A guide to restaurant web design: Tools & ideas

 

Designing a restaurant website isn’t just about looking good—it’s about working well. Your site needs to reflect your brand, show off your food, and help customers do what they came to do: make a reservation, place an order, or find your location. A strong website can set the tone for someone’s entire experience with your restaurant, before they’ve even stepped through the door.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the key elements of effective restaurant web design—from the design choices that keep visitors engaged to the features that make things run smoothly. We’ll also cover some of the common missteps that trip up even well-meaning restaurants and how to avoid them. If you're building a new site or thinking of improving an old one, knowing what to include—and what to leave out—can make all the difference.

To help you get started, we’ve included a list of restaurant website builders, along with a few standout examples of food web page designs. Whether you're working with a designer or building it yourself, this guide is here to help you think clearly, choose wisely, and create a site that works for your guests and your business.

 

Key Elements of Effective Restaurant Web Design

User-Friendly Navigation

Customers want to find what they need quickly. A clean, intuitive menu structure—think home, about, menu, reservations, and contact—keeps users engaged. Avoid cluttered dropdowns or vague labels. Prioritize simplicity to guide visitors effortlessly through your restaurant website.

Mobile Responsiveness

Most diners browse on their phones. A mobile-responsive food website design adjusts seamlessly to any screen size, ensuring menus are readable and buttons are clickable without zooming. Google also ranks mobile-friendly sites higher, boosting your visibility in searches such as “restaurants near me’’.

High-Quality Visuals and Branding

Your website should reflect your restaurant’s personality. Use professional photos of your dishes, interior, and staff to create an inviting vibe. Consistent branding—colors, fonts, and logos—builds trust and recognition. Avoid generic stock images; authenticity matters in restaurant web design.

Clear Calls-to-Action

Guide visitors toward action. Prominent buttons for “Book a Table,” “View Menu,” or “Order Online” drive conversions. Place these calls-to-action strategically on every page, ensuring they’re easy to spot without overwhelming the design of your restaurant website.

 

Essential Features for a Restaurant Website

Showcase your story

People love to know the story behind the food. Whether it’s how your restaurant got started, the inspiration behind your menu, or the team that makes it all happen, sharing your journey helps guests feel more connected. Use your website to tell that story in a way that feels personal—through photos, videos, and a few honest words. It’s a simple way to turn visitors into fans.

Online Menu Display

Your menu is the heart of your food website design. Display it clearly with readable fonts and organized sections (e.g., appetizers, mains, desserts). Include prices, dietary labels (vegan, gluten-free), and high-quality images where possible. A downloadable PDF version is a bonus for convenience.

Reservation and Ordering Systems

Streamline bookings and takeout with integrated tools. Platforms like OpenTable or Toast can embed ordering and reservation systems directly into your restaurant website, reducing friction for customers. Ensure these systems are mobile-friendly and easy to use.

Location and Contact Information

Make it simple for customers to find you. Include your address, phone number, and hours prominently, ideally in the header or footer. Embed a Google Maps widget for directions. A contact form for inquiries adds accessibility to your restaurant website.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Showcase positive feedback to build credibility. Feature a few glowing reviews or ratings from platforms like Yelp or Google. Keep it concise—two or three testimonials work better than a wall of text on a food website design.

Social Media Integration

Link to your Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok to showcase your restaurant’s vibe. Embedding a live Instagram feed with photos of dishes or events can keep your restaurant website fresh and engaging without frequent updates.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Overcomplicated Layouts

A cluttered restaurant website frustrates users. Avoid packing too many elements onto one page or using flashy animations that distract from key information. Stick to a clean, minimal design that prioritizes usability.

Slow Loading Times

Speed matters. Large, unoptimized images or heavy scripts can slow your site, driving users away and hurting your SEO performance in search engines like Google. Use images under 2MB and reliable hosting to keep load times under three seconds. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights for free to check your website’s speed.

Ignoring Mobile Users

A desktop-only design alienates the majority of your audience. Test your restaurant website on multiple devices to ensure menus, forms, and buttons function perfectly. Mobile-first design is critical for ranking above your competitors in Google searches.

Outdated Information

Nothing erodes trust like an old menu or incorrect hours. Regularly update your restaurant website with current menus, specials, and contact details. Set a schedule to review content every few months to keep it accurate.

 

10 Examples of Well-Designed Restaurant Sites

1. Les Burgers de Colette

 

2. Galvin Restaurants

 

3. Los Tontos

 

4. Coco Paris

 

5. Pretty Patty

 

6. La Crema Malta

 

7. La Barraca

 

8. Vita Lenta

 

9. Sono Japanese Restaurant

 

10. Earls Kitchen + Bar Restaurants

 

 

Top 10 Web Design Tools for Restaurants

1. WordPress

WordPress is the most famous website builder out there for creating easy-to-manage websites. Key features include customizable themes, online menu plugins, reservation tools, and support for food delivery or ordering systems. It also has built-in blogging and SEO tools to help you attract local customers through search engines. With WordPress, you can update your site anytime—no coding skills needed—and add features as your restaurant grows.

Pricing:

Plans start with the Personal Plan at €9 per month and go all the way up to the Commerce Plan at $70 per month. You can save 55% with an annual commitment or even choose a 2-year or 3-year plan for even greater discounts. A free plan is also available.

 

2. Wix

Wix is a drag-and-drop website maker with tons of templates specifically for restaurants. It includes built-in tools like menus, reservation forms, and online ordering. The platform is easy to use for non-tech-savvy owners and supports mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization.

Pricing:

Pricing plans range between $17 and $159 per month. All plans include a custom domain, 24/7 support and AI creation tools.

 

3. Relume

Relume is a modern design and website-building tool that uses AI to create modern, visually appealing websites for restaurants. It offers a library of pre-built components and layouts and integrates with platforms like Webflow for fast development. Relume’s coolest AI feature is the ability to quickly create beautiful sitemaps and wireframes from text prompts.

Pricing:

Relume’s free plan allows 1 project and limited components. Subscriptions range between $18 per user per month and $36 per user per month and offer thousands of components and collaboration capabilities.

 

4. Framer

Framer is a no-code website builder focused on creating interactive, visually stunning websites. It offers drag-and-drop design, animations, and integrations with tools like Shopify for online ordering. Framer is perfect for restaurants wanting a unique, design-forward site without extensive coding knowledge.

Pricing:

Business plans cost €75 or €200 per month, billed annually, whereas Personal plans cost between €10 and €40 per month (monthly and annual billing available).

 

5. Shopify

Shopify is primarily known as an e-commerce platform, but it offers restaurant-focused templates and apps for online ordering and delivery. Restaurants can use Shopify to sell meals and merchandise with the flexibility to integrate delivery services and manage inventory.

Pricing:

Pricing plans start at €29 and can go up to several thousand per year. You can try it out for free and then get the first 3 months at €1 per month.

 

6. Square

Square, one of the most widely known point-of-sales systems in the market, allows easy website building via its Square Online feature. Website created via Square integrate seamlessly with its POS, making it a great option for restaurants already using Square for their operations. It allows for online ordering, curbside pickup, delivery integrations, and loyalty programs—all on a platform that handles both online and in-person sales.

Pricing:

You can start for free with basic features like POS sync and social media selling. Plus Plan costs $29 per month, while Premium costs $79 per month. Additional charges apply for transactions such as website orders.

 

7. Toast Websites

Toast Websites is an extension of Toast POS, providing restaurant websites with built-in ordering, reservations, and real-time updates to menus and hours. It’s designed specifically for restaurants, with deep integration into the Toast ecosystem.

Pricing:

Custom pricing.

 

8. Hostinger

Hostinger is a budget-friendly web hosting service that also offers an AI website builder. It's ideal for those who want more control and flexibility over their site and are comfortable managing plugins, themes, or connecting third-party tools for restaurant functionality (like menus, reservations, or ordering systems).

Pricing:

Website Builder plans are priced at $11.99 and $13.99 per month. Commitments for 1, 2 or 3 years offer up to 75% discount.

 

9. Owner

Owner is a beautiful and very simple tool for restaurants wanting to grow their online presence. Each restaurant that signs up gets a ready-made website within a week. Owner websites come with online ordering and are optimized for local SEO. Owner is a great solution for small restaurants that want to create a great website and start accepting orders without any effort.

Pricing:

Owner offers one simple price at $499 per month which includes all the features.

 

10. Squarespace

Squarespace is a website builder known for sleek, minimalist design templates. It offers restaurant-specific tools like menu layouts, reservations, and e-commerce for takeout or gift cards. Squarespace allows you to purchase a domain directly from their platform.

Pricing:

You can try Squarespace for free for 14 days. Paid plans range between €15 and €42 per month, with additional transaction fees applied for online store transactions. You can save 26% with an annual commitment.

 

 

Top Website Analytics Tools for Restaurants

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool that tracks and reports website traffic. For restaurant websites, it helps monitor where your visitors are coming from, which pages they're visiting (e.g., menu, reservations, contact), and how long they’re staying. This insight allows restaurateurs to optimize content, improve user experience, and ultimately drive more bookings or orders.

Pricing:

Google Analytics 4 is completely free with all necessary features. There is also a paid option, Google Analytics 360, for companies with advanced needs and high traffic, costing tens of thousands of dollars per year.

 

Hotjar

Hotjar is an insightful analytics tool that lets restaurant owners see exactly how visitors interact with their website, including real-time screen recordings of user sessions. For restaurant sites, it can show whether customers are scrolling past your menu, struggling to find reservation buttons, or clicking on non-clickable elements. With features like heatmaps, scroll tracking, and feedback widgets, Hotjar is incredibly useful for optimizing layout and usability.

Pricing:

Hotjar is free for up to 35 daily sessions. Paid plans cost €39, €99 and €213 per month. You can also create custom plans based on the features you need.

 

Google Search Console

Google Search Console helps website owners understand how their site performs in Google Search. It provides insights into search queries driving traffic, site indexing status, mobile usability issues, and more. For restaurant websites, it ensures that your site appears in local and branded searches and that it's indexed properly by Google.

Pricing:

Completely free.