Need restaurant advice - am I progressing correctly or making mistakes?

Hey everyone, looking for some restaurant advice from experienced players because I’m trying to understand whether my restaurant progression is normal or if I’m doing something fundamentally wrong.

Current setup:

• Level 1 economy restaurant
• Rating: ~2.3
• Economy seating
• Economy staff
• Menu price currently: $60
• Occupancy recently: ~38% to 46%
• Current losses: around -$16k to -$22k per cycle
• Using a leaner menu now after originally overspending heavily

What happened so far:

• I started with a huge premium menu (Q3-Q5 items, lots of variety)
• My sourcing cost was around ~$95k/cycle
• I was losing $75k-$82k every cycle
• Realized the math was impossible at $60 menu price
• Cut down menu size and sourcing cost aggressively
• Now losses are much smaller and occupancy improved a lot

Progression so far:

• Occupancy improved from ~18-20% -> ~40-46%
• Rating went from ~1.2 -> ~2.3
• Losses dropped massively

Current menu philosophy:

• Trying to balance:
  • enough variety for rating growth
  • without overburning cash
• Mostly using cheaper items now
• Considering whether I should use Q0, Q1, or Q2 foods going forward

Questions:

1. Am I progressing normally for an early restaurant?
2. At what rating did your restaurant start approaching breakeven?
3. Should I stay at $60 longer or slowly test $65 again?
4. Is my menu currently TOO lean for rating growth?
5. Is Q1/Q2 quality generally the sweet spot early?
6. At what occupancy % would you recommend upgrading from Level 1?
7. Are attractions like Castle/Lake worth investing in early or only later?
8. How do experienced restaurant players balance:
   • rating growth
   • menu variety
   • sourcing cost
   • pricing power

Would really appreciate any advice from experienced restaurant players because I’m starting to understand the mechanics better but still trying to optimize the growth phase.