There is more to running a restaurant successfully than providing great food; you also need to ensure that your customers have a great overall experience. In today’s tech-savvy world, it often starts online. After all, there is no dearth of people who look for restaurants using the internet, with websites serving as their first point of contact. If you’re wondering how to go about creating a website for your restaurant, taking a cue from the best restaurant websites might work well for you.
When it comes to the top restaurant sites, you can expect all to deliver a great user experience (UX). In addition, they come with intuitive and responsive designs, fast loading speeds, high-quality visuals, consistent branding, and clear calls to action (CTAs).
When going through this list of the best restaurant website designs, keep in mind that the results are subjective and arranged in no particular order.
Table Of Contents
Mujō
Mujō is an upscale sushi restaurant in Atlanta, GA, and its website follows a minimalistic and modern approach. This reservation-only restaurant lets its patrons choose from dining in the Sushi Bar or the Private Room, which it makes clear on the homepage. The dropdown menu is concise, offering options to make reservations and learn more about the restaurant.
Given that the menu in this restaurant changes every day, the website does not list the same. However, it mentions that the menu “reflects the best seasonal ingredients available, as well as fish flown in directly from Japan”. The online booking experience is straightforward.
The Upper Crust
Located in multiple locations across Massachusetts and California, the Upper Crust Pizzeria is a great example of how the top restaurant websites encourage people to order online. When you visit the homepage, the picture of a sumptuous pizza welcomes you, and the hero image also includes a CTA that asks viewers to “Order Now”.
The header section clearly differentiates between orders for Massachusetts and California. Clicking on either leads you to select from delivery or pickup, and looking for outlets by using your zip code is simple. Once you get to the menu, you get to view clear images of all the items so you know exactly what you’re ordering.
The dropdown menu lets you find locations too, and it also provides information about the restaurant’s catering business, gift cards, and rewards.
Giusto
This Italian restaurant in Newport, RI, has an indoor section as well as a large open-air section that overlooks the harbor. The web design company that has worked on its website understands that most people looking for restaurants online are in search of physical addresses, so it displays the same at the very top of the homepage.
The dropdown menu offers information about the restaurant’s hours of operations, menus, and gift cards, while also letting you find your way to ordering online or making a reservation. The Menu section lists all the menus including Lunch, Dinner, Dessert, Wines, and Beers/Cocktails. The use of high-quality imagery across the website is in line with other great restaurant websites, but the menus are devoid of any images.
Bresca
Located in Washington, D.C., Bresca is a Parisian bistro that is building off Paris’s Neo-bistro movement. Its website follows a simplistic approach, and like several other good restaurant websites, it uses the header section to display high-quality images of its food and ambience. The restaurant’s address and phone number are easy to find at the top of the homepage.
The header section gives you access to the menus, information about events and gift cards, and an easy way to make reservations. However, the menus lack images, and the website does not accept online orders.
Simon Rogan Restaurants
With restaurants spread across the UK, Malta, Hong Kong, and Thailand, Simon Rogan’s website does well to cater to audiences from different parts of the world. Given that fact that Simon Rogan is an award-winning chef and restaurateur, the header image on the homepage prods visitors into learning more about his philosophy toward food.
The header section lets you find the brand’s various restaurants easily. People looking to work with Simon Rogan restaurants can head to the Careers & Academy section. The Shop section leads you to all the merchandise you can purchase. The News section functions as an affective blog, which is another common feature in the best restaurant websites.
Manhatta
Located in New York, NY, Manhatta is a modern restaurant that combines contemporary creativity with tradition. Its website showcases how a clean and crisp design can work wonders in delivering the desired result. Images in the header section give you a glimpse of what you may expect when you dine at this restaurant. By scrolling down, you get information about its bar/lounge and events.
One feature that sets the Manhatta website apart from the other cool restaurant websites listed on this page is its use of the hamburger button instead of the traditional dropdown menu. This helps the homepage look less cluttered. Once here, you may get more information about the restaurant and bar, hours of operation, and gift cards. Making online reservations is simple.
Learning From the Best Restaurant Website Designs
The best websites for restaurants share several common features and functionalities, and if you plan to create a new one or revamp an existing one, learning from them is the ideal way to go.
- Contact information. Your contact information should be easy to find. It includes your address (linked with Google Maps), phone number, and hours of operation.
- Social media links. Sharing links to your social media accounts on your website enables its visitors to follow you on different platforms.
- Menu. Many diners check menus online in advance, so it’s ideal that you include them on your website. Try to add images of all the items and make sure you update your online menus each time there’s a change.
- Reservations. Good restaurant website design requires addressing the need of customers to make online reservations, and the process should be quick and easy.
- Online orders. If your restaurant provides deliveries and take-outs, your customers should be able to place online orders through your website and not depend on third-party websites/apps.
- Your story. Every business has a story to tell, and restaurants are no different. Your “About Us” page should highlight this aspect clearly and concisely, telling your target audience why you do what you do.
- Optimized for mobile. Given that most people use their smartphones to get online now, you must optimize your website for mobile devices. In this case, the best approach is to opt for responsive web design.
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Conclusion
Having looked at the best restaurant websites, you should have a fair indication of what the modern-day consumer expects. For instance, delivering a flawless user experience is crucial, and you need to ensure that your website works well on all types of devices. The information your target audience is looking for must be easy to find, be it your address or your menus. Besides, you have to optimize your website for search engines. Given that achieving all this is not easy, partnering with a restaurant website design agency might be in your best interest.
