A sporting expansion

It's been two and a half months since the last one, but at last I'm ready to expand my restaurant again, this time to 21x24.

Expansion to 21x24

As you can see this expansion costs 7,500,000 coins (or 80 gems) and requires players to have 45 neighbours before it can be executed. I've saved up over 8,500,000 coins to ensure I have plenty left over for refurbishments and any upcoming sets of goals.

So here are the before and after pictures of The Garlic Tree:

The Garlic Tree before expansion to 21x24

The Garlic Tree after expansion to 21x24

Obviously there is no real change in the layout of my diner, with only two significant alterations. The first is the increase in the number of tables and chairs. Previously I could seat 22 at any one time but can now accomodate 27, which is enough to prevent any angry and impatient customers from leaving in a huff.

The second change is to change one of my themed sections. While the steampunk, retro diner and futuristic areas remain in place, I've stored the old Autumn section, increased the size of the space, and added a new sports theme.

New sports section in The Garlic Tree

In particular I've opted for a football theme (aka American football in my part of the world, as opposed to football which you lot in the US call soccer!) The big expenditures are on the Sports Bar and the Referee Waitress. The first of these is the item which swayed my decision to go with a football theme. The Sports Bar may have cost me 42 gems, but it looks like a 2nd prize from a box. So it was a great item to be able to get my hands on without the lottery of the boxes.

Meanwhile the Referee Waitress was a 14 gem investment, and adds a character to my restaurant which - as I've previously said - is something I do like to have.

The Football Couch is a nice piece considering that it costs coins, while the counters are also a fine coin addition. The tables I've currently got in place don't go with the theme, but the Football Table costs 4 gems a pop, and I now don't have any gems left! But when I save up another 8 gems, I'll be buying two of those tables immediately.

The Astro Turf is another coin purchase, and nicely completes the area.

 Previous expansion posts

 01/06/13 Another expansion at The Garlic Tree
 13/04/13 The Garlic Tree refurbished
 20/02/13 Expansion time!

It's worth pointing out some of the content from the football theme which I haven't actually bought. There are a few wall decorations relating to this theme such as two framed jerseys and a pennant which, crucially, cost coins. With the position of this new section not including any walls, the wall decorations aren't an option at the moment.

Then there's the Football Chest. It contains a couple of desirable items, but not a lot else in my opinion. Usually I like to invest in a dip or two into the boxes due to the exclusivity of the items gained, but this particular box doesn't light my fire.

So that's The Garlic Tree fitted out for a while. I'm now back to an empty gem bag, so it will be some time before I'm ready to redecorate again, while the next expansion is a long way off.

Expansion to 22x25

The penultimate expansion to 22x25 costs 10,000,000 coins (or 80 gems) and requires me to have 50 neighbours. After clearing out some of the inactive neighbours in my list I'm still well positioned on that front with exactly 50 neighbours, but have a lot of coin saving to do!