This is a quick review of the Dine Out game pack. My overall rating for the pack is a 1/10. There are several reasons for this rating. I was expecting a cozy gaming experience with a little challenge, but the entire experience was a stressful disaster. Eco Lifestyle N.A.P.s and Seasons weather and holidays will add to the misery you will experience.

The Good

These are things I like about the pack. You can agree with these or not. This section is subjective.

• Can visit or own a restaurant
• Make money from the restaurant without visiting it so you can have a chain of restaurants. This is better than the retail or small business retail systems
• 20 Experimental dishes, 20 regular food dishes, 8 new drinks
• Comes with 6 premade restaurants if you don't want to build one yourself. Each one is built around one of the preset menus.
• There are a variety of perks available for the restaurant that aren't filler and will actually make running it easier, but the perks should have been in the format of a skill tree
• There are preset menus to help you get started quickly
• Can set the dress code for the restaurant which is better than the small business system
• There is a good amount of signage and with signs from other packs you can create a unique brand.
• You can get a birthday cake or wedding cake without having to bake it yourself but you can only enjoy it at the restaurant.
• Perks carry over to each new restaurant you build.
• You can disallow new customers, which is something you can't do with the retail system or the small business system.
• You can create a restaurant without having a Sim own it. This feature is not available for retail lots.

The Bad

These are things I don't like about the pack. You can agree with these or not. This section is subjective.

• Can only prepare experimental foods using the chef station
• Can't save custom menu presets
• It might be considered good for some but phone call invites to go to a restaurant
• Can't hire any Sim you want for a position. It must only be townies. The household's only role is the manager for the restaurant.
• There is no purpose to having a refrigerator, stove, sink, or dishwasher in the kitchen. The chefs only use the chef station for cooking., The waiters use the waiter station for cleaning up. 
• There is no separate line for tips, so you don't know how much your restaurant receives in tips if you have the perk.
• There is no indication of what level you are with the Tiny Tippers perk in the UI.
• The chef hat seems to be the only unlockable CAS in the game. Like all the packs before DHD, you can't view it in CAS. There is nothing special about it. It doesn't give moodlets and it seems like a waste of perk points.
• No new aspirations or skills.
• The CAS and build mode look outdated in 2026. It didn't have a lasting style.
• Since Dine Out is its own pack, no other packs or kits could create similar items with better styling or build mode objects.
• Besides adding new recipes to the menu, there is very little cross-pack play. The only cross-pack play is from City Living that allows your Sim to be a food critic at the restaurants.
• If you want a bar tender or a musician at your restaurant, you will have to hire one every time you open.
• There are no visual cues so you can see which perk you purchased in the UI. You have to scroll over each one.

The Ugly

Here I will post all the bugs for the pack just so you know how bad it is. I'm only posting the bugs I personally experienced. I've reported a lot of bugs that I didn't see posted before.

• [DO] Dishes not being cleaned/disposed of | EA Forums - 12314870
• [DO] Sims do not stay seated at Restaurant | EA Forums - 12100992
• [SE] [DO] Snowy escape meals and dishes not ordered by clients in restaurants | EA Forums - 12041283
• [DO] NPC Parents Greet Children and Stand Up from Table
• [DO] Giving Recommendations to Customers Prevents Waiter Interactions | EA Forums - 13284803
• [DO] [GF] Celebrities Distract NPC Customers | EA Forums - 13284470
• [DO] Employee Settings for Outfits Don't Update in UI
• [DO] [S] NPC Customers Will Engage in Holiday Activities Instead of Eating
• [DO] [S] NPC Customers and Waiters Will Autonomously Engage in Winter Activities
• [DO] [RL] NPC Customers Swordfight Autonomously Instead of Eating
• [DO] [ECO] NPC Customers Engage in N.A.P. Autonomously Instead of Eating
• [DO][DHD] Customers Will Get Up from their Seat to Judge Decor | EA Forums - 13287033
• [DO] Customers Leave Table to Dig in Trash Can | EA Forums - 13287141
• [DO] Customers Will Leave Their Table to Go for a Jog if Energized | EA Forums - 13287154
• [DO] If a Bar is in a Restaurant Customers Will Take their Plates to the Bar
• [DO] Customers Will Talk Instead of Being Seated | EA Forums - 13287442
• [DO] Customers Leave Their Table to Clean Dishes | EA Forums - 13287446
• [DO][RL] Skill Levels & Prices Don't Match for the New Foods | EA Forums - 13287471
• [DO] Annoying Phone Call Asking to Come Over | EA Forums - 13287502
• [DO] Sims Constantly Get Up from Table to View Decorations | EA Forums - 13287544
• Menu items skill doesn't align with price (need to report it's from several packs). This breaks the experience of having a Sim work up to a higher level menu.

Some Tips

Here are some tips I learned from managing a restaurant for those who already own the pack. If you don't own the pack and don't play with mods, I suggest you don't buy the pack until the autonomy of the Sims is fixed.

• If your business has a higher star rating, pay less for advertising. Higher level businesses get more customers anyways.
• If you chefs are skilled, pay less for ingredients. Higher level chefs will cook better food.
• To keep employee satisfaction up without giving raises, use the inspirational perk, praise employees every time it resets (every 2 hours I believe), and don't work them longer than 8 hours.
• The largest party that will come to your restaurant is 4. So, you don't need tables for more that 4 Sims unless you plan to have a large group of your Sims visit the restaurant.
• Toddles and infants won't come to the restaurant. You will only need highchairs if you plan on brining your own Sims within these age groups.
• To earn money quickly, only sell the highest priced menu items. Selling lower priced menu items to create a themed restaurant can be done once you've decided you've made enough and you want to have more fun.
• Don't run your restaurant at night. That's when the least number of customers come. It's better to run it during daylight hours until maybe 10 pm at the latest.
• Keep your tables and kitchen on the same floor. Improve the layout so customers can get served quickly.
• Remember a max of 20 Sims can be on a lot. Expect maybe 15 customers maximum at a time. Less, if you send your household to the lot. Only send one Sim from your household to manage the restaurant at a time to have the maximum number of customers.
• If you have Seasons installed, it's best to only operate an indoor restaurant depending on the world. Outdoor restaurants will not operate correctly in rain or during heavy snowstorms.