Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2
A restaurant sim with over 180 dishes and Chef for Hire mode.
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2 (written as Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!) is a restaurant simulation game from Vertigo Gaming, released in 2017 for PC and Mac. It follows the original Cook, Serve, Delicious! and adds over 180 dishes, restaurant decoration options, and a Chef for Hire mode. The game launched on Steam and Good Old Games on September 13, 2017, then on PlayStation 4 on December 18, 2018, and for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on April 10, 2019. A third game, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3, came out in October 2020.
Players run a small restaurant, cooking orders and handling cleanup within a time limit by pressing buttons or typing keys to match sequences. Some steps require waiting for food to finish before completing them, and players can switch between tasks. Correct, timely actions boost the score; mistakes hurt the restaurant’s reputation. Money earned each day buys new recipes, and varying the menu attracts more customers.
New features include over 180 foods (up from 30), split into Entrees, Sides, and Drinks. Sides need pre-preparation in a Holding Station; some drinks are self-served. Entrees work like before, though a few, like French Toast, require Holding Stations. Players can decorate their restaurant with art, wallpapers, and furniture. The Chef for Hire system lets players work at more than thirty themed restaurants, and a local co-op mode is included. Holding Stations allow pre-cooking before customers arrive. Patches added options removed from the first game. The Iron Cook and Catering events were taken out.
Originally planned for August 2017 on Steam, the game was released a month later. It received mixed reviews, scoring 62 out of 100 on Metacritic. GameSpew highly recommended it, praising the easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay and post-release patches, though they found kitchen customization unnecessary. Kotaku’s Gita Jackson called it exhilarating and stress-relieving, with beautiful food visuals. GamesMaster UK, however, was baffled by its appeal.
- Developer
- Vertigo Gaming
- Publisher
- Vertigo Gaming
- Initial release date
- September 13, 2017
- Platforms
- PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
- Metacritic score
- 62/100
- Number of dishes
- over 180
Lore & Background
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! has the player act as the chef and principal operator for a small restaurant. Over the course of a day, including periods of high activity, the player must cook requested orders and perform cleanup and sanitary tasks within a limited time. Most tasks require pressing controller buttons or typing specific keys to match sequences. Players can start an order and wait for it to cook before completing remaining steps, switching between pending tasks as needed. Correct and timely actions improve the player's score, while mistakes harm the restaurant's reputation. Completing each day earns in-game money to buy new recipes, and varying the menu draws in new customers.
The game greatly expands the quantity of foods from 30 dishes to over 180. It allows players to decorate their restaurant with art, wallpapers, and furniture. Food is split into three types: Entrees, Sides, and Drinks. Sides are only ordered if pre-prepared in a Holding Station; several drinks are self-served. Some entrees like French Toast require Holding Stations. The game introduces a Chef for Hire system, allowing the player to work at over thirty restaurants, each with its own theme and menu, and a new local co-op game mode. Holding Stations allow food to be pre-prepared before customers arrive. Patches reintroduced options originally removed from the first game. The Iron Cook and Catering events were removed.
Reader's Guide
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! is notable as a sequel that significantly expanded its predecessor's scope, increasing the number of dishes from 30 to over 180 and introducing new mechanics such as restaurant decoration, food categorization into Entrees, Sides, and Drinks, Holding Stations for pre-preparation, and a Chef for Hire system with over thirty themed restaurants. It also added a local co-op mode. The game received mixed reviews, with a Metacritic aggregate score of 62/100. GameSpew highly recommended it, scoring 90%, praising the gameplay as 'easy to learn and fiendishly difficult to master' and the number of patches released, though they found the kitchen customization 'particularly unnecessary.' Kotaku's Gita Jackson described the game as 'quite exhilarating' despite causing stress, and noted the food looked 'beautiful,' calling it an achievement that 'washed away all [their] frustration.' GamesMaster UK, however, was 'baffled' and could not see why the game would be popular. The game was originally scheduled for August 2017 on Steam but released a month later, with console versions following in 2018 and 2019. A sequel, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3, was released in October 2020.
Did You Know?
- The game increased the number of dishes from 30 to over 180 compared to the original.
- It introduced a Chef for Hire system allowing work at over thirty restaurants.
- The Iron Cook and Catering events from the first game were removed.
- The game received a Metacritic score of 62/100, indicating mixed reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!?
It's a frantic restaurant-management sim from Vertigo Gaming in which you juggle cooking, serving, and cleaning in a tiny eatery. It serves as the direct sequel to the original Cook, Serve, Delicious! and expands the experience with a much larger recipe roster and extra gameplay modes.
Who developed and published Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!?
The indie studio Vertigo Gaming handled both development and publishing. The title first appeared on PC and Mac through Steam and GOG in September 2017 before rolling out to consoles over the next year and a half.
What new features does Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! add over the first game?
The sequel grows the recipe list to more than 180 dishes and introduces a Chef for Hire mode where you take on cooking contracts for other establishments. Players can also decorate their own kitchen, adding a layer of visual customization that the original lacked.
Which platforms can I play Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! on?
The game is available on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. The PS4 version launched in December 2018, while Switch and Xbox One received their ports in April 2019.
Is there a third entry in the Cook, Serve, Delicious! series?
Yes—Vertigo Gaming released Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3!! in October 2020 as the follow-up to the 2017 sequel. It continues the same chaotic kitchen-management loop while adding further expanded content and mechanics.
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