Websites for the food industry
The menu and the hours, found in ten seconds.
Before deciding, your guests look for three things: the menu, the hours and the booking link. I build restaurant sites where those three things take seconds to find, on a phone or a desktop.
Libro
& OpenTable integration ready
Fast
loading optimized for phones
Current
a price or a dish changed with no PDF to redo
What is built in for a restaurant
The situations I run into most often
This is what I find when I open the site of a restaurant that is not bringing in bookings. If two or three of these sound familiar, they can be fixed.
The menu is a PDF file
The file opens in a separate reader, the guest has to zoom and drag around to read the prices, and often gives up before the main courses. Google reads that kind of document poorly, so the names of your dishes show up in no search at all.
The hours disagree from one place to the next
The site still shows the schedule from before the holidays, the Google listing gives another one and the Facebook page a third version. The guest calls to check, or picks the restaurant next door.
The booking link goes nowhere
The button points to an old platform or to a page that refuses to open on a phone. Every lost click is an empty table on a Friday night.
The photos are from opening week
The dining room has been renovated and the menu has changed twice since, but the images on the site are still from the photo session done the month you opened. Guests arrive expecting something else.
The site is heavy on a mobile connection
The photos were uploaded at full resolution straight from a phone. The page takes its time to appear and some visitors leave before they ever see the menu.
Nothing answers the questions you get by phone
Do you take takeout orders? Is the terrace open? Can we book for twelve people? Those calls come back every week because the answer is written nowhere on the site.
What goes on the site
An online menu you can read without zooming
The menu is written as text in the page rather than as a PDF. Guests read it with one thumb on their phone and Google can index the names of your dishes.
An online booking button that follows the visitor
The link goes to the booking system you already use, Libro or OpenTable for instance, and stays reachable as the person scrolls down the page.
Hours and address written in one place only
The site becomes the official reference, and I show you how to line up your Google Business Profile with it, holiday schedules included.
A gallery of photos compressed for the web
Your dishes and your dining room full width, with images resized so the page stays fast on mobile data.
A page for takeout and delivery
It says plainly whether you take the orders yourself, through which platform, and during what hours the kitchen accepts them.
Restaurant structured data
The site tells Google your cuisine type, your price range and your hours. That is what lets your schedule appear directly in the search results.
A form for groups and private events
A short form for company gatherings, birthdays and group bookings, landing in your inbox with the date and the number of people already filled in.
Gift cards payable online
If you sell them, payment goes through Stripe and the card is sent by email, with no stock of physical cards for you to manage.
The Eastern Townships context
I work out of Sherbrooke and I know the difference between the crowds here. A café on rue Wellington is mostly trying to show up in weekday lunch searches, while a restaurant in Magog lives in good part off visitors planning a weekend in the Eastern Townships who look up where to eat before they even arrive. I travel to Magog, Coaticook, Windsor and Lennoxville, and to Granby, part of Estrie since 2021, and I work remotely with restaurants and cafés elsewhere in Quebec.
Possible scopes for restaurants
Restaurant showcase site
Clear homepage, easy-to-read menu, contact and booking integration depending on your tools.
Custom after diagnosisComplete & media site
Gallery, story, team, gift cards or seasonal content depending on your needs.
Custom after diagnosisQuestions I get asked
Can I edit my menu myself?
Two ways, and we choose at quoting. By default the menu is not an image: every dish and every price is its own item, you send me the change and I put it live. Reply in 2 business days, no dashboard to learn and nothing to break on a Friday night. If you want to do it yourself, we build on a content management system like WordPress or Shopify: that is decided up front, because it changes how the site is built.
How long before my site shows up in Google?
Indexing, meaning the moment the site becomes visible in the results, usually takes a few days to a few weeks. Ranking near the top for a search like restaurant Sherbrooke is longer work, because it depends on your competitors, your Google listing and your reviews. I don’t promise you a position. Nobody can promise that honestly.
I already have a Facebook page, do I really need a site?
It depends where your guests come from. A Facebook page speaks well to people who already follow you, but it ranks poorly in Google and you control neither the layout nor what gets shown. If a good share of your new guests find you by searching where to eat on their phone, a site makes a real difference. If you live mostly off neighbourhood regulars, start by keeping your Google listing accurate instead.
Does online booking cost extra?
Wiring your booking system into the site is part of the build, whether it is Libro, OpenTable or something else. What you pay the platform is their subscription, not mine. If you have no system yet, we can start with a simple booking request form that lands in your inbox.
How long until the site is live?
Count on 7 to 14 days depending on the content. The delay almost always comes down to photos and an up-to-date menu: when you send them quickly, we land at the low end. A site with several locations or a gift card shop takes a bit longer.
What if my prices change three times a year?
That’s exactly why the menu isn’t an image. We change the line in question, with no full PDF to redo and nothing else on the card touched. You write me the change, I reply in 2 business days. Restaurants that change their menu with the seasons are the ones who gain the most from this.
Where to go next
- web design: how I structure the pages, from the first screen to the booking button.
- website redesign: if you already have an aging restaurant site with the menu still in PDF.
- local SEO and conversion: to show up for people searching where to eat near you.
- website maintenance: menu updates, backups and security patches after launch.
- pricing and packages: what moves the price of a restaurant website and what is included.
- web agency in Sherbrooke: who I am, where I work from and how a project runs in the Eastern Townships.
- websites for hotels, inns and attractions: if your dining room is attached to lodging or to an activity.
- selling your products online: for coffee roasters, fine grocers and boxes you ship out.
Reviews
What clients say, on Google
The reviews below come straight from the studio’s Google profile. You can click any name to check the profile yourself.
Make your menu and your bookings easy to find
Let’s talk about your menu, your bookings and your busy hours.
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