The aim of this paper was to analyze the biomethanization process of food waste (FW) from a university campus restaurant in six reactors with three different total solid percentages (20%, 25% and 30% TS) and two different inoculum percentages (20-30% of mesophilic sludge). The experimental procedure was programmed to select the initial performance parameters (total solid and inoculum contents) in a lab-reactor with V: 1100 mL and, later, to validate the optimal parameters in a lab-scale batch reactor with V: 5000 mL. The best performance for food waste biodegradation and methane generation was the reactor with 20% of total solid and 30% of inoculum: give rise to an acclimation stage with acidogenic/acetogenic activity between 20 and 60 days and methane yield of 0.49 L CH4/g VS. Also, lab-scale batch reactor (V: 5000 mL) exhibit the classical waste decomposition pattern and the process was completed with high values of methane yield (0.22 L CH4/g VS). Finally, a protocol was proposed to enhance the start-up phase for dry thermophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.