A Printing Checklist for Opening a Restaurant or Café in Nairobi

Opening a restaurant or café involves a long list of things to get right before doors open — and print is easy to underestimate until you realize how many touchpoints it actually covers. Here's a practical checklist of what to plan for, and what to think about for each.

1. Menus

Your menu is doing more work than just listing prices — it's setting the tone for the entire experience before a single plate arrives. A few things worth deciding early:

• Page count and layout — pricing is generally based on page count, so a tighter, well-edited menu is both more affordable and easier for customers to actually read
• Lamination — worth it if the menu will be reused daily and handled a lot; less necessary for a single-use insert or a menu you plan to redesign often
• How often you'll update it — if your menu changes seasonally or you're still refining it, consider a smaller print run rather than a large one you'll have to discard

2. Table tents

Small standing cards on each table — table tents — are one of the most cost-effective ways to promote specials, upsell items, or share things like WiFi details without needing staff to repeat themselves to every table. Worth having on hand from day one, since they're relatively low-cost and can be swapped out as promotions change.

3. Receipts and transactional stationery

This is easy to forget until you're actually mid-service. You'll likely need one or more of:

• Receipt rolls, sized to match your actual POS/till machine (57mm or 80mm — check your machine before ordering)
• Cash sale books or receipt books, if you're not running a digital POS system, or want a paper backup
• Invoice books, if you handle any catering, bulk, or business-account orders separate from walk-in customers

4. Packaging, if you offer takeaway

If any part of your business involves food leaving the premises:

• Packaging boxes — structure matters here; a tuck-end box suits most takeaway food, while a pillow box or lid-and-base box might suit a bakery or gift-style item better
• Paper bags — kraft gives a natural look that pairs well with most food branding; consider handle type based on how heavy your typical order is

5. Window and storefront branding

Before you even open the door, your storefront is advertising. Depending on your space and budget:

• Window branding — cut vinyl for simple text/logo, full-colour print for more detailed graphics
• Wall branding, if you have interior wall space you want to use for atmosphere or brand storytelling

6. Business cards and marketing materials

Easy to deprioritize, but worth having ready for:

• Networking with suppliers, local business associations, or catering clients — business cards
• Flyers, if you're planning an opening promotion or want something to hand out locally

A practical order of priority

If budget or time is tight, prioritize in roughly this order: menus → receipts/transactional stationery → table tents → packaging (if relevant) → storefront branding → business cards. The first three affect every single customer interaction from day one; the rest matter, but can follow shortly after opening.

See everything PrintRed offers for restaurants and cafés on the Restaurants & Cafés industry page.