---
title: "How many cameras does a restaurant need? | Botnizer"
description: "Count the areas you need to see, not the square metres. Here are the areas every restaurant should cover, and what a drive-thru adds."
canonical: https://www.botnizer.com/en/insights/how-many-cameras-does-a-restaurant-need
---

INSIGHTS · VIDEO SECURITY

# How Many Cameras Does a Restaurant Need?

Count the areas you need to see, not the square metres. Most restaurants need one camera for each area below.

By the Botnizer team · 8 October 2026 · 2 min read

## The Short Answer

List the places where money, food, guests and stock move. Put one camera on each. A counter-service restaurant usually ends up with six to eight areas. A drive-thru adds two or three more.

## The Areas to Cover

1.  **Tills.** One view of every till, showing hands and the drawer.
2.  **Kitchen and prep.** To check food handling and settle complaints.
3.  **Dining area.** One or two views, depending on the shape of the room.
4.  **Front door.** Who comes in and when.
5.  **Back door and deliveries.** Where stock arrives and leaves.
6.  **Storage and cash office.** The places only staff should be.

## What a Drive-Thru Adds

7.  **Order point.** The car and the guest at the speaker.
8.  **Window.** Payment and handover.
9.  **The lane and car park.** Queues, accidents and number plates.

## What Changes the Number

-   **The shape of the room.** Corners and pillars need extra views.
-   **Kiosks.** Cover them like tills.
-   **Outdoor seating.** One more view.
-   **How you use video.** If you only want security, cover doors and tills. If you want to run the business with it, cover the kitchen and the lane too.

## Before You Buy New Cameras

Check the ones you have. Cloud video works with many existing cameras, so a move to the cloud doesn't always mean new hardware.

## One Branch or Many

With cloud video, the count per branch matters less than seeing all branches in one place. You log in once and move between restaurants.

[Explore video security](https://www.botnizer.com/en/solutions/video-security)

## Questions About Cameras

### How many cameras does a small restaurant need?

Count the areas: tills, kitchen, dining room, front door, back door and storage. That's usually six to eight cameras for a counter-service restaurant.

### How many more for a drive-thru?

Usually two or three: the order point, the window, and the lane or car park.

### Do I need new cameras to move to cloud video?

Not always. Cloud video works with many existing cameras. Have yours checked first.

## Want a Camera Plan?

Send us your floor plan or a few photos and we'll mark where the cameras should go.