Diners decide in a minute, on a phone
A restaurant is chosen faster than almost anything else a local business sells. Someone is hungry, or planning Friday, or looking for a place for twelve people next month. They search a cuisine and a place (“ramen near me,” “brunch” plus a neighborhood, “private room for 20”), look at three or four results, and decide on whatever answers their question first: are you open, what does it cost, what does it look like, can I get a table.
That makes the restaurant chapter of our guide on how to get more clients different from the trade chapters. There is no quote to follow up and no estimate to send. The work is to make the listing and the menu answer the question in seconds, then to bring the guest back.
Get the four answers right
1. Are you open? Hours by day, holiday hours set ahead of each holiday, and temporary closures. A diner who drives over and finds a dark dining room on a holiday writes the review you do not want. Put a reminder in the calendar two weeks before each holiday to update the profile, the website and any reservation platform.
2. What is on the menu, and what does it cost? A text menu on a web page, with prices and dietary notes (vegetarian, gluten-free, common allergens), dated, and updated when dishes change. A photo of a chalkboard or a PDF is hard to read on a phone, and search engines and AI assistants read text more reliably than images.
3. What does it look like? Current photos of the actual dishes, the dining room, the bar and the patio. Diners also look at photos other customers posted, so keep yours more recent than theirs.
4. Can I get a table, or order? A reservation link, an ordering link, and a phone number someone answers during service, all on the profile and the site.
Know which guests fill your tables
A restaurant serves several groups at once, and each one decides on different things:
| Guest | What they decide on | What to give them |
|---|---|---|
| Neighborhood regulars | Consistency, being recognized | A loyalty or text list (with consent), first word on new dishes |
| Weekday lunch from nearby offices | Speed, set price | A lunch menu, online ordering for pickup |
| Weekend dinner | Atmosphere, a reservation | Reservation link, photos of the room |
| Groups and private events | Capacity, set menu, an easy booking | Private dining page, quick quote |
| Takeout and delivery | Speed, the dish they already like | Your own ordering link, packaging that travels |
Pick the two or three groups that bring most of your revenue and write your pages and offers for them first.
Private dining and catering: the overlooked revenue
A single holiday party or rehearsal dinner can equal a strong night of regular service. Give it real attention:
- A private dining page with room capacities, seated and standing, sample menus by price per person, minimums, deposit rules and a request form.
- A catering page with what travels well, minimum order, lead time and delivery area.
- A one-page sheet for office managers, hotel concierges and wedding and event planners.
- A same-day reply to every request. Group bookers often ask several restaurants at once.
Book holiday parties early. Private rooms for December dates are often the first to go, so start offering them in late summer.
Platforms: rent the reach, own the guest
Reservation platforms such as OpenTable, Resy and Tock bring diners who book online. They charge subscriptions or per-cover fees, so read the terms and track covers by platform.
Delivery apps such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub bring orders but charge commissions or fees on each order. Compare the margin with a takeout order you take directly, and put your own ordering link on your profile, your site and the bag.
Google Business Profile is the listing most local diners see first. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. Reply to reviews, especially the critical ones, with a calm sentence about what you changed. Ask guests for reviews without offering anything in return: Google’s review policy bars offering discounts or free items for reviews.
Our restaurant website design page shows how we set up text menus, hours, private dining and ordering pages.
Reviews: reply like a host, not a lawyer
Diners read the owner’s replies as closely as the reviews. A defensive reply to a complaint about a long wait does more harm than the complaint. Three patterns cover most of what you will see:
- Praise for a dish or a server: thank them by name, mention the dish, invite them back for something new on the menu. One or two sentences.
- A complaint about wait time or a cold plate: thank them, say what happened if you know (“we were short a cook that Saturday”), say what you changed, and invite them to ask for you next time. No arguments about details.
- A review that is not about you, such as a different restaurant or a delivery driver’s mistake: say so politely and give the facts. If it breaks Google’s content policy, flag it; do not argue in public.
Ask for reviews the same way with every guest, such as a short line on the receipt or a QR code on the check presenter, never in exchange for a discount or a free dessert.
The seasonal calendar
Many restaurants plan around a handful of dates: holiday parties in November and December, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, graduations, and patio season. Patios matter most in warm months, so update photos and hours before the first warm weekend. Winter weeknights can be slow in some neighborhoods; a weekday lunch offer for nearby offices or a set-price weeknight menu can help. Your own reservations and sales by week from last year are the best calendar.
Your 30-day plan
Week 1: The four answers. Fix hours, including the next holiday, on every platform. Publish the menu as text with prices and dietary notes. Upload ten current photos. Reply to every review from the last month.
Week 2: Groups. Publish a private dining page and a catering page with capacities, sample menus and a request form. Set the same-day reply rule.
Week 3: Outreach. Send the one-page sheet to five office managers, two hotel concierges and two event planners. Start a regulars list, with consent, at the host stand or with the receipt.
Week 4: Count. Track covers and orders by source: walk-in, your own link, each platform, private events. Compare the margin per order by channel. Open bookings for the next holiday season.
What it costs with us
A 5-8 page restaurant site with a text menu, private dining and catering pages costs from $3,500; a single landing page for events or catering costs from $1,200. Domain and hosting, new photography, third-party software subscriptions such as your reservation or ordering platform (billed at cost), SMS carrier registration and message fees are not included. See pricing, or ask for a free demo to see how diners and AI assistants see your restaurant today.
Published . Updated .