How to Create a Restaurant Website

When someone decides where to eat, they usually want four answers quickly: what is on the menu, whether it looks good, where you are and whether you are open. A restaurant website exists to give those answers in a few seconds, on a phone.

Here is how to plan one, step by step.

Step 1: Decide what the site must do

Pick the one or two actions you most want visitors to take. For most restaurants and cafés it is some mix of:

• Visit (so show your location and hours prominently)
• Call or message to reserve a table
• Order for pickup or delivery
• Enquire about events or group bookings

Everything on the site should lead towards those actions.

Step 2: Put the menu on the page as real text

This is the single most useful decision. Many restaurants upload a photo or a PDF of the menu. It is slow to load, awkward to read on a phone and invisible to search engines.

Instead:

• Write the menu as text on the page, grouped into sections
• Add a short description to dishes that need one
• Mark vegetarian, vegan or spicy items clearly
• Show prices if you are comfortable doing so
• Keep it easy to update, because menus change

If your menu changes often, make sure you can edit it yourself. You should not need a developer to change a price.

Step 3: Use your own photographs

Food is judged with the eyes. A few honest, well-lit photos of your real dishes and your real space work much better than polished stock images that do not match what arrives at the table.

You do not need a professional shoot to start. Natural light, a clean plate and a steady phone go a long way. Photograph:

• Your most popular dishes
• The inside of the restaurant at a normal busy time
• The outside, so people recognise it when they arrive
• The team, if they are happy to be shown

Step 4: Make opening hours and location impossible to miss

Put them on the homepage, not buried on a contact page. Include:

• Opening hours for each day, including holidays and any weekly closure
• Full address, with a landmark if it helps
• A map with directions
• Parking or transport notes if relevant

Keep these identical to what your Google Business Profile says. Customers who arrive at a closed door because two sources disagree rarely come back.

Step 5: Make it easy to ask for a table

For most small restaurants, a simple enquiry beats a complicated booking system. A WhatsApp button with a ready-written message (“Hi, I’d like to book a table for four on Saturday evening”) lets a customer reach you in one tap, and the message arrives already structured. We explain how it works in how WhatsApp enquiry buttons work.

If you need live availability and confirmations, a third-party booking tool can be connected. It usually has its own monthly cost, so decide whether you need it.

Step 6: Link to the channels you already use

If you take orders through delivery apps, link to them. Your site does not need to replace them. It should be the place customers can see your full menu, your story and your photos, and then choose how to order.

Step 7: Check it on a phone

Open your site on a real phone, in sunlight, with one hand. Can you:

• Read the menu without zooming?
• Tap the buttons easily?
• Find the hours and directions within seconds?
• Reach you in one tap?

If any answer is no, fix it before launch.

Step 8: Get the basics right for search

You do not need an advanced strategy. Make sure that:

• The restaurant name, cuisine and area appear in the page title and main heading
• Your address and hours are in text on the page
• Photos have short descriptive text
• You have claimed and completed your Google Business Profile, following Google’s guidelines, with the same details as your site

Search results take time to build, and no one can promise a position. The foundation is what you control.

Common mistakes

• A menu that is a photo of a PDF
• Out-of-date hours and prices
• Autoplay music or video that blocks the page
• Tiny buttons and cramped text on phones
• Stock photos of food you do not serve
• No clear way to contact you

Want to see how this looks?

Our café website concept is an original, clearly labelled demonstration of a modern café site, including a text menu and a WhatsApp table enquiry. For the full service, see restaurant website design, or talk to us about yours.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google