Social media for hospitality
Social media marketing for restaurants: what to post and when
Wondering what to post for a cafe or restaurant? Four to five posts a week across four themes is enough: dishes and specials, the kitchen and the people behind it, answers to guests' common questions, and practical posts about reservations, delivery and hours. Below: the themes with examples, a ready-made content week and phone-photography tips that work between services.
Why restaurants never get around to social media
Between prep, the lunch rush and closing the till, there is no energy left for captions. Photos of dishes pile up in the camera roll and never get posted.
After the third plate photo it feels like there is nothing left to say — the menu is the menu. So the profile goes quiet for weeks, right when guests are checking it before booking.
A monthly retainer costs as much as a part-time cook, and the posts still read like they were written by someone who has never worked a service. For a small place, that maths never works.
Five content pillars that keep a restaurant profile alive
You don't need 20 formats. Five recurring pillars cover everything a food profile has to do: make people hungry, build trust and fill tables.
The core currency. One dish = one post: a close-up in daylight, what's in it, the price and how long it's on. Today's special, a new seasonal menu, the dessert that sells out first — these are the posts people forward to a friend with "lunch here?"
Guests come back for people, not just plates. Show the morning bread delivery, the market run for produce, the chef tasting a new sauce before service. It answers the silent question "is it clean and cared for back there?" better than any slogan.
Everything people ask by phone and DM: do you take groups, is there a kids' or gluten-free option, can we bring the dog, where do we park, do you do takeaway. One question = one post you can later send as a link.
The direct sell: weekend tables, holiday menus, pre-orders, delivery zones, changed opening hours. Once or twice a week is plenty — any more, and the feed starts reading like a noticeboard.
A full terrace on a Saturday night, a regular's usual order, a review posted next to the dish it praises. Ask for the review right after the meal, while the mood is still at the table — and always publish with permission.
Example: a week of content for a restaurant
This is what a balanced week looks like: three touches that sell, two that build trust, two that reach new people. Swap in your own dishes — the plan stays the same.
| Day | Network | Format | Post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Dish photo | This week's special: a daylight close-up, what's in it, the price and how long it stays on the menu. | |
| Tue | Instagram Stories | Poll | "Which dessert should come back?" — two photos, a vote, and a reply to everyone who answered with the winner and its return date. |
| Wed | Q&A post | Answer a question you hear every week: "Do you take tables of ten?" — how group bookings, birthdays and set menus work. | |
| Thu | Reels | 15-sec video | The kitchen in motion: pasta tossed in the pan, dough being stretched, a sauce reducing. No faces needed — hands and steam carry it. |
| Fri | Booking post | Weekend tables: which evenings still have space, how to reserve in one tap and how late the kitchen runs. | |
| Sat | Instagram Stories | Behind the scenes | Morning at the restaurant: the produce delivery arriving, the coffee machine warming up, the day's specials board being written. |
| Sun | Google Business | Update | The week ahead: opening hours, the new seasonal menu and a fresh dish photo — exactly what shows up in "restaurants near me" searches. |
This exact plan is what Laspi builds from one voice note: talk for two minutes about what's new in your kitchen, and you get the week of posts — captions written for each network, plus the images.
Practice: how to shoot and write when there's no time
- ✓ Photograph dishes at the pass before service starts, next to a window — daylight beats any filter. After the rush, the plate and the light are both gone.
- ✓ Set up one shooting spot: the same table by the window, a plain plate, nothing else in frame. The feed becomes recognisable and every photo takes under a minute.
- ✓ Write captions the way you'd talk to a guest at the table: what the dish is, what's in it, what it costs. Skip the "exquisite culinary journeys" — nobody orders those.
- ✓ Reply to every comment and DM the same day. For someone choosing between two places at 7 pm, a quick answer is often what decides the booking.
- ✓ Shoot changes on the day they happen: the first asparagus, the new lunch set, the terrace opening for summer. Seasonal posts go stale fast.
- ✓ Once a month, check which posts got saved and shared the most — and cook up more of those. Saves predict bookings better than likes do.
You don't have to invent this week yourself
Tell Laspi in a voice note what's new — a dish, a live-music Saturday, the holiday menu, changed hours. A few minutes later the week is ready: captions written for each network, images, short videos. All that's left is to tap publish between services.
Try it freeTwo free gifts to get you started
A free marketing strategy — your channels, your audience and exactly what to post, mapped out for you.
Your first two posts generated free — see the quality, in your own voice, before you pay a cent.
No card needed to start.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a restaurant or café post?
Four to five feed posts and two to four Stories a week keep a profile looking alive and bringing in bookings. Consistency beats volume: three posts every week work better than ten in one day followed by a month of silence.
What do you post when the menu never changes?
Change the angle, not the menu. One signature dish can become a close-up post, the story of where its ingredients come from, a how-it's-made Reel, a mention that regulars order it most, and an answer to "how spicy is it?" — five posts from one plate.
Does a restaurant need Reels and TikTok?
Reels — yes: short kitchen videos reach people beyond your followers, mostly locals, which is exactly the audience a restaurant needs. TikTok is optional extra work; start with Instagram and Facebook and add it once the basics run themselves.
Should we publish prices in posts?
Yes. Posts with prices save you dozens of identical DMs and bring in guests who already know the bill fits their budget. Hiding prices doesn't make a place look premium — it makes people scroll on to the next profile.
How much time does this plan take every week?
By hand — three to four hours: shooting, captions, publishing. With Laspi — about 15 minutes: record a voice note about what's new, review the ready posts and publish each one in a tap.
A week of posts for your restaurant — from one voice note
First week free: a content plan and ready posts with images about your place. No card required.
Try it free