How to make a website for your restaurant

What diners need from your website

Someone looking at a restaurant's website is usually making a quick decision, often on a phone: should we eat here tonight? They want a few answers fast. What do you serve, what does it cost, are you open, where are you, and how do they reach you? Everything else is a bonus.

Google says it uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking, so treat the phone version of your website as the real one. Check it on a phone first, then on a computer.

The essentials, in order of importance:

• Your menu as text, with prices
• Your opening hours, including holiday changes
• Your address, with a Directions link
• A phone number people can tap to call
• Buttons to reserve a table or order online, if you offer either

Put your menu on the website as text

For most restaurants the menu is the heart of the website. Type it in as text, with each dish, a short description and the price. Text is easy to read on a small screen, loads quickly, and takes seconds to update when a price changes. Group dishes the way your printed menu does (Starters, Mains, Desserts, Drinks) so people can scan.

A PDF of your printed menu is a useful extra, and Google can index PDF files. On a phone, though, a PDF usually means pinching and zooming. Offer it next to the text menu, not instead of it.

An example menu section

Here is a short section for Marigold Noodle House, an example restaurant:

• Dan dan noodles: pork, chili oil, crushed peanuts. Spicy. $16
• Garlic greens with tofu: bok choy, garlic, sesame. Vegan. $14
• Wonton soup: pork and shrimp wontons in clear broth. $13
• Kids' noodles: butter, sesame, no spice. $8

Short, honest descriptions help people choose. Say what's in the dish, flag spicy food, mark vegetarian and vegan dishes, and mention common allergens if you can. Keep prices current: an old price on the website makes for an awkward moment at the counter.

Hours, address and phone

Put your hours where nobody has to look for them, with every day of the week listed, including the days you're closed. If you close for a holiday or a private event, say so before the day, not after.

Write your address the way it appears on your door and on your Google Business Profile. If the entrance is hard to find, add a short note such as "Side door on Elm Street" or "Upstairs, above the bakery". Make the phone number a tap-to-call link, so nobody has to copy it by hand.

Google's Business Profile help says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results. Keep the hours on your website and on your profile the same, and change both on the same day.

Photos that show the real food

Use your own photos of your own food and your own room. Daylight from a window usually beats a flash, and a few sharp photos do more than many dark ones. Show the dishes people order most, the dining room, and the front of the building so people recognize it from the street. If your team is happy to be in a photo, the people who cook make a good one too.

Skip stock photos of food that isn't yours. If you add photos to your Google Business Profile as well, Google asks that they be in focus and well lit, with no significant alterations or heavy use of filters or AI, so the image represents reality. That's a good rule for your website too.

Reservations and online ordering

If you take reservations through a service such as OpenTable or Resy, or deliver through Uber Eats, DoorDash or SkipTheDishes, put clear buttons for them on your website. Someone who is ready to book shouldn't have to go looking for you in another app.

If you don't take reservations, say so. "Walk-ins only" or "No delivery, takeout by phone" saves you calls and saves your guests a wasted trip.

Google's help also notes that some business categories can add links on their Business Profile for things like online orders, reservations or appointments. Use the same links there, so both places send people to the same service.

Tell your story, briefly

A short about section, a few sentences long, tells people who is behind the food: who cooks, where the recipes come from, how long you've been on this corner. Keep it true and specific. For our example noodle house, "Family recipes from Chengdu, cooked by Lin and her son Wei" says more than "a passion for quality food".

A few questions and answers save you from repeating yourself on the phone. Think of what people ask every week: Do you have gluten-free options? Is there parking nearby? Can I bring a birthday cake? Can you seat a group of 12?

Help people find it on Google

A website doesn't appear in search results just because it exists, and nobody can promise you a ranking. Google says plainly that it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently or rank it higher. What you can do is give Google clear, accurate information:

1. Give your website a clear title with your restaurant's name and what you serve, such as "Marigold Noodle House | Sichuan noodles in Elm Falls". Google advises titles that are descriptive and concise.
2. Write a short description of the restaurant for people, not a list of keywords.
3. Claim and verify your Google Business Profile, and add your website's address to it.
4. Add your menu to the profile too. Google's menu editor is for food and drink businesses, and changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show on Maps and Search.
5. Ask happy customers to leave a review, and never offer anything in return: Google strictly prohibits incentives such as free or discounted food in exchange for reviews.

Our guide to getting your business on Google goes through each step.

Keep it up to date

A restaurant's website is never quite finished, and that's fine. Set a small routine: when the menu changes, update the website the same day. Before every holiday, post your special hours on your website and on your Google Business Profile. Once a season, swap in a few new photos.

A short notice line at the top of the website is handy for one-off news, like "Closed Monday for the holiday" or "Patio now open".

Making one with Suddn

If you'd rather not build it yourself, Suddn makes a restaurant website from your name, phone, city and a few menu items in under a minute. The Free plan is a one-page website at yourname.suddn.page with your menu, hours, photos, location and contact buttons. Pro ($16.67/mo billed yearly, or $19.99 monthly) makes it a multi-page website and adds Reserve a table and Order online buttons that open the service you already use. Suddn never takes reservations or orders itself, and paid plans are available at launch. During early access you can build and save your website now, and we'll email you when you can publish it. Whatever you use, the steps above are what matter.