7 Website Mistakes That Are Costing Your Restaurant Customers

You spent months perfecting your menu. You trained your staff to deliver exceptional service. But when 77% of diners check a restaurant's website before visiting, that beautiful dining room means nothing if your website sends them elsewhere.

We've analyzed hundreds of restaurant websites. The same mistakes keep appearing - simple problems that cost real money. Here are the seven deadliest, and how to fix them.

Mistake #1: The PDF Menu

The Problem

Uploading your print menu as a PDF seems easy. But it's a disaster on mobile - tiny text, pinch-to-zoom frustration, and impossible to read on a phone screen. 60% of restaurant searches happen on mobile. Your PDF menu is unreadable for the majority of your potential customers.

The Fix: HTML menus. Text that scales, search engines can read it, and customers can actually browse your dishes. Bonus: Google uses your menu content to match you with relevant searches like "pad thai near me."

Mistake #2: Missing or Buried Hours

The number one reason people visit a restaurant website? To check if you're open. If they can't find your hours within 5 seconds, they'll go to a competitor's website (or Google, where they might find outdated info).

✗ Hours only in the footer in 10px font
✗ Hours on a separate "Contact" page
✗ Holiday hours not updated
✗ Different hours for dine-in vs. delivery but not clearly shown

The Fix: Hours should be visible on your homepage, above the fold on mobile. Include a "Special Holiday Hours" section that you actually update. Consider showing "Open Now" or "Closed - Opens at 11am" dynamically.

Mistake #3: No Online Ordering (Or Bad Online Ordering)

If your website's only call-to-action is "Call us to order," you're losing to every competitor with a "Order Now" button. Modern diners want convenience, not phone calls.

Even worse: having online ordering that's clunky, slow, or forces account creation. Every extra step loses 10-20% of customers.

The Revenue Impact

• Restaurants with online ordering see 20-30% higher ticket averages
• Customers browse longer without phone pressure
• No phone wait times = fewer abandoned orders
• You keep customer data for marketing

Mistake #4: Slow Loading Speed

That beautiful hero video of your sizzling steak? It's costing you customers. Every second of load time increases bounce rate by 7%. If your site takes 5 seconds to load (common for media-heavy restaurant sites), you've lost 35% of visitors before they see anything.

Common culprits:

• Uncompressed food photography (5MB images that could be 200KB)
• Auto-playing videos
• Cheap shared hosting
• WordPress themes with 50 unnecessary plugins
• Third-party widgets loading sequentially

The Fix: Compress images, use modern formats (WebP), choose fast hosting (edge networks), and audit what's actually necessary. A fast, simple site beats a slow, fancy one every time.

Mistake #5: No Reservation System

If customers have to call to make a reservation, you're:

1. Losing customers who hate phone calls (this is most people under 40)
2. Missing bookings when you're closed or busy
3. Creating work for your staff who should be serving guests
4. Not collecting data on your customers

The Fix: Online reservations. Options range from free (Google's built-in system) to premium (OpenTable, Resy) to integrated solutions that connect with your POS. Even a simple form that sends you an email is better than "call us."

Mistake #6: Ignoring Mobile Design

"It looks fine on my computer" is not a mobile strategy. More than 60% of restaurant searches happen on smartphones. If your site isn't designed mobile-first, you're designing for the minority.

Mobile Must-Haves

✓ Tap-to-call phone number
✓ Tap-to-navigate address (opens Google Maps)
✓ Thumb-friendly buttons (44px minimum)
✓ Readable text without zooming
✓ Menu that doesn't require horizontal scrolling
✓ Forms that work with mobile keyboards

Mistake #7: No Call-to-Action

Beautiful photos. Poetic descriptions of your dishes. Zero direction on what to do next. Many restaurant websites are digital brochures - they inform but don't convert.

Your website has one job: get customers through your door (or to your checkout). Every page should have a clear next step.

• Homepage: "Reserve a Table" or "Order Now" button above the fold
• Menu page: "Ready to Order?" CTA at the bottom
• About page: "Visit Us" with address and map
• Every page: Clear path to conversion

The Quick Audit Checklist

Test your website right now. Pull it up on your phone and answer:

✓ Can I find the hours in under 5 seconds?
✓ Can I read the menu without zooming?
✓ Can I make a reservation without calling?
✓ Can I place an order without calling?
✓ Does the site load in under 3 seconds?
✓ Is there a clear "what to do next" button?
✓ Can I tap the phone number to call?
✓ Can I tap the address to get directions?

If you answered "no" to any of these, you're losing customers. The good news? These are all fixable.

Get Your Free Website Audit

We'll analyze your restaurant's website and show you exactly what's costing you customers. No obligation, just actionable insights.

Request Your Free Audit

The Bottom Line

Your website is often the first impression potential customers have of your restaurant. A slow, confusing, or outdated site tells them: "This restaurant doesn't have its act together."

The restaurants winning online aren't the ones with the fanciest designs. They're the ones with fast, mobile-friendly sites that make it stupidly easy to see the menu, check hours, and take action - whether that's making a reservation or placing an order.

Fix these seven mistakes, and you'll be ahead of 80% of your competitors. That's not an exaggeration - most restaurant websites still get the basics wrong.