Website checklist for cafés and restaurants

Most people looking at a restaurant website are on their phone, nearby, and slightly hungry. They are not reading your story. They want to know if you are open, what is on the menu, and how to get a table. Build the page around that and the rest follows.

The first screen

Everything in this section should be visible without scrolling on a phone.

• Your name and what you are. "Harbour Café, coffee and bakes" beats a bare logo. Include the town.
• Today's opening hours. Show them as plain text, and show closing days clearly.
• A call button. A phone link that dials with one tap.
• A directions link. It should open the map app on the visitor's phone.
• One main action. "Book a table", "Order ahead" or "View menu". Pick the one that matters most and make it stand out.

The menu

• Write the menu as text on the page. A photo of a printed menu cannot be read by search engines, cannot be enlarged cleanly on a small screen, and cannot be translated by a visitor's phone. A PDF is better than a photo but still awkward on mobile.
• Show prices. Visitors skip businesses that make them guess.
• Mark vegetarian, vegan and common allergens clearly, and tell people how to ask about anything not listed. Check what the food-information rules require in your country.
• Keep it current. An old menu with old prices is worse than none. Put a "last updated" date on it if the menu changes often.
• Offer a second language if your customers need it. If many of your guests read Arabic or Romanian, a translated menu is worth the effort. Have a native speaker check it.

Photos

• Use your own photos. The food, the counter, the room. Stock images of coffee beans tell visitors nothing about you.
• Show the entrance or street view. People find it easier to walk in when they recognise the front.
• Compress them. Large uncompressed photos are the most common reason a restaurant site loads slowly on mobile data.
• Add short descriptions (alt text) to each image. This helps screen reader users and gives search engines context.

Booking, ordering and contact

• Link the tool you already use. A booking widget, a delivery link or a simple form all work. Do not build a second system.
• Add a WhatsApp or message button if customers already contact you that way.
• Show your full address as text, not only inside a map image.
• Mention group sizes, private dining and special events if you do them, with a clear way to ask.
• Show temporary closures and holiday hours in a banner at the top, and remove them afterwards.

Trust and the small print

• Include real reviews. A few genuine quotes, or a link to your Google reviews. Do not invent or edit them.
• Add your business details in the footer. Name, address, email and phone make you look established.
• Link a privacy page if you collect any details through a form or newsletter.

Speed and search

• Check it on a real phone on mobile data, not only on wifi. If it takes more than a few seconds to show the hours, simplify the page.
• Write a clear page title and description. For example: "Harbour Café | Coffee and bakes in Brighton, open daily 7am to 4pm".
• Connect it to your Google listing. Your Google Business Profile should link to the site, and the details on both should match exactly.
• Add structured data if you can. Google documents a Restaurant and LocalBusiness markup that can include your address, opening hours and menu link. It helps search engines read your page accurately, though it does not guarantee any special display.

Common mistakes we see

• The only menu is a photo of a chalkboard.
• The hours on the website, Google and Instagram all disagree.
• The "Book now" button goes to a page that does not work on phones.
• The site plays background music or video that cannot be switched off.
• The text is light grey on a white background and nearly impossible to read in sunlight.

How much of this do you need?

All of it fits on one page. A single well-organised page with a menu section, a gallery, hours, a map and a booking link is enough for most cafés. Larger restaurants with private dining or several menus may want a few extra pages.

If you would like to see how this looks for your own place, we can build a free demo from your business name. We show you the finished design first, and you pay only if you want it live. For typical costs, see what a small business website costs in the UK.