Web design for restaurants
I design and build restaurant websites that answer the questions people have in the minutes before they book: what you serve, what it costs, when you are open and whether there is a table.
Free homepage teardown for your restaurant
Send me your site. I’ll record a short video on what works, what doesn’t, and what I’d change first.
How clients choose
Many people visit a restaurant site on a phone, often already deciding between two or three places. They want the menu, prices, hours, location and a reservation button, and they want them fast. Atmosphere matters, but only after the practical answers. The site has to feel like the room and get people to a table.
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What people type before they choose. Each of these deserves a clear answer somewhere on your site, usually its own page.
Pages your site needs
The pages I plan for almost every restaurant website, and why each one earns its place.
Menu
As text on the page, with prices, updated when it changes. It is usually among the most visited pages on a restaurant site.
Reservations
The booking widget on its own page and one tap from everywhere else.
Hours and location
Hours, address, parking, transit and accessibility, consistent with Google.
Private dining and events
Room capacities, set menus and an enquiry form. Often the highest-value bookings.
About the kitchen
The chef, the sourcing and the idea behind the place.
Gift cards
Bought online, especially before holidays.
What builds trust
The signals that move someone from browsing to choosing a restaurant.
Real food and room photography
Your dishes and your dining room as guests will see them.
Current menu
A menu that matches what is served tonight. Outdated menus erode trust quickly.
Dietary notes
Vegetarian and gluten-free options marked, with an honest note on allergens and shared kitchen limits.
Genuine press
Reviews and features from real publications, linked, where you have them.
The conversion path
Primary action: Reserve a table.
Fallback: Call the restaurant.
The reserve button stays visible on every page on a phone and opens your booking system directly. Calling is a tap away for same-day questions, and the menu links straight back to reservations.
Common mistakes
What I see most often when I review sites in this field.
PDF menus
Hard to read on a phone, slow to download and invisible to search.
Hours that disagree with Google
Guests who arrive to a closed door often do not return.
Autoplay video homepages
Heavy intros delay the menu and drain data for people deciding on the sidewalk.
Features worth building
OpenTable, Resy or Tock booking
Your reservation system embedded properly, with ticketed events through Tock where you run them.
Editable menu
Menus updated from a simple CMS, so changes go live in minutes without a designer.
Private dining enquiries
A form for date, party size and budget, routed to whoever handles events.
Websites for restaurants: common questions
A web page. PDF menus are slow on phones, awkward to read and largely ignored by search engines. A text menu loads instantly, can be read aloud by screen readers and helps you rank for dishes and cuisine. I build it so your team can update dishes and prices themselves in a few minutes.
The one that suits how you run the room. OpenTable brings discovery, Resy suits many independent rooms, and Tock is strong for tasting menus and ticketed events. I integrate whichever you choose so the booking flow feels like part of your site and works well on a phone.
Mostly through your Google Business Profile: accurate hours, categories, menu link, reservation link and recent photos. The website supports it with consistent name, address and hours, a real text menu and pages that describe your cuisine and neighbourhood. Consistency between the two matters more than anything clever.
Only if takeout is a real part of the business. If it is, ordering directly through your own system or Square Online avoids some delivery app fees and keeps the customer relationship. If takeout is occasional, a simple link out is fine. Do not let ordering crowd out reservations if dining in is the point.
Keep reading
- nick@tavro.ca
- 587-439-9994
- Calgary, Alberta