Cafe/Resturaunt

[theboomzone]

Wondering, is it possible to make a diner/restaurant/cafe? Do I need a rabbit hole rug so that it'll count as one? Help!

[Esmeralda]

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you want it to be a career diner where Cook sims will go to work, you'll need to use the rabbit hole rug. If you only want it to be a functioning cafe sort of thing where you can watch your sims dine out rather than just watch them disappear into a rabbithole, rezone a community lot as a 'Hangout' and make a kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee machine, sink, and trash can, and an area with tables and chairs, and sims will come along and help themselves to food from the fridge and coffee from the machine, and sit at the tables to eat and drink. You can also add a bar if you want to, and sims will serve themselves drinks.

You can do all that with just the base game and its default objects. If you have WA, you can also use the Food cash register - the game will grab one of your townies to run it, and your sims can go up to that sim and buy food from them. Likewise with the Late Night bars, which also serve food. You can also buy the Deep Fat Fryer and Ice Cream Maker from the EA Store and put them on the lot, and sims will help themselves to those.

You can also put the rabbit hole and the above mentioned stuff on one lot and have the best of both - I made a diner that consisted of a 'real' diner using the stuff I've mentioned, and also a mysterious empty back room which my career Cook sims enter in order to disappear into the 'Diner' rabbithole rug to go to work.

[theboomzone]

Okay. What happens if I place a food register?

[Esmeralda]

Okay. What happens if I place a food register?
As mentioned, the game will grab a townie to run it, and your sims can go up to that sim and buy food from them. There's a pic in one of my uploads that depicts what it looks like, below: the two sims have just gone to the guy at the cash register, ordered food from him, and sat down to eat it.
http://thumbs2.modthesims.info/img/3/1/6/9/9/6/3/MTS2_EsmeraldaF_1059714_Chinese_food.jpg
You just place the cash register on a counter, with enough room behind the counter for the service sim to stand, and you're good to go.

In-game, you click on the cash register on behalf of your active sim, and choose 'Order food'. A menu will then pop up on the screen, and you choose what you want your sim to eat. The sim manning the register will give your sim the food.

Note that sometimes there won't be a sim at the register right away (the option to order food will be greyed out and it will say the store is 'closed') - you might have to wait a few minutes for one to appear.