Because some cast members from Het schnitzelparadijs (2005) did not return, "spiritual replacements" were introduced for the TV series, and some returning characters "swapped roles":
- Micha Hulshof plays the male lead and the newbie who starts out washing the dishes, the role played by Noah Valentyn in the film. Though still called Sander, Hulshof's character is much different from the movie. Instead of being the bully, he is an innocent, peaceful person. Basically, the theory is, that the series - as far as Sander goes - is a prequel to the movie.
- Eva van de Wijdeven plays the female lead (Femke) on whom the newbie gets a crush, the role played by Bracha van Doesburgh (Agnes) in the film.
- Arent-Jan Linde plays the racist "commander" of the kitchen, the role Sander ( Micha Hulshof) played in the film.
- Yahya Gaier and José Klaase play the loud-mouthed, dumb duo who give a lot of comic relief. In the film Mimoun Oaïssa and Yahya Gaier played this role, except in the series Gaier plays the dominant of the two, whereas in the film he was the more passive one.
- Dick van den Toorn plays the chef who runs the restaurant, the role played by Frank Lammers in the film. Lammers had a name in the movie (Willem), Van den Toorn's character is just called Chef.
- Tygo Gernandt, Gürkan Küçüksentürk and Sanne Vogel return in the same roles, playing the same characters with the same places in the ensemble. Though the characters of Goran (played by Gernandt) and Claudia (played by Vogel) are significantly different from the movie. Goran is a much dumber and more comedic character. Claudia's part in the movie was very small, in the series she gets more screen time, therefore she was given more character.
- Peer Mascini's character and his role have been invented entirely for the series, with no direct or indirect relation to the film.
Originally it was the plan to have director Martin Koolhoven, who directed the successful movie (which led to this series) aboard, but pretty fast it became clear Koolhoven had no interest in directing this series. Writer Marco van Geffen became the creative force behind the series, supervising the writing and directing half of the episodes. For the other half,young director Arne Toonen was brought in. In an interview Koolhoven has said to be involved in some of the casting and gave advise on the editing of the (unaired) pilot. He had nothing to do with the actual series.
In contrast to the movie, the series was not very successful and therefore only one season was made.
The series had a different director, editor, sound designer, director of photography, production designer than the movie and none of the three main actors (Noah Valentyn, Bracha van Doesburgh and Mimoun Oaïssa). Also the major supporting actors Mohammed Chaara, Frank Lammers, Sabri Saad El-Hamus and Linda van Dyck did not return.