Does anyone read restaurant reviews?

Choosing the best restaurant is not always an easy task - it's not just about the food, but also about the overall atmosphere. The difficulty of choosing applies not only to a new city that we are not familiar with or foreign trips, but also to ordinary, everyday situations when we want to spend a pleasant time and eat well. That's why users, if no one personally recommends a place to them, check the opinions about restaurants or eateries that appear on the internet - on review websites, culinary blogs, or social media. They are crucial and often prevail when deciding on a specific place. Although choosing a place for lunch or dinner is not a "life or death" type of choice, no one wants to be disappointed.

What is important to restaurant guests?

What do guests pay special attention to when choosing and evaluating a restaurant? Of course, the menu and tasty food are important. The quality of the meal and its presentation are the main goals of the visit - but not the only ones. The cleanliness of the premises and the atmosphere created by the owners are also important. The service at the highest level or a well-known chef overseeing the original menu will be invaluable. Especially nowadays, delivery is also important - the possibility of ordering a meal to your home or workplace and, as a result, how it will be packaged and whether it will arrive warm. More and more guests also pay attention to the type of takeaway packaging, for example, whether it is eco-friendly.

Internet reviews can help choose a recommended place and indicate elements that we have no chance to check otherwise before the visit. One example is friendly service. While we can increasingly check the appearance of the food and the portion size before the visit, thanks to photos posted on social media by the restaurants themselves, but also by guests, only customer reviews will tell us more about the service and the atmosphere in the restaurant.

Restaurant and its promotion methods

Taking care of online presence is now largely associated with having a presence on the internet. A constantly updated website and managing social media channels are already a standard. In addition to that, any promotional activities (e.g., lunch menus, discounts during less busy hours), as well as online and offline advertising campaigns, will be a good support.

It is worth remembering that with the presence of a restaurant on the internet, it will increasingly become the subject of ratings and comments - and you have to be prepared for that. The promotion of our restaurant is not based solely on active marketing activities, but also on monitoring what is being said about us on the internet and responding efficiently. Tools for internet monitoring will certainly help with this, and if there are many comments, tools for managing online reputation will also be useful.

Online reviews are crucial

Let's start with negatywnych reviews - they need to be dealt with as quickly as possible. What can be done when a customer is dissatisfied and comments on the quality of our food or service? Definitely respond, explain, and if necessary, simply apologize like a human being. Sometimes a negative review is a subjective matter and it is difficult to argue about it - but you can express regret that the atmosphere or food did not meet expectations. However, if the inconvenience is undoubtedly our fault, it is worth describing the steps we have taken to prevent similar situations in the future. In a private message, you can also offer some form of compensation or invite them for a free meal.

Importantly, it is also worth responding to guest reviews such as "Delicious food" or "We are very satisfied". Positive comments should be promoted. This will help establish a connection, which will make guests more likely to return to our establishment. Sometimes it is enough to write "Thank you and best regards" and invite them to visit again. If the guest is satisfied, you can also ask for more details - what specifically they liked and what their favorite dish is. This will certainly be useful for people looking for reviews about our restaurant on the internet, and it will increase the number of positive comments for us.