Nobody browses a restaurant website. People arrive with exactly one question: are you open right now, what is on the menu, can I get a table at seven, do you deliver, can you do a party of twenty on the 14th. They are on a phone. They are hungry. They will give you about five seconds.
Most restaurant websites make them work for it. A full-screen video of a chef plating something. A menu as a PDF that has to be downloaded and pinched. Hours in the footer, below the Instagram feed. A reservations button that opens someone else’s app.
This is the checklist we use for restaurants, cafes, bars, caterers, and food brands. It is short because the site should be.
1. Hours, address, phone, on the first screen
Before the logo finishes loading, a visitor should see whether you are open and where you are. Today’s hours, with holiday exceptions noted. The address as a link that opens a map. The phone number as a link that dials. This is the whole job for half your visitors, and it should not require scrolling.
2. The menu as real text, not a PDF
A PDF menu is unreadable on a phone, invisible to search engines, and inaccessible to screen readers. A text menu is none of those things and takes an hour to set up properly. Sections, dishes, short descriptions, prices, dietary markers. Update it when the menu changes, which means someone on staff needs to be able to edit it without a designer.
Add Menu structured data so search engines can show dishes directly in results. If you have separate menus for brunch, dinner, bar, and dessert, each is its own section on one page, not four PDFs.
3. Reservations and ordering on your own domain
Every time a guest leaves your site to book or order, you lose a percentage of them and you lose the relationship. Embed the reservation widget on your page rather than linking out. For online ordering, use a system that lets you keep the customer’s email and runs on your domain rather than a marketplace that charges 30 percent and owns the data.
Third-party delivery apps are a reality; list them, but put your own ordering first and say why in one sentence. Most guests will choose the option that keeps money with the restaurant if they are told.
4. Allergen, dietary, and accessibility information
A growing share of guests decide where to eat based on whether they can eat there safely. A plain allergen statement, dietary markers on the menu, and a sentence about how to ask the kitchen saves phone calls and earns loyalty.
Physical accessibility matters too: step-free entrance, accessible restroom, seating, and parking. Guests using wheelchairs or with mobility needs plan around this and will choose the restaurant that told them.
5. Photography that makes people hungry
This is the one place where budget for photography is not optional. Real dishes, real light, real room, ideally with real people. No stock. Two or three excellent photos beat a gallery of forty mediocre ones, and they need to load fast on a phone.
When we rebuilt Dr. Debra Shapiro’s A New View of Food, the original site was overloaded with information and short on visual appeal. We wove rich imagery of whole, natural foods through every section to bring appetite appeal and warmth to a site that had been all text. The food had always been the point; the site finally showed it.
6. The Google Business Profile drives more than the website
For a restaurant, more people will see your Business Profile than your home page. Claim it, complete it, keep hours current including holidays, add the menu link, add photos, enable reservations and ordering links, and respond to reviews. The website’s job is to match it exactly: same name, address, phone, and hours, with Restaurant structured data so search engines connect the two.
7. Private dining, events, and catering inquiries
These are the highest-value inquiries the site receives and the ones most often lost in a general contact form. A dedicated page with room capacities, minimums, sample menus, and photos of the space set up. A form that asks date, party size, occasion, budget range, and contact, then says who will reply and when. Route it to the person who actually books events, and check it daily.
8. A mailing list for the slow nights
Email is how a restaurant fills a Tuesday. Collect addresses at reservation, at ordering, and on the site with a real offer. Send rarely and well: a new menu, a wine dinner, a holiday preorder. Dr. Shapiro’s site grew its list by offering a downloadable guide built from her own recipes and writing; a restaurant can do the same with a recipe, a pantry guide, or first access to holiday bookings.
9. Speed, mobile, and the boring foundation
Restaurant sites are viewed on phones, on cellular, by people standing outside. Under three seconds to see hours and menu, or you have lost them to the place next door. Compress images, drop the video hero, remove unused plugins. HTTPS, a maintained WordPress install, backups, a firewall, and someone who notices when the reservation widget breaks on a Friday afternoon.
10. What to leave out
Autoplay video with music. A PDF menu. A splash page. A slideshow. An Instagram feed instead of photos. “Farm to table” without naming a farm. An events calendar with nothing on it. Background music. Each one stands between a hungry person and your address.
Case study: Dr. Shapiro’s A New View of Food
A food-centered brand rebuilt around appetite appeal, clear offerings, and a growing list.
A restaurant website should work like a good host: it tells you where to go, what is good tonight, and whether there is room, and then it gets out of the way so you can get there.
If yours is not doing that, we can help. We have built for food and wellness brands, luxury hospitality, and local businesses, and we handle the technical parts so you can stay in the kitchen.
How we help Food & Hospitality Brands →
This article is general information, not legal advice. Allergen labeling, accessibility, and alcohol advertising requirements vary by jurisdiction; confirm yours with your local health department and counsel.