Most restaurant guests decide where to eat on their phone, in a few seconds. They want to see the menu, the prices, whether you are open and how to book or order. A restaurant website that answers these four questions quickly will bring more guests than a beautiful site that hides them behind a PDF and a slideshow. Here is how to build one with WordPress.
The five pages you need
- Home: a strong photo, your type of cuisine and location in one sentence, today’s hours and buttons to book, call or order.
- Menu: a real HTML menu, not only a PDF.
- About: the chef, the team, your story and where your products come from.
- Book / Order: your booking tool or online ordering.
- Contact & access: address, map, parking, phone, hours.
Add a page for private events or catering if you offer them: these are high-value requests.
The menu: the most visited page
A PDF menu is hard to read on a phone and almost invisible to search engines. An HTML menu loads instantly, can be updated in seconds and includes the dish names people search for. Organise it in categories (starters, mains, desserts, drinks), add a short description and price for each dish, and mark vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or spicy dishes with badges. Our guide how to create a restaurant menu in WordPress explains the details, and MenuCard does it without coding. Do not forget allergen information.
If your designer only gave you a print menu or a wine list as a PDF, you can still present it nicely as a page-turning flipbook.
Opening hours with a live status
“Are they open now?” is the second question guests ask. Show your hours in the footer and an “Open now / Closed” badge near the top of the home page. Remember lunch and dinner services and holiday closures. See how to add an open now badge.
Booking, ordering and delivery
Make the main action obvious. If you take bookings, put a “Book a table” button in the header. If you deliver, let visitors check their address before they start an order: a delivery area checker avoids disappointed customers and calls. A floating call / WhatsApp button is also very effective for restaurants, since many guests still prefer to call.
Photos that make people hungry
Use real photos of your dishes and your room, taken in natural light. Ten good photos are better than fifty average ones. Resize and compress them so your site stays fast on mobile networks.
Local SEO for restaurants
- Use your cuisine and city in your home page title: “Italian restaurant in Toulon – Name”.
- Keep your name, address and phone identical on your site and on Google Business Profile.
- Link your Google profile to your menu page.
- Collect reviews and show a few on your site, see how to display testimonials.
- Mention specialities people search for: “wood-fired pizza”, “vegan brunch”, “terrace”.
Keep it fast and simple
A lightweight theme, a caching plugin and a handful of well-built plugins are all you need. Avoid autoplay videos and heavy sliders on the home page. Test your site on your own phone, on mobile data, as a guest would.
All the restaurant tools in one pack
The menu, opening hours, delivery area checker and contact button are included in the Local Business Bundle. You can try each of them on the restaurant menu demo and the other live demos.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need online ordering on my restaurant website?
Not necessarily. A clear menu, hours and a booking or call button already cover most guests. Add ordering if takeaway or delivery is an important part of your business.
Is a PDF menu bad for SEO?
Search engines can read some PDFs, but an HTML menu is faster, easier to read on phones and much better at matching what people search for.
How often should I update my restaurant website?
Every time your menu, prices or hours change, and before each holiday period.