A restaurant website must answer five questions within seconds on a phone: are you open, where are you, what do you serve and for how much, can I book or just walk in, and what is the place like. Each answer should be on the first screen or one tap away, and every detail should match your Google Business Profile, booking platform and delivery apps.
Think about how people arrive. They saw you on a map, heard your name from a friend, or tapped a link under someone's photo. By the time they reach your site they usually aren't browsing; they're checking. A restaurant site that works is built around that checking, not around a slideshow. If you'd like a head start on the design, FNJ's AI website builder for restaurants can lay these pages out from a site you like.
The first screen: five answers before any scrolling
Picture someone on the sidewalk at 7:40 on a Tuesday evening, phone in one hand. Before they scroll, they should see:
| Their question | What answers it |
|---|---|
| Are you open now? | Today's hours, or "Open until 10 pm" |
| Where are you? | The street address, linked to a map |
| What do you serve? | One plain line about the food, and a Menu link |
| Can I get a table? | A Book button, or a clear "walk-ins only" note |
| What's it like? | One honest photo of the room or a signature dish |
A big logo, a moody full-screen photo and a one-word tagline answer none of these.
Hours people can trust
Wrong hours do more damage than any design flaw: a guest who walks to a locked door now has a reason not to try again.
- Show the full week as text, not as an image, so it's readable, findable and quick to change.
- Separate kitchen hours from bar hours if they differ, and say when last orders or last seating is.
- Post holiday and seasonal changes ahead of time, with dates. "Closed December 24–26" beats "Holiday hours may vary."
- If you close for a private event, say so on the site the day before, not only on social media.
Keep a single written source of truth for your hours and update every other place from it.
Location and getting there
An address isn't directions. Add the details that stop people circling the block:
- The full address as text, linked to a map so it opens the phone's map app.
- What the entrance looks like, if it's easy to miss: "Green door beside the bookstore, one floor up."
- Parking, the nearest transit stop, where to leave a bike.
- Accessibility: step-free entrance, accessible restroom, room for a wheelchair at tables. State plainly what you have and what you don't. Guests who need this information plan around it, and a vague answer sends them elsewhere.
If you have more than one location, give each its own page with its own address, hours, phone number, menu link and booking link. One page listing three sets of hours invites someone to read the wrong row.
The menu: on your site, as text, with prices
The menu deserves more care than any other page. The must-haves are simple: it lives on your own site (not only on a delivery app), it's real text rather than a PDF or a photo, it shows prices, it's current, and it's one tap from the home page.
Laying it out for a small screen is its own topic, covered in our guide to designing a restaurant menu page that works on phones.
One clear action: book, walk in, or order
Decide what you most want a visitor to do, and make that the one button that's always easy to reach.
- If you take reservations, the "Book a table" button should open your reservation tool directly, ideally straight to your availability. Our guide to adding online booking to your website compares linking and embedding.
- If you're walk-in only, say so near the top, and set expectations: "No reservations. Weekend evenings can mean a short wait at the bar." People who know about the wait in advance tend to mind it less than people who expected a table.
- Always show your phone number as a tap-to-call link. Some guests will always prefer to call, especially for big groups, allergies or running late.
- For takeout and delivery, link only to the services you actually use, and check the links still work.
- Private dining, events and large groups need their own short section or page: capacity, set menus or minimum spend if you have them, and who to contact.
Photos that show what it's really like
Diners use photos to decide whether you suit the occasion: a date, a family lunch, a quick bowl of noodles before a movie. Show them honestly.
- The room during service, with people in it. An empty dining room shot at 3 pm makes you look quieter than you are.
- A handful of signature dishes, shot in daylight from the angle a guest sees them.
- The entrance from the street, so people recognize it when they arrive.
- The people: the kitchen, the owners, the bar team.
Skip stock photos entirely. Guests can spot a stock plate of pasta, and it makes them wonder what your real food looks like. A recent phone takes good food photos with window light and a clean lens.
Size images for the web before you upload them, because a huge camera file is slow on a weak connection. The web.dev course on images for the web explains formats and compression if you want the detail. Give each photo a short text description (alt text) such as "Grilled sea bream with fennel and lemon", which helps screen reader users and search engines alike.
Built for a phone on a sidewalk
Design for the worst conditions: a small screen, a weak signal, one thumb and bright sunlight.
- No splash page, intro animation or autoplaying video before the content.
- No pop-up asking for an email address on the first visit. It covers your hours.
- Book, Call and Directions within easy reach, ideally in a bar that stays on screen.
- Text large enough to read without zooming, with strong contrast. Pale gray on cream looks elegant on a designer's monitor and vanishes outdoors.
- Buttons with space between them, so "Call" isn't a millimeter from "Directions".
- No important information baked into images, such as hours on a poster graphic.
Then test it the way guests use it: on your own phone, on mobile data, standing outside your restaurant. If you can't find tonight's closing time in five seconds, neither can anyone else.
Keep your website and Google listing consistent
Your website is one of several places diners check. The others usually include your Google Business Profile, map apps, your booking platform, delivery apps, review sites and your social media bios. When they disagree, guests don't know which to believe, and they may believe the wrong one.
- Write down your core details once: the business name exactly as it appears on your sign, address, phone number, hours, website, menu link and booking link.
- Treat that document as the source of truth, and keep a list of every place the details appear.
- When anything changes, update all of them on the same day, starting with your website and your Google Business Profile.
- Point your listings' menu and booking links at the right pages on your own site, not at an old PDF.
- With several locations, link each listing to that location's page, not to the home page.
You can also state these facts to search engines in a structured form. Google's documentation on local business structured data covers the Restaurant type, opening hours (including seasonal hours) and a menu link. It isn't required, but it states the same facts in a form machines read reliably.
Second-tier pages worth having
Once the essentials work, these add real value:
- Your story: who cooks, where the ideas come from, a few honest sentences and photos.
- Hiring: restaurants recruit often, and a simple "Work with us" page with an email address saves a stream of messages.
- Press, if you've been reviewed, with links to the original articles and a separate contact address for press and suppliers.
Restaurant website checklist
- Today's hours and the address visible on a phone's first screen
- Full weekly hours as text, with kitchen and bar times and holiday dates
- Address linked to a map, plus entrance, parking, transit and accessibility notes
- Menu on your own site, as text, with prices, one tap from the home page
- One primary action (a Book button or a clear walk-in note) plus tap-to-call
- Working links for takeout, delivery and private dining
- Real photos of the room, dishes, entrance and team, compressed, with alt text
- No splash page, autoplaying video or first-visit pop-up
- Readable text with strong contrast, and buttons spaced for thumbs
- Name, address, phone, hours, menu and booking links identical on your site, Google Business Profile and booking platform
- A separate page for each location
Building a restaurant site with FNJ
FNJ's AI website builder designs a complete restaurant site from your description and a reference you like, at phone, tablet and desktop widths, so you can check the first screen at 390px before anything goes live. Give it your hours, address, menu and booking link, and ask in plain words for hours and the Book button near the top. It leaves styled spaces for your own photos (there's no stock library), and it doesn't take reservations or orders itself; buttons link to the tools you already use. Start with the AI website builder for restaurants and cafés.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a restaurant website's home page?
Today's opening hours, the address linked to a map, a plain line about the food with a link to the menu, a booking button or a clear walk-in note, and an honest photo. A visitor on a phone should see all of it before scrolling.
Should a restaurant website include accessibility information?
Yes. Say plainly whether you have a step-free entrance, an accessible restroom and room for a wheelchair at tables, including what you don't have. Guests who need this information plan their visit around it.
Why do my restaurant's hours on Google differ from my website?
They're edited in different places, so one gets updated and the other gets forgotten. Keep one master list of your details and update your website, Google Business Profile and booking platform on the same day whenever something changes.
Does a restaurant website need online booking?
Only if you take reservations. If you do, the Book button should open your reservation tool directly; if you're walk-in only, say so near the top so guests know what to expect.
Should a restaurant website use stock photos?
No. Diners use photos to judge the food and the room, and stock images make them wonder what yours really look like. Well-lit phone photos of your own dishes, room and team work better.