Continue a restaurant or end it
For a break, choose Quit Game rather than Abandon. The documented Quit Game action preserves the ongoing run. On returning to Headquarters, use the save table to load that restaurant; starting through the Garage’s Begin Run area creates a new restaurant instead.
| Action or state | What it means |
|---|---|
| Quit Game during an ongoing run | Leave the game and retain a restaurant to resume |
| Select its entry at the HQ save table | Load that saved restaurant |
| Abandon | End the run early |
| Finalize a failed restaurant | Return to HQ with earned progression; the restaurant layout is not a franchise reward |
| Create a Franchise after qualifying | Retain selected cards and the menu for a new restaurant |
| Change a bedroom Profile | Change character identity and controls; it does not create an independent progression account |
These are the normal game actions. Crash-closing the game, Steam Cloud recovery, manual file replacement and modded undo features are separate cases, not guaranteed substitutes for saving.
What persists between restaurants?
Experience unlocks, Garage rewards, reusable plants and saved franchises belong to progression outside a particular restaurant. Appliances bought and arranged inside a restaurant are part of that run; creating a franchise does not preserve the finished kitchen as an editable layout.
The HQ bedroom Profile consists of the character’s name, outfit, hat and colour. Save files, Garage inventory and experience are tied to the player, not that Profile. Choosing a fresh Profile can therefore show existing unlocks and stored items. It is not a factory reset.
In multiplayer, the host’s Headquarters controls the offered layouts, recipes, Garage and franchises. Rejoining a friend’s lobby and opening your own HQ can therefore show different available progress.
Create and use a Franchise
- Complete Day 15. Choose the offered Franchise Card; it affects a future franchise run, not the restaurant currently in progress.
- When that restaurant ends, choose whether to create a franchise or scrap the cards for XP.
- To create one, select three eligible non-franchise cards gained in that run. Any prerequisites must also be satisfied. Its menu, theme, Franchise Card and previously inherited cards travel with it.
- At HQ, select the saved franchise and inspect its cards before beginning a new restaurant.
Activating a franchise consumes that stored franchise. To keep the chain going, qualify and franchise the next restaurant again. Abandoning it or failing before another successful Day 15 does not restore the previously consumed franchise. Shredding a saved franchise for XP also removes it.
A lost run or an entry that will not load
A star at the save table identifies a franchise and shows its tier. A red X indicates an entry failed to load; the HQ reference lists bugs and missing mods as possible causes. A red X is not proof that the save has been permanently erased.
If normal failure has already been finalized, ordinary continuation does not recreate that restaurant. A saved franchise preserves its selected cards, not the original room. No recovery method here promises to restore a completed loss.
Before attempting platform-specific recovery, preserve any existing backups and record the platform, game version, host and any previously required mods. For a mod-related entry, consult the current official Workshop notice before changing installed content. Do not delete all saves to fix a single failing entry. For a new-player fresh start, remember that changing Profile alone leaves progression shared.
References
- PlateUp! dailyPlateUp! daily
- PlateUp! hqPlateUp! hq