# Restaurant website guide: the menu, hours, bookings and details that bring guests in

> What a restaurant, café or bar website needs in 2026: a text menu with prices and allergens, hours, a map, bookings, photos, reviews and structured data.

- Canonical URL: https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/restaurant-website-guide
- Section: Blog
- Language: en
- Published: 2026-11-13
- Topics: Restaurant
- Publisher: Website (https://businesswebsite.ai)

## Key facts

- Author: Benjamin
- Reading time: 11 minutes

Before anyone books a table, they look you up on their phone. What do you serve, and for how much? Are you open tonight? Where do they park? Can they book? A restaurant, café or bar website earns its place by answering those questions in seconds. Plenty still don't: the menu is a PDF that takes ages to open, the hours are from last summer and the booking button leads nowhere.

> **In short:** A restaurant website that brings in guests answers five questions fast on a phone: what you serve and what it costs (a text menu with prices and allergens), when you are open (holidays included), where you are (address, map, parking), how to book, and why you are worth the trip (real photos, honest reviews). Keep every detail identical on your Google Business Profile.

## What guests check before they pick a place to eat

Reviews and your website work as a pair. In BrightLocal's [Local Consumer Review Survey 2026](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/), a panel of 1,002 US adults, 97% of consumers said they read online reviews for local businesses and 41% said they "always" do, up from 29% a year earlier. After reading positive reviews, 54% go on to visit the business's website, up from 32% when BrightLocal last asked in 2019.

The same survey found that 45% now use AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier. BrightLocal's advice: keep your website up to date, fix mistakes in your listings and check the sources those tools reference. So write every fact a guest might ask about on your site, in plain text, and make it match everywhere else.

## Put the menu on the page as text

For a restaurant, the menu is the heart of the website. Give it a real page, with real text and prices.

### Why a PDF or a photo of the menu loses guests

Nielsen Norman Group's [research on PDFs](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/pdf-unfit-for-human-consumption/) (2020) found that PDF layouts are built for a printed sheet, so on a phone people have to pinch, zoom and scroll around to read them. In one of their studies, a cafeteria menu stored as a PDF took almost 3 minutes to download. Their advice: don't use a PDF for content that could and should be a web page.

A photo of the printed menu is no better. The W3C's guidance on [images of text](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/images-of-text.html) asks sites to use text instead of pictures of text, because people can't change how text looks in an image: its size, colors, font or spacing. A guest with weak eyesight, or one reading in a dim bar, can enlarge a text menu. A photo just gets blurrier.

Text is also easier to keep right: a new price is a one-line edit, not a new file.

### What a good online menu includes

- **Sections in the order people eat:** starters, mains, desserts, then drinks.
- **Plain descriptions** for anything a visitor might not know: "shrimp and grits: sautéed shrimp over creamy stone-ground grits".
- **A price next to every item,** with the currency. For set menus, list what is included.
- **Allergens and dietary labels in words,** not only icons.
- **Seasonal dishes marked as such,** so nobody arrives for one you stopped serving in May.
- **A "last updated" date,** so guests trust the prices.

Keep a PDF only as an optional download for printing. For your tables or Instagram, our free [AI menu maker](https://businesswebsite.ai/tools/menu-maker) turns the dishes and prices you type into a designed menu, while the website keeps the same dishes as text.

## Show allergens and dietary information clearly

Allergen information protects your guests, and in many places it is the law. In the European Union, [Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011R1169) lists 14 allergens in its Annex II: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre), lupin and molluscs.

Article 44 makes allergen information mandatory for food sold without prepackaging, and the regulation's definition of a mass caterer names restaurants explicitly. Member states may set how the information is made available. If you sell food at a distance, by phone, form or app, Article 14 says it must be available before the purchase is concluded.

On the website:

- Number the 14 allergens, show the numbers next to each dish and put the legend, in words, on the same page.
- Add a line like "Tell us about any allergy when you book, and we will tell you what is in each dish."
- Use labels such as vegan or halal only when they are true for the whole dish.

Outside the EU, rules differ, so check with your national food authority.

## Opening hours, holidays and seasonal closures

Write your hours as text, day by day, with kitchen hours or last orders if they differ. "Kitchen closes at 22:00" saves a lot of disappointed late arrivals.

Google's [guidelines for representing your business](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en) ask for your regular customer-facing hours and let you set special hours for holidays or special events. For seasonal places, like a beach bar, Google suggests setting your regular hours while you are open, noting the season in your business description and marking the business as temporarily closed in the off-season.

Update the website at the same moment, with a line like "Open daily from April to October". In structured data, Google's [LocalBusiness documentation](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business) describes seasonal hours with the validFrom and validThrough properties.

## Location, map and parking

Write your address as text a guest can copy, then add:

- A map and a "Get directions" link that opens the guest's maps app.
- A landmark: "on the main square, opposite the pharmacy".
- Parking: where, what it costs, whether it fills up on weekends.
- A photo of the entrance, so first-timers recognize it.

Write your phone number in international format. Google's LocalBusiness documentation asks for the country and area code in the telephone property, which also helps tourists calling from abroad.

## Bookings and contact that actually reach you

Pick the setup that matches how busy you are:

| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Phone only | Small places with regulars | Calls missed during service |
| Booking request form | Most restaurants, cafés and bars | Someone must confirm each request |
| Reservation platform with a table plan | Busy dining rooms | Fees, and guests book on another site |
| Walk-ins only | Casual cafés and bars | Say so, so nobody tries to book |

A good booking form asks for the date, time, number of guests, a name, a phone number or email, and notes (allergies, a high chair, a birthday). Under the button, say what happens next: "We confirm by phone or email within two hours during opening times."

With our AI website builder, booking requests and [contact form](https://businesswebsite.ai/features/contact-forms) messages are saved in your site's database and emailed to you, so nothing gets lost in a busy service. It has no table plan and no delivery app integration: you see each request and seat guests your way, and if you use a delivery or reservation app, you link to it. For bookings made directly in Google Search, Google points to its Maps Booking API, a developer integration.

## Photos that show the food and the room

Guests want to see what they will eat and where they will sit. Use your own photos, not stock images of dishes you don't serve: signature dishes close up in daylight, the room and terrace at the hour guests come, the entrance and the team.

Name the dish in each image description, keep the files small (our guide to a [fast, mobile-friendly website](https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/fast-mobile-friendly-website) explains how) and replace photos when the menu changes.

## Reviews: earn them, answer them and show them honestly

Ask when the guest has just enjoyed the meal. Google's [tips to get more reviews](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772?hl=en) suggest a Google link or a QR code, which fits neatly on the bill. The same page is clear that offering incentives, like free or discounted goods, for posting, changing or removing reviews counts as fake and misleading content and is strictly prohibited. So no free dessert for five stars.

Reply to reviews, good and bad, briefly and personally. A calm reply to a bad review is read by every future guest.

On your website, quote a few recent reviews with the reviewer's first name and source. Don't expect stars in search results from them: Google's [review snippet guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet) say that when a business controls the reviews about itself, its pages with LocalBusiness markup are not eligible for the star review feature, including reviews shown through an embedded Google or Facebook widget.

## Events, specials and seasonal news

Live music, a wine night, a holiday set menu: events give people a reason to come back. Give each one the date, start time, price and how to book, write the date in full ("Saturday 12 December, 20:00") and delete events once they have passed. A page of last year's concerts suggests nobody is looking after the place.

Share events on social media too, but keep the details on your website. Our comparison of a [website and social media](https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/website-vs-social-media-for-business) explains why the two work best together.

## Design for the phone first

Google [uses the mobile version of your pages](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/mobile/mobile-sites-mobile-first-indexing) for indexing and ranking, and your guests are often standing in the street with one hand free. Keep four actions within thumb reach on every page (Menu, Book, Call, Directions), make the menu readable at phone width without zooming, and test it on your own phone on mobile data, not the restaurant Wi-Fi.

## Keep your Google Business Profile in sync

Many guests see your Google Business Profile before your website, so the two must agree:

- **Name:** Google's guidelines ask for the name you use consistently on your storefront, website and stationery.
- **Hours:** the same regular, special and seasonal hours in both places.
- **Menu link:** Google's [help page on the menu editor](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9455840?hl=en) shows where to add it, and food and drink businesses can also list items with prices on the profile.
- **Menu photos:** customers can upload them. If an old one is wrong, flag it and upload a current photo yourself.
- **Timing:** Google says menu changes can take 24 to 48 hours to appear, so update before a price change.

Our guide to [Google Business Profile and local SEO](https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/google-business-profile-local-seo) covers setup, categories and photos in more depth.

## Structured data Google documents for restaurants

Structured data is a small block of code that describes your business in a format search engines read. Google's LocalBusiness documentation asks you to use the most specific type possible, such as Restaurant, and lists these properties, among others:

| Property | What it describes | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| name and address | Required: business name and full address | Harbor Table, 12 Quay Street |
| telephone | Main phone, with country and area code | +1 212 555 0100 |
| openingHoursSpecification | Opening hours, including seasonal hours | Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 23:00 |
| servesCuisine | The type of cuisine | Seafood |
| priceRange | Price level, shorter than 100 characters | $$ |
| menu | For food establishments, the menu URL | `https://yoursite.com/menu` |

Star ratings (aggregateRating) are only recommended there for sites that collect reviews about other businesses, which matches the review rule above. Google also suggests checking your markup with its Rich Results Test.

You don't have to write this code by hand: our builder publishes every page with a title, a description and structured data, and it can turn the menu you upload, PDF or photo, into a text menu page. Treat markup as a way to make your details unambiguous, not as a ranking trick, since nobody can honestly promise you a position in search results. The [restaurant website builder](https://businesswebsite.ai/website-builder/restaurant) and [café website builder](https://businesswebsite.ai/website-builder/cafe) pages show such a site, and building and publishing are free on the Starto plan (see [pricing](https://businesswebsite.ai/pricing)).

## Your restaurant website checklist

1. A text menu with prices, allergens and a "last updated" date.
2. Hours by day, kitchen hours, holiday and seasonal changes.
3. Address as text, a map, directions and parking.
4. A booking form, a tap-to-call number and someone who confirms requests fast.
5. Your own photos: dishes, room, terrace, entrance.
6. A few recent reviews, with a link to all of them.
7. Events with full dates, past ones removed.
8. A test on your phone, on mobile data.
9. A Google Business Profile that matches the site, menu link included.
10. A monthly 15-minute check of prices, hours and photos.

For the words on each page, see our guide on [how to write website content](https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/how-to-write-website-content).

## Frequently asked questions

### What should a restaurant website include?

A text menu with prices and allergens, opening hours, your address with a map and parking, a way to book or call, real photos and a few recent reviews. On a phone, the menu, booking and call buttons should be one thumb away.

### Is a PDF menu bad for a restaurant website?

A PDF is fine as an extra download, not as your only menu. PDFs are laid out for paper, so guests pinch and zoom on a phone, and Nielsen Norman Group recommends against them for content that should be a web page.

### Should I put prices on my restaurant website?

Yes. A menu without prices makes people guess, call or choose a place that shows them. Put each price next to its dish, with the currency and a "last updated" date.

### Do I need online booking, or is a phone number enough?

A phone number is the minimum, but calls get missed during service. A booking request form lets guests ask for a table at any hour, and you confirm when you have a moment.

### How often should I update my restaurant website?

Whenever prices, dishes or hours change, plus a monthly check. Update your Google Business Profile at the same moment, since menu changes there can take 24 to 48 hours to show. Tools that let you [edit from your phone](https://businesswebsite.ai/features/edit-from-phone) make same-day updates realistic.

## Sources

1. [Local Business (LocalBusiness) Structured Data](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business), Google Search Central, 2026.
2. [Review Snippet (Review, AggregateRating) Structured Data](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet), Google Search Central, 2026.
3. [Mobile-first indexing best practices](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/mobile/mobile-sites-mobile-first-indexing), Google Search Central, 2025.
4. [Guidelines for representing your business on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en), Google Business Profile Help, 2026.
5. [About the menu editor](https://support.google.com/business/answer/9455840?hl=en), Google Business Profile Help, 2026.
6. [Tips to get more reviews](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772?hl=en), Google Business Profile Help, 2026.
7. [Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011R1169), EUR-Lex, 2011.
8. [PDF: Still Unfit for Human Consumption, 20 Years Later](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/pdf-unfit-for-human-consumption/), Nielsen Norman Group, 2020.
9. [Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.5: Images of Text](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/images-of-text.html), W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, 2026.
10. [Local Consumer Review Survey 2026](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/), BrightLocal, 2026.

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Source: https://businesswebsite.ai/blog/restaurant-website-guide