Diners visit a restaurant website to check the menu, opening hours, location and whether they can book. If any of those is missing, out of date or hidden inside a PDF that will not open on a phone, they go to the next restaurant on the list.
Four questions, in order
Someone looking at a restaurant website is almost always trying to answer the same four questions: what do you serve, when are you open, where are you, and can I book. A site that answers those in the first screen on a phone does its job. One that leads with a full-screen video and a philosophy statement does not.
The menu, readable on a phone
The single most common failure on restaurant websites is a menu published as a scanned PDF. It is slow to load, unreadable without zooming, and invisible to search engines. Publish the menu as a page, with dishes, descriptions and prices as text. Keep it current: a menu with dishes you no longer serve creates disappointment at the table.
If the menu changes daily or seasonally, say so and show today's or the current one. Dietary and allergen information belongs here too, clearly, because many diners are checking for exactly that.
Hours and location, on every page
Opening hours and address should sit in the header or footer of every page, with a tap-to-dial phone number and a map link. Holiday hours and closures should be updated the moment they are known. Our guide to local business websites covers how this also supports appearing in local search.
Booking: integrate, do not improvise
If you take reservations, connect the site to the booking system you actually use rather than building a form that someone has to reconcile by hand. Established reservation platforms handle availability, confirmations and reminders properly, and the website's job is to make the button obvious. Where you do not take bookings, say so plainly, and make the phone number prominent instead.
Photographs that are yours
- Real dishes, real room, real people, photographed well.
- A few strong images rather than a gallery of forty.
- Compressed for the web, so the page stays fast.
- No stock photography of food you do not serve.
Hotels, cafés and venues
The same principles hold across hospitality. A café needs the menu and hours above all. A hotel or guest house needs rooms, rates or a booking route, and location. A venue needs capacity, availability and an enquiry form. Events and special menus deserve their own section that is removed when they pass.
The small details that decide a visit
Beyond the four essentials, a handful of details regularly tip a diner one way or the other, and they cost almost nothing to get right.
- Dietary information. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options marked on the menu itself, and a clear line on how allergies are handled. Many groups pick a venue on this alone.
- Parking and access. Where to park, whether there is step-free access, whether children and dogs are welcome. Unanswered, these become phone calls or a decision to go elsewhere.
- Group and private bookings. If you take them, say how, with a minimum size and a contact route. If you do not, say that too.
- Last orders and kitchen hours. A kitchen that closes an hour before the bar is a common cause of bad reviews when the website only lists one set of hours.
- A link to your current reviews. Diners check them anyway; linking to the real profile is more credible than quoting selected lines on your own page.
Built for how diners actually use it
Our restaurant and hospitality websites are structured around those four questions, with the menu as a proper page, hours and location everywhere, and booking integrated with the platform you already use. Tell us about the venue through the enquiry form and we will scope it.
Frequently asked questions
Should my restaurant menu be a PDF?
No. A PDF is slow, hard to read on a phone and invisible to search engines. Publish the menu as a page with dishes, descriptions and prices as text, keep it current, and include dietary and allergen information clearly.
What should be on the first screen of a restaurant website?
The answers to the four questions diners ask: what you serve, when you are open, where you are and whether they can book. Hours, address, a tap-to-dial number and a booking button should be visible without scrolling on a phone.
How should online booking work on my website?
Connect the site to the reservation platform you actually use rather than building a standalone form. Established platforms handle availability, confirmations and reminders; the website’s job is to make the booking button obvious.
Do I need professional photographs?
You need real, well-lit photographs of your own dishes and room, compressed for the web. A few strong images beat a large gallery, and stock photography of food you do not serve damages trust the moment a diner arrives.
Planning a Website?
Tell us about your business and what the website needs to achieve. We review every enquiry personally and reply with a scope and a customised quotation — UK and international projects welcome.