Restaurant stars are how you progress in Pao Pao. Each star pays coins, teaches new recipes and opens up more of the shops, the town and your own kitchen. You earn a star by building up your total rating and finishing a short list of extra tasks, and the star arrives the moment the last task is done. For the kitchen stations and tools you can buy along the way, see the tools and kitchen equipment guide.
How Restaurant Rating Works
Every order you serve adds rating, and the faster you serve, the more you get. Each dish has its own values: a simple plate gives 15 rating for a Perfect serve, 10 for Good and 5 for Normal, while the most involved dishes give 30 / 25 / 20. An order that runs out of time gives nothing. The recipes guide lists the rating and serving windows for every dish.
Rating is a running total that never resets when you earn a star, so the Total Rating column below is the lifetime number you need to reach. The biggest jump comes before Star 6: 4,400 rating, which takes about 147 Perfect serves of the most involved dishes or 294 of the simplest ones.
The Amateur Critic customer, who starts showing up at 3 stars, gives double rating for every order you serve them.
Star Requirements
You need the rating total and every task in the same row. The serving, streak and shift tasks only start counting once you have the previous star, so dishes you served earlier don’t carry over. Most stars ask for a dish the previous star taught you, so put each new recipe on your menu as soon as you learn it.
| Star | Title | Total Rating | Also Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star 1 | Diner | 500 | Serve 10 Catfish with Vegetables; Serve 5 dishes in a row without a failed order |
| Star 2 | Eatery | 1,400 | Serve 15 Baked Pike; Earn 700 coins in one shift |
| Star 3 | Canteen | 2,800 | Serve 10 Apple Pie; Expand to the Small Restaurant |
| Star 4 | Snack Bar | 5,000 | Work a full shift (6+ hours) and serve 15 dishes with no failed orders; Serve 10 Tilapia Dumplings |
| Star 5 | Cafe | 8,100 | Serve 10 Pumpkin Casserole; Work a full shift (6+ hours) and serve 15 dishes with no failed orders, with 3 dishes on the menu |
| Star 6 | Bistro | 12,500 | Serve 20 Tofu Wok; Expand to the Cozy Restaurant |
Some notes on the tasks:
- Dishes in a row (5 for Star 1) means consecutive successful orders. A failed order breaks the streak.
- Earn coins in one shift counts the coins from orders you serve during a single shift.
- A full shift means keeping the restaurant open for at least 6 in-game hours. You need to serve the listed number of dishes in that shift without a single failed order.
- Pumpkin Casserole (Star 5) needs Cheese, and no shop sells it. Buy a Cheese Dairy from Milo (1,500 coins at 4 stars) and feed it Milk from the Vegetable Shop. See the shops guide.
- Restaurant expansions come from the Beavers. See Restaurant Expansions below.
Star Rewards
Every star pays coins and teaches a batch of recipes. Star 2 also teaches the cake recipes for the Pastry Table. The full recipe list for each star is in the recipes guide.
| Star | Coins | New Recipes | Also Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star 1 | 500 coins | 6 recipes | Events: Secret Merchant |
| Star 2 | 1,000 coins | 4 recipes and 9 cakes | Restaurant expansion to the Small Restaurant; Repairs: Path to the Forest (City), Path to the Forest (Forest); Events: Critic in Town |
| Star 3 | 1,500 coins | 5 recipes | Repairs: Arcade, Clothing Shop |
| Star 4 | 2,000 coins | 5 recipes | Restaurant expansion to the Cozy Restaurant; Repairs: Scientist’s House, Bathhouse; Events: Magic Cauldron, Movie Theater |
| Star 5 | 3,500 coins | 5 recipes | None |
| Star 6 | 4,000 coins | 5 recipes | None |
New Shop Stock at Each Star
Stars also unlock new items in the shops. These are the new kitchen stations and tables at the Kitchen Equipment Shop and the new tools at the Tool Shop. Prices and details are in the tools and kitchen equipment guide.
| Star | Kitchen Equipment Shop | Tool Shop |
|---|---|---|
| Star 1 | Oven, Table for One | Water Gun |
| Star 2 | Mixer, Packing Station, Pastry Table, Table for Two | Apprentice’s Fishing Rod, Horn |
| Star 3 | Deep Fryer, Fast Stove | Large Watering Can, Miner’s Pickaxe, Sharp Axe, Sharpened Shovel, Stop Sign |
| Star 4 | Microwave Oven, Upgraded Sink | New Mop |
| Star 5 | Fast Deep Fryer, Fast Mixer, Old Wok | Efficient Shovel, Geologist’s Pickaxe, Master’s Fishing Rod, Professional Watering Can, Woodcutter’s Axe |
| Star 6 | Quality Mixer, Table for Three | Pro Mop |
New Customers at Each Star
New kinds of customers start visiting as your restaurant grows. Most of them need a little extra handling, and the right tool makes them easy.
| Customer | Shows Up From | What to Expect |
|---|---|---|
| Glutton | 1 star | Doesn’t pay for the first order, then pays triple for the second. |
| Messy customer | 1 star | Hose them down with the Water Gun as they walk in, or they make a mess of the place. |
| Sleepyhead | 2 stars | Falls asleep after eating. Wake them with the Horn. |
| Aggressor | 3 stars | Won’t order until you hit them a few times with the Stop Sign. |
| Amateur Critic | 3 stars | Gives double rating for every order you serve them. |
| Neat Freak | 4 stars | Won’t eat until the restaurant is spotless, so mop up spills first. |
| Indecisive | 5 stars | Changes their order partway through, but pays extra for the new one. |
| Tourist | 6 stars | Eats fast and often can’t pay the full price. |
Restaurant Expansions
The Beavers rebuild your restaurant into a bigger one, adding floor space for stations and tables. The option opens up during the story quest The House That Pao Built: once you’ve talked to the Beavers about the expansion, pick Upgrade Restaurant whenever you talk to them. They always offer the next size up, so you go through the expansions in order.
The coins and materials are used up when you place the order, while the stars are only checked. Construction then takes 2 days. Each expansion is also a requirement for a later star, so start saving the materials early.
| Restaurant | Stars | Coins | Materials | Build Time | Floor Tiles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Restaurant | 2 stars | 1,500 coins | 10 Oak, 10 Granite | 2 days | 64 |
| Cozy Restaurant | 4 stars | 3,000 coins | 15 Beech, 15 Slate | 2 days | 104 |
Floor Tiles is the number of grid tiles you can place stations and tables on. The starting restaurant has 44.
After the Cozy Restaurant, the Beavers tell you they can’t expand any further for now, so plan your kitchen around its 104 floor tiles.
Repairing Town Buildings
Several buildings around town are boarded up. Walk up to the repair sign in front of a building to see what the Beavers need, then start the work once you have it all. Like the expansions, the coins and materials are used up when the repair starts, and the stars are only checked.
| Building | Stars | Coins | Materials | Repair Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Library | From the start | 500 coins | 10 Granite, 10 Oak | 1 day |
| Path to the Forest (City) | 2 stars | 2,500 coins | None | 1 day |
| Path to the Forest (Forest) | 2 stars | 2,500 coins | None | 1 day |
| Arcade | 3 stars | 3,500 coins | 20 Beech, 20 Slate | 1 day |
| Clothing Shop | 3 stars | 1,500 coins | 20 Oak, 15 Granite | 1 day |
| Bathhouse | 4 stars | 4,000 coins | 40 Slate, 30 Beech | 1 day |
| Scientist’s House | 4 stars | 5,000 coins | 30 Slate, 20 Beech | 1 day |
The Library repair starts from the Beavers during the quest Lord of the Books: Return of the Beaver instead of from a sign.
Repairing the Library brings back the Literary Club event, and repairing the Scientist’s House brings the Telescope event, where you spot bubbling fishing spots in the bay that hold a mixed haul (see the fishing guide). Granite and Oak are on sale at the Resource Shop from the start, and you can also gather them with the basic Pickaxe and Axe (400 coins each at the Tool Shop). Slate and Beech go on sale there at 2 stars, and you can gather them yourself once the Miner’s Pickaxe and Sharp Axe unlock at 3 stars. The tools guide shows which tool each material needs.