A restaurant website checklist.

1. A menu that guests can actually read

Use readable page text for dishes, descriptions and prices. A PDF can still be offered as an additional download, but it should not be the only way to understand what you serve. Check the menu at a narrow phone width and with the browser text size increased.

Give each menu a clear name and explain when it is available: lunch, dinner, tasting menu or a particular day. Keep price information current, and identify whom a guest should contact with dietary questions. Do not add dietary or allergen labels unless the restaurant has supplied and checked them.

Check: Open the menu on a phone without pinching or zooming. Confirm it is the current version.

2. One obvious route to a reservation

Put a booking action where guests can find it, including the main navigation and menu pages. Check that a provider link opens the correct restaurant and location. If you use a request form, say clearly that the restaurant needs to confirm availability.

Include an alternative contact route for larger parties or requests that the booking tool does not handle. If you do not take reservations, make that clear and explain the walk-in arrangement instead of showing an inactive booking button.

Check: Follow the journey up to the final confirmation step. Do not create a real booking or payment without an agreed test arrangement.

• Choose between booking integration and a request form

3. Opening hours, directions and useful contact details

Write the full address as text and provide a directions link. Explain separate kitchen and venue hours where that distinction matters. Include holiday or special-event arrangements when they are relevant, with a plan for removing outdated notices.

Make the phone number usable as a tap-to-call link and show an email address for appropriate enquiries. If guests need information about step-free access, children, dogs or parking, publish the restaurant’s actual arrangements rather than generic assurances.

Check: Compare the website’s address, phone and hours with the restaurant’s Google Business Profile and booking account.

4. A comfortable mobile experience

Check the whole journey at a small screen width, not just the homepage. Long menus, tables, provider widgets and contact forms are often where problems appear. Buttons should be easy to identify, text should remain readable and the page should not require horizontal scrolling.

Use the keyboard as well as a pointer to move through links and form controls. Visible focus, meaningful labels, useful image descriptions and clear error messages help more people use the site. These checks are a starting point, rather than a full accessibility assessment.

Check: Navigate the menu and booking route using both a phone-sized viewport and the keyboard.

5. Photography that belongs to your restaurant

A small set of good photographs of the room, food and team can explain the experience more clearly than a large collection of unrelated images. Use images you have permission to publish, and choose crops that still make sense on a phone.

Compress large files and avoid loading a gallery’s entire collection at the top of the homepage. Keep important information as actual page text rather than baking menus or opening hours into pictures. Where images are illustrative concepts rather than real photographs of the venue, label them honestly.

Check: Inspect the desktop and mobile crops, check permissions and remove images that misrepresent the venue.

6. Search basics with accurate local information

Give each important page a useful title and a clear purpose. A menu page should describe the menu; a private-dining page should explain the actual space, capacities and enquiry process. Link to those pages from relevant parts of the website so visitors and search engines can discover them.

Check that the live site is available over HTTPS and that private drafts or fictional demos do not appear in its sitemap. Keep the website, menu and booking links in the restaurant’s Google Business Profile current. Search Console can help identify whether Google is discovering and indexing your real pages.

Check: Confirm the preferred domain, page titles, sitemap and the restaurant’s public listing links.

• Read the restaurant SEO guide

7. An enquiry route with an honest confirmation

Check where a form sends information and who monitors that destination. A successful submission should tell the visitor what happened. If the site only opens an email draft, it should explain that the visitor still needs to send it; opening a mail app is not proof that an enquiry arrived.

Test required fields, invalid email addresses and the fallback when a visitor has no email app configured. If you accept private-dining or event enquiries, ask for the few details needed to respond, without making the first contact unnecessarily long.

Check: Carry out an agreed test enquiry, confirm receipt in the actual inbox and remove any test data.

8. Ownership, costs and routine updates

Know who controls the domain, hosting, booking-provider account and email. Record the renewal costs and the way you request content changes. A seasonal menu update should have an agreed owner and process, rather than waiting until a guest notices the old version.

Before paying for a build, agree the page count, menu scope, revision rounds, care allowance and handover arrangement. Keep a list of work that sits outside the package, such as photography, substantial copywriting, online ordering or a complex migration.

Check: Write down the account owners, recurring costs and the person responsible for menu and opening-hours updates.

• Compare the full cost of a restaurant website

9. A final check before launch

Review every page on desktop and at a phone width. Follow the menu, directions, telephone, email, social and booking links. Remove placeholder copy, old promotions and accidental test details. Check that any redirects from the former site lead to relevant replacements.

For a new opening, agree exactly when the website should go live and who will confirm the operational information. After launch, repeat the important checks on the live domain. A preview working correctly does not prove that the domain, mailbox or external booking account is connected correctly.

Check: Keep a short launch checklist and mark each item complete on the public website, not only the preview.

10. Turn the checklist into a brief

Prioritise the issues that stop a guest from understanding the restaurant or planning a visit. Then decide whether the site needs small updates or a fuller redesign. Send the current website, menu size, booking arrangement and main priorities when asking for a quote.

First Sitting’s £500 build is designed for an agreed independent restaurant website of up to five pages, with a mobile-friendly menu and one supported booking integration or request form. Hosting and care cost £35 per month. We will confirm where your brief fits and quote any additional work separately.