What does a good restaurant website actually need?
A good restaurant website really only needs a handful of things done well: a current, readable menu, your hours, your location and phone number, fast mobile pages, and a clear way to order or book if you do takeout or reservations. Because most people find you through Google and reviews first, a fully filled-out Google Business Profile often does more day-to-day work than the site itself. If you're a small, established place with a stable menu, a good Google listing may be enough for now.
Start with your Google listing — it may matter more than the site
Before anyone opens your website, most people find you through Google Search or Google Maps — usually by typing your name or "restaurants near me" on a phone. What they see is your Google Business Profile: hours, photos, reviews, a map, a call button, and often a menu link. It's free, and for many restaurants it does more of the daily work than the website does.
Reviews are a big part of that. In BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey, the large majority of consumers — around 97% — read online reviews before choosing a local business, and Google is the most-used platform. A profile with correct hours, real photos, and recent reviews often brings in more diners than a website few people find.
The honest part: if you're a small, established place with a stable menu and steady regulars, a fully filled-out Google Business Profile — plus maybe an Instagram for specials — may be enough for now. There's no rush to build a site if that's covering you. The catch is that you don't own Google: its menu and link options are limited, and a policy change can move your listing around.
- Fill in every field: category, hours (including holiday hours), phone, address, and a menu link.
- Add real photos of your actual food and room, not stock images.
- Reply to reviews and keep hours accurate — that's what most diners check first.
The parts of the site itself that actually matter
If you do build a site, keep it to a short list of things done well. For a restaurant that list is genuinely short — do these five well and your site is already ahead of most:
- A real, text-based menu — typed out as words on the page, not a PDF or a photo. PDFs and images load slowly, force pinch-and-zoom on a phone, and can't be read by Google, so they don't show up in search. Include prices, and update it whenever the kitchen changes. Simple tags like vegetarian, gluten-free, or spice level help.
- Hours, including holiday hours. This is the single thing people check most, often at 8:45pm to see if you're still open.
- Your address with a tap-to-open map, and a tap-to-call phone number. Both should work with one thumb.
- Pages that load fast on a phone. Most restaurant lookups happen on mobile, often while someone is standing on the sidewalk deciding, so your menu should appear within a couple of seconds.
- A few honest photos of your real food and space. People want to see what they'll actually get.
Online ordering and reservations — only if you really do them
Takeout and delivery are now a large share of the business. The National Restaurant Association reports that roughly three-quarters of restaurant traffic is off-premises — takeout, drive-thru, and delivery. If that's you, an obvious "Order" button matters. If you're a sit-down spot that takes bookings, a reservation link or a simple booking form matters instead. If you're neither — a bar, a walk-in-only counter — you may not need either, and that's fine.
Two honest cautions. First, third-party apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats bring reach but take a sizeable commission on every order; a direct order or booking link on your own site keeps more of the margin, though you have to send people to it yourself. Many restaurants use both — apps for discovery, a direct link for regulars. Second, don't add an ordering or booking system you won't maintain. A stale "Order online" button that leads to a dead page is worse than no button at all.
What you don't need
A boring, fast, accurate site beats a fancy one that's slow or out of date. Plenty of restaurant sites spend effort in the wrong places. You can safely skip:
- Autoplay video or background music. Someone quietly checking your menu at work or in bed will just close the tab.
- A splash "intro" animation before the menu. Every second of delay costs you diners.
- A blog, a mobile app, or a loyalty program on day one. Add those later, if ever.
- A menu as one giant image or a downloadable PDF — type it out instead.
- Being on every social platform. One account you'll actually post to beats five you won't.
Your options, and the honest tradeoffs
There's no single right way to get a restaurant site. The best choice mostly comes down to one question: will you keep it updated yourself? Whichever you pick, your energy is best spent keeping the menu, hours, and photos accurate — that's what wins or loses a table, not the design.
- DIY on Wix, Squarespace, or GoDaddy: cheapest, and you keep full control. Templates aimed at restaurants handle menus and hours reasonably well. The catch is that the work — and every menu update — is on you.
- Just Google Business Profile + Instagram: free, and genuinely fine for a small, established place for a while. You don't own it and menus and links are limited, but it's a legitimate starting point, not a cop-out.
- Hire a freelancer: you get something custom, but cost varies widely and future updates depend on their availability. Make sure you get the logins and that the domain is registered in your name.
- A done-for-you service (for example, fivedaylaunch): someone hand-designs and maintains the site for you, which helps if you know you won't update it yourself. Pricing runs from $25/mo or $1,499 to own it, with booking, hosting, edits, and support included, and you keep your site and domain. As with any provider, confirm up front that you own the domain and can leave.
Frequently asked
Do I even need a website if my Google Business Profile is good?
For a small, established restaurant, maybe not right away — a complete Google Business Profile with current hours, photos, and reviews covers a lot of ground. The reasons to add a simple site: you own it (you don't own Google), it gives your full menu a stable home, and it lets you take direct orders or bookings without paying a commission. Plenty of owners keep both.
Should I put my menu up as a PDF or a photo?
No. Type it out as real text on the page. PDFs and images load slowly, are hard to read on a phone, and can't be read by Google, so you lose search visibility and frustrate the exact people trying to order from you. A plain text menu with prices is the single most useful thing on the whole site.
Is it worth paying for online ordering on my own site instead of using DoorDash?
It depends on your order volume. Third-party apps bring reach but take a large commission on each order; a direct order link on your own site keeps more of the money, but you have to drive people to it yourself. A common approach is to stay listed on the apps for discovery while steering your regulars to your direct link.
How much should a restaurant website cost?
Anywhere from nothing (a Google listing and Instagram) to a few hundred dollars a year for a DIY template, up to a monthly or one-time fee for a done-for-you site. Don't overspend on visual design. The money and time are better spent making sure the menu, hours, and photos stay accurate — that's what turns a search into a visit.
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