Updated October 2, 2026 · 10 min
Restaurant advertising works when it reaches people close by, at the moment they're deciding what to eat, and sends them somewhere they can order. These restaurant advertising ideas are grouped from free to paid. Start at the top: the free channels make every paid dollar work harder.
Free advertising every restaurant should run
- Google Business Profile: hours, menu link, order link and fresh photos of real dishes. It's the ad people see when they search your name or "food near me".
- Weekly Google Business Profile posts for specials and new dishes; they show on your listing.
- Your window: a poster or menu board readable from the sidewalk, with today's special and a QR code to order.
- Every takeout bag: a flyer or table tent with a reason to order direct next time.
- Review replies: a short, specific reply to every review is advertising for the next reader.
Social media advertising for restaurants
Paid social works for restaurants when the ad shows real food and targets a tight radius. Use a short vertical video of a real dish, a clear offer or reason to visit, and a link to order. Target a few miles around the restaurant, and retarget people who visited your site or engaged with your posts.
- Instagram and Facebook: run one ad set for new people within a few miles and one for people who already know you. Refresh the creative every couple of weeks.
- TikTok: kitchen moments and dish close-ups beat polished ads. Post organically first and put money behind what already works.
- Boosted posts: fine for testing, but a proper ad with a radius and an order link is easier to measure.
Search ads: catch people deciding right now
Google search ads for your cuisine and neighborhood ("pizza delivery in Quincy") reach people about to order. Keep the radius tight, bid on your own restaurant name if marketplaces are bidding on it, and send the click to your own ordering page, not a marketplace listing.
Local and offline restaurant advertising ideas
- Partner with neighbors: gyms, offices, breweries and schools. Trade flyers, sponsor a team, cater a staff lunch.
- Door hangers and flyers within delivery range, with a first-order code for your own site.
- Community events: a trivia night, a charity night, a run-club finish line.
- Local press and food writers: pitch a story (the family, the dish, the comeback), not an ad.
Make the ads from your own food
The ads that work show the food guests will actually get. Use photos and clips of your real dishes; skip stock photos and AI-generated food, which set expectations your kitchen can't meet. Servestack Studio's Ad Studio applies ad styles to your own dish photo and makes video ads from your clips, priced in credits before anything runs.
Measure every ad
- Give each channel its own link or QR code so you can see which one brought the order.
- Track orders and new guests, not likes.
- Compare cost per new guest across channels each month, and move money to what works.
