Now that we’re out of the dreaded lockdowns – and fingers crossed that appears to be the case for a while – running a restaurant or some form of hospitality business is not only a viable option, but a good one. Food has downsized and is no longer required to be stationary. Lockdowns forced people to adapt, and now every establishment offers a takeout option, or has a pop-up element, or is simply a kitchen with a window and food trucks are selling like hotcakes. To get the most out of your business website, a reliable and intuitive restaurant website builder is an essential tool.
If that sounds appealing to you, or you’re ready to take your established restaurant to the next level, you’ll need a website. You can find a restaurant website builder at WIX, along with a whole host of free features that will make your website the best it can be. Take a look at our guide to the website features that can best help your restaurant grow.
Menus
It goes without saying that users will be approaching your website primarily to see what you offer. Sure, you can give them an idea with graphics and photos of your greatly appreciated meals, but they want to see everything for themselves.
There are a few ways you can go about this. You can add a blog and make every page a new meal featured on the menu, but that will irritate customers that are looking for a quick scan over everything. You can add a PDF of the menu, but you won’t be able to update it and customers will think it is out of date.
Luckily, you can use an online ordering menu feature on website builders like Wix that will allow you to add multiple pages and clickable descriptions of each food item. Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, a la carte, deserts, vegan, gluten free, takeout, or more, you will have enough pages to give detailed descriptions of your tasty meals and what is available and a more efficient system of communication for potential customers aiming to order from your business remotely.
Plus, you can customize it to look as good as your physical menus. Upload photos, add labels like “allergies” and “spicy” and promote seasonal menus to your visitors.
Geolocation features
If you are looking into the takeout option, you might want to add some geolocation features for your restaurant site. That way, you can avoid a lot of angry calls to your Californian café from Boston locals wondering where their pizza is.
With geolocation installed, not only will you avoid orders that are impossible to fulfill, warning visitors to the site that you don’t deliver to their area, but it will also allow your users to track where their food is on its journey to them.
It is possible to embed a GPS tracker system into your website, however it doesn’t offer one of its own. Dine by WIX is one of many products that was released in October last year which covers everything from menu to delivery options including tracking your food for takeout purposes.
Reservations
If you are running a restaurant, you will appreciate just how much of your time is taken up by simply taking orders. It’s why we have a waiter/waitress at each table.
A way to really simplify things is to add Reservations options to your website, which will act as a booking forum for your establishment. People can reserve a table according to rules that you have set, you will gain notifications of new orders on your phone or email, and you can send emails, texts, or calendar alerts to remind customers of their reservation and reduce the chance of cancellations.
There are even additional requests that you can put into your website, like a contactless payment opt in, a curbside pick up option, and special requests for specific dishes. Your customers can guarantee the eating experience they’re looking for and you can guarantee filling tables.
Events
There’s no harm in doing something special now and again to just remind the people that you are there. If you are running a bar or a more laid-back establishment it might even be expected. You can have 90’s Night in the bar, singles night in the restaurant, the local guy singing Wonderwall in your café corner, etc. Community events, gaming events, nerdy events, after parties for massive events elsewhere, etc. But how can you get the word out?
That’s where Event Planning features come into play. You can have an engaging “What’s On” calendar that you can store in your website letting people know what you’re doing. Send out invitations via email that you have customized yourself and keep a guest list of RSVPs within the site.
You can even sell tickets to the event via your website with the click of a button. Set your price, choose your payment method and see your customers come out with tickets that are sent straight to their phone.
