Restaurant Website Checklist: 15 Things Guests and Google Look For

Use this list to check your own site in about twenty minutes. Every point is something guests notice, or something Google and AI assistants read before they recommend you.

What guests need in the first seconds

1. What you are, in one line. "Seafood restaurant on the river in Porto" beats "Where passion meets flavour".
2. Today's hours, near the top. Written as a status if you can: "Open until 23:00".
3. A booking button that books. It goes straight to your booking system or calls you, not to a contact form.
4. A tap-to-call phone number. Written as a link, with the country code.
5. Your address with a map link. One tap should open directions.

The menu

6. The menu is real text. Not a PDF, not a photo. Text is readable on phones, translatable and searchable. More in the five-second menu test.
7. Prices are visible. Hiding prices does not bring more guests, it brings the wrong ones.
8. Dietary information on the dish. "Vegetarian" or "gluten-free" in words, not a symbol with a legend at the bottom.

Speed and phones

9. The page loads fast on mobile data. Test with PageSpeed Insights on your phone, away from your wifi, and aim for the main image in under 2.5 seconds. Our guide to website speed explains the numbers.
10. Nothing covers the booking button on a phone. Check the cookie banner, chat widgets and pop-ups.

Google and AI assistants

11. Name, address, phone and hours match everywhere. On the site, your Google Business Profile, social profiles and directories: same spelling, same format.
12. Structured data for your restaurant. Schema markup for your business, hours and menu, so search engines and assistants read your facts correctly. See structured data and llms.txt.
13. One page per real question. Private dining, events, set menus or groups each deserve their own page if you offer them.

Languages and trust

14. The languages your guests speak. In tourist areas, at least the menu, hours and booking should be in English and the local language.
15. Real photos of the food and the room. Bright enough to read on a phone at half brightness.

How to score yourself

• 13–15: your site is doing its job. Focus on photos and reviews.
• 8–12: a few fixes will bring noticeably more bookings. Start with points 2, 3 and 6.
• Under 8: the site is probably costing you tables every week.

Want a second pair of eyes?

We check restaurant websites against this list for free and reply within one to two working days with the three fixes that matter most. Ask for a free website review, or see what we include in a restaurant website.