: Cooking 38.3%, Management 31.6%, Simulation 17%, Character Customization 5.7%, 3D 3%

Become an ace doctor, an aspiring architect and a successful manager at the same time. Design your very own hospital, tweak every detail or choose one of the prebuilt scenarios and just jump to the doctor’s duty.

Why similar: Management 44.7%, Simulation 16.2%, Sandbox 11.6%, Moddable 9.3%, Character Customization 8.5%

Open your own café and create a place brimming with aroma and flavor. Serve coffee, pastries, and desserts, expand your bar, decorate the interior, and serve your guests in a way that keeps them coming back for more!

Why similar: Cooking 40.7%, Management 25.3%, Simulation 22.8%, Relaxing 4.5%, Family Friendly 4.2%

Run your dream ice cream shop in Ice Cream Simulator! Create delicious ice cream using a variety of ingredients, manage your business, hire staff, decorate your store, handle changing weather and different customers, and enjoy a relaxing first-person simulation experience.

Why similar: Cooking 31.4%, Management 27.2%, Capitalism 15.1%, Simulation 11.4%, Sandbox 9.2%