In short: before they head out, many diners check a restaurant’s menu, prices and hours on their phone. A blurry photo of the menu, missing prices or hours they can’t find send them elsewhere. A restaurant, diner or bakery website must answer six questions at a glance. With BeeVitrine, you answer the restaurant questions, add your photos, and the site is ready: free to build, paid once it goes live.
Restaurant, pizzeria, diner, coffee shop, bakery or caterer: the fight to fill tables or sell takeout often happens before service, on your customers’ phone screens.
At 11:30 a.m., someone is hungry. They type “lunch near me,” “restaurants in Asheville” or “bakery open now.” What they find in the next few seconds decides whether they come to you or go next door.
Which mistakes send a hungry customer away?
The menu as a photo or a PDF
A crooked photo of the menu, or a PDF to download and pinch to zoom: on a small screen and a so-so connection, it is slow and annoying. A menu written as text reads instantly, and Google can read it too.
Missing or outdated prices
Beautiful food photos with no prices leave people guessing. Either they assume it costs too much and move on, or they message you “how much?” in the middle of the lunch rush, when you can’t answer.
Letting the apps speak for you
Without a website in your name, directories and delivery apps are what show up when people search for your restaurant. Delivery apps charge a commission on orders placed through them, even when the customer already knew you and just wanted your number. Read their terms, and give your regulars a direct way to order.
What should a restaurant website show?
No special effects needed. The site must answer six questions:
- 1What kind of food, what kind of place? Southern cooking, barbecue, a neighborhood bakery, a quick lunch spot: people should get it from the very first screen.
- 2What’s on the menu, and what does it cost? Your dishes and specials, written as text, with their prices.
- 3What does it look like? A few real photos of your plates, your storefront and your dining room.
- 4When are you open? Service days and hours, and the day you’re closed.
- 5Where are you? Your address, your neighborhood, a landmark to find you.
- 6How do I book or order? A call button and a WhatsApp button, one tap away.
| The customer’s question | What the site should show |
|---|---|
| What do they serve? | Your cuisine and signature dishes, at the top of the page |
| How much? | Dishes and specials with their prices, as text |
| Are they open? | Service hours, day by day |
| Where is it? | The address, the neighborhood, a landmark |
| Can I book? | Call and WhatsApp buttons, a request form |
For the top of the page, read Small business home page: what goes at the top?.
What does a BeeVitrine restaurant site look like?
Our Examples page includes restaurant sites written by the BeeVitrine engine for fictional businesses, including an American one. Names, dishes and reviews are made up for the example; the process is the same for any restaurant.
How does a restaurant get there?
- 1Pick the Food service category. The form then asks the questions of the trade: your cuisine, your most-ordered dishes and specials with their price, dine-in, takeout or delivery, the meals you serve, how to book, groups and catering.
- 2Add your photos. Dishes, dining room, storefront.
- 3The engine writes and lays it out. Welcome copy, a menu that reads on phones, hours, contact, and Google readiness.
Not sold on the look? Ask for a new version of the design in one click, or another layout for the menu section alone. The trade’s questions are on the restaurant page, and a bakery’s on the bakery page.
Facebook, delivery app or website: which one?
| Criterion | Facebook page and PDF menu | Delivery app | Your BeeVitrine site |
|---|---|---|---|
| When people google your name | A page that may ask them to log in | The app shows up next to you | Your site, in your name |
| Reading the menu on a phone | Zooming into an image or PDF | Clear, surrounded by other restaurants | As text, only yours |
| Commission on orders | None | Per the app’s terms | None: customers reach you directly |
| Changing a price or your hours | Redo the image or PDF | Depends on the app | In your workspace, and the site follows |
Keep your Facebook page for day-to-day life at the restaurant; our page BeeVitrine or a Facebook page alone says when it is enough.
If customers mostly reach you by message, see how a website sorts out their questions: Why a Facebook page is not enough for a small business. And to show up when people search for a restaurant nearby: Local SEO.
How do you change a dish or your hours between services?
Menus change with the seasons and with what comes in. With a PDF menu, every price change means redoing a file. With BeeVitrine, your workspace works on a phone:
- a dish changes price or comes off the menu: edit the line, and the live site is updated;
- you close for a holiday: change the hours, at no cost.
The bottom line
A hungry customer wants to know what, how much, when, where, and how to book. A site that answers those questions as text, on a phone, fills tables. See examples or create my restaurant’s site, free until it goes live.
Frequently asked questions
How do customers book through a BeeVitrine restaurant site?
With the call button, the WhatsApp button that opens a chat with you, or the form on the Contact page, whose requests land in your workspace. No middleman takes a commission.
Does the menu show prices in dollars?
Yes. Menu prices are shown in your country’s currency, so a restaurant in the United States shows dollars, and the site is written in English or French, your choice.
Do I have to pay before I see my restaurant’s site?
No. Fill in the form, add your dishes and photos, and see the site for free. You pay when you click “Publish”: $9.99 a month or $99.90 a year.
Should I put my menu on my website as a PDF?
It is better to write it as text. A PDF reads poorly on phones and forces people to zoom; a text menu shows right away, fits the screen and can be read by Google.