What Every Restaurant Should Know Before Building a Website

Your restaurant might serve unforgettable food, have an unbeatable location, or create the kind of vibe that locals rave about—but if your website is outdated, confusing, or missing key features, you’re losing business before guests even walk through the door.

A restaurant’s website isn’t just digital decoration—it’s your online front-of-house. It’s where diners check your hours, browse your menu, make reservations, order takeout, buy gift cards, and sometimes decide whether or not to visit you in the first place.

Let's break down exactly what to look for when building a restaurant website and which WordPress tools can help make it happen—without drowning you in tech jargon or pointless features. Whether you're launching something new or refreshing an existing site, this post is your blueprint.

Start With the Basics: Non-Negotiables for Every Restaurant Website

No matter your cuisine, style, or budget, there are several must-have features that every restaurant site should deliver. These aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re foundational elements that determine how usable, functional, and effective your site really is.

Mobile-First Design

Most people visiting your site are doing it on their phones—looking for hours, browsing your menu, or seeing how far they are from your location. If your site doesn’t load quickly or format cleanly on mobile, you’ve lost them. A strong mobile-first design ensures that your website performs beautifully on all devices, no matter where your customers are coming from.

Clear and Intuitive Navigation

Diners should never have to dig to find your menu, hours, or phone number. Intuitive navigation reduces friction, improves user experience, and keeps visitors focused on what matters most—choosing what to eat or how to reach you.

Key navigation elements to include:

• Menus (with food categories or dietary tags)
• Location and hours (always visible)
• Online ordering or reservation buttons
• Contact form or phone number
• Events or promotions (if applicable)

Sticky headers and mobile-friendly nav bars with icons can go a long way in keeping users engaged.

Searchable, Digital Menus (Ditch the PDF!)

Here’s a common mistake: uploading a beautiful PDF of your menu and calling it a day. While it might look nice, PDFs are hard to read on mobile, impossible for screen readers, and invisible to Google when it comes to SEO.

Instead, build digital menus right into your website. These are easier to update and more accessible for everyone—including search engines.

Best WordPress plugins for digital menus:

• Restaurant Menu by MotoPress
• Five Star Restaurant Menu

These plugins allow you to create interactive, categorized menus complete with photos, descriptions, prices, and even filtering by dietary preferences—all with a layout that works across devices.

Built-in Ordering and Reservation Options

Want more takeout orders? Fewer no-shows? A smoother booking experience? Then your website should make it effortless for users to reserve a table or place an order. You can either embed third-party booking systems or fully integrate ordering into your WordPress site.

Popular tools to consider:

• OpenTable, Resy, or Tock (for bookings and reservations)
• WooCommerce (to manage in-house ordering)
• GloriaFood (a free and easy plugin for online ordering)
• WPForms or Fluent Forms (for catering or private party inquiries)

The best setup depends on your goals—but no matter the method, speed and clarity are key. Make the buttons visible. Use clear CTAs. And ensure everything works smoothly on mobile.

Location, Contact Info, and Social Links on Every Page

This might sound obvious, but it’s still overlooked way too often. Your hours, address, phone number, and social links should be visible on every page—preferably in both the header and footer.

Tools that help with this:

• WP Google Maps (adds an interactive map for visitors to get directions)
• Schema Pro or Rank Math (adds structured data so search engines highlight your info in local results)

Link to your social channels too—especially if you’re active on Instagram or Facebook. It keeps your brand experience cohesive and helps customers follow and engage with your updates.

Want to Stand Out? Here’s What the Best Restaurant Websites Include

Once the basics are covered, it's time to think about how to elevate your site from functional to memorable. These features aren’t required, but they offer huge value to guests and give your restaurant a polished, modern feel.

Promote Events or Special Nights with a Calendar

If you host trivia, live music, wine tastings, or brunch specials, a well-designed event calendar helps drive traffic and build community around your brand.

Best tools to add an event calendar in WordPress:

• The Events Calendar (great for recurring events and ticketing)
• Modern Events Calendar (slick UI and customizable layouts)

These plugins let you display upcoming events, allow RSVPs or ticket sales, and even send reminders through email integrations.

Sell Gift Cards or Merch

Gift cards are low-effort, high-reward revenue generators. And if your restaurant has a loyal following, branded merch—like hats, T-shirts, or hot sauces—can build a stronger fan base.

How to do it in WordPress:

• WooCommerce (flexible and scalable eCommerce solution)
• YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards (adds digital or printable gift card functionality)
• Gift Up! (quick gift card setup for digital use)

Add these items to your site’s main nav or homepage. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to support your business beyond just dinner.

Collect Emails to Stay Top-of-Mind

Email marketing may sound old-school, but it works—especially for restaurants. Want to send updates about new menus, limited-time deals, or holiday events? Email lets you reach your loyal customers directly.

Plugins to grow your list:

• Mailchimp for WordPress
• FluentCRM (native to WordPress and privacy-first)
• ConvertKit or Klaviyo (more robust options for larger email programs)

Place your opt-in forms on your homepage, menu pages, and checkout pages for the best results.

Optimize for SEO and Local Search

If your site isn’t showing up in local searches like “best brunch near me” or “tacos in [your city],” you’re missing a huge traffic stream. WordPress has powerful SEO tools that help you rank better—and get more eyeballs on your site.

Top tools to boost SEO:

• Rank Math or Yoast SEO (on-page optimization and meta tags)
• Schema Pro (adds rich data like hours, reviews, and location)
• Google Site Kit (connects your site to Google Analytics and Search Console)

Don’t forget: great photos, updated alt text, and fast load times also factor into SEO rankings—especially on mobile.

Quick-Reference WordPress Tool Stack for Restaurants

Website Need	Recommended Plugins & Tools
Menu management	MotoPress Restaurant Menu, Five Star Menu
Ordering	WooCommerce, GloriaFood, WP Pizza
Reservations	OpenTable, Resy, WP Booking System
Events	The Events Calendar, Modern Events Calendar
Gift cards & merch	YITH Gift Cards, Gift Up!, WooCommerce
SEO	Rank Math, Schema Pro, Yoast
Forms & inquiries	WPForms, Fluent Forms
Email marketing	Mailchimp, ConvertKit, FluentCRM
Analytics	Google Site Kit, MonsterInsights

Build a Site That’s as Good as Your Food

We’ve helped restaurants from fast-casual to fine dining build websites that reflect their brand, connect with guests, and make doing business easier. The secret isn’t just a great design—it’s building a site that works hard behind the scenes and serves your real business goals.

If you’re ready for a restaurant site that helps you get more reservations, more orders, and more love from search engines, let’s cook something up together – let's chat.