The 12 Best Restaurant Websites That Drive Results

Building a beautiful restaurant website design certainly enhances a customer’s overall experience, but, in my experience, it's the functionality and user-friendliness that truly drive your customers to place more orders. With 54% of adults saying that food delivery and takeout are essential to their lifestyles, a poorly planned website is like leaving money on the table.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the key components of a high-performing website for your business, and I’ll share the 12 best examples of how you can put these principles into practice.

I’ll also show you how to create the best restaurant website that offers a seamless online experience that both attracts customers and encourages them to return.

Let's uncover the secrets to designing a restaurant website that looks good and generates revenue.

Restaurant website components that get results

Whether you’re using a restaurant website builder or doing it yourself, creating a successful online presence requires a strategic approach. You need a website that looks good while also driving sales and customer loyalty.

To achieve this, every restaurant website needs these five key design components to be effective.

1. Clean and mobile-friendly design creates easy navigation

The moment a customer lands on your homepage, they should know how to navigate the whole website. The best way to do that is to keep your design clean and simple. Don’t muddy it up with unnecessary content or images. 

Designing a clean and simple web design can enhance credibility with your guests because it reflects the quality and professionalism of your restaurant. Every element on your page should serve a purpose, whether it's showcasing your menu, displaying contact information or encouraging reservations. By prioritizing essential information and using clear visuals, you create a positive user experience.

A clean and simple website also converts more easily to a mobile-friendly website. Your design should seamlessly adapt to different screen sizes without compromising functionality or aesthetics. A consistent look and feel across devices builds trust and reinforces your brand identity.

Talkin’ Tacos is one restaurant that balances a streamlined site design with user-friendly features for both desktop and mobile users, as pictured above. After struggling with an amateurish and dated website originally, they created their current site and developed their own branded app to better serve their customers. And it’s clearly been a success, as over 10,000 people downloaded their app within the first 90 days of its launch. 

2. A beautiful and compelling online menu makes sales happen 

Your online menu is a crucial sales tool because the vast majority of people visit a restaurant website solely to get a look at the menu. 

This is your chance to win new customers before they move on to the next site.  Here’s what you’ll need to design a high-converting menu:

• Drool-worthy photos: Ditch the blurry photos and PDFs. Use crisp, high-quality images that showcase the vibrancy and texture of your dishes.
• Persuasive food descriptions: Go beyond just listing ingredients. Craft concise descriptions that tell a story about the dish, mentioning sourcing or unique preparation methods.
• An easy-to-navigate layout: People scan online menus. Design a layout with clear spacing, well-organized categories and highlighted "Top Picks" to guide customer choices effortlessly.
• Popular items call-outs: Showcasing “Top Picks” at the top of the menu is a form of social proof that influences customers to buy what others already consider crowd favorites. 

Based on my experience, most local restaurants don’t take their online presence very seriously and are way behind with the times, relying on their outdated and clunky website features to bring in new customers. Independent restaurants with this level of online sophistication stand out. You’ll find great examples of this in our list of best pizza websites.

3. High-converting checkout experience should be seamless

A customer’s checkout experience is an often overlooked step when restaurant owners are developing their websites. After all, once a guest has selected their food items, you’ve already won them over—right?

Not necessarily.

If the checkout steps are difficult to understand and you make the customer work for it, there’s a good chance they’ll just abandon their order and go somewhere else. Considering that the U.S. is the second largest online food delivery market behind China, losing a customer at checkout is like leaving money on the table.

This is why you need to make checking out as simple as possible.

Here’s how to create a seamless experience that gets customers clicking "confirm":

• Clear calls to action: Make checkout buttons prominent and easy to find. Include a cart indicator for quick order review.
• Upsell opportunities: Offer curated suggestions during checkout to tempt customers with additional items.
• Minimize required fields: Streamline the checkout form by requesting only essential information for order fulfillment.
• Security assurances: Display logos of trusted payment processors to build trust and encourage secure transactions.
• Saved payment options: Allow customers to save payment details for faster future purchases.

By prioritizing a smooth checkout experience, you'll remove friction and convert more website visitors into paying customers. 

If you’re not sure how to achieve this goal, I’ve put together a helpful guide on how to create online ordering for your restaurant.

4. Highly visible social proof establishes trust

Social proof is a powerful tool for restaurants. It builds trust, influences behavior and helps you stand out. According to a recent report from the Nation’s Restaurant News, 63% of restaurants collect and store their customer reviews and ratings, which means 37% aren’t making good use of this valuable data.

Here's how to use it to your advantage:

• Showcase positive reviews prominently: Feature glowing reviews on your website, giving visitors the social proof they crave.
• Collect reviews strategically: Prompt customers to leave feedback after their orders while the experience is fresh in their minds.
• Manage reviews efficiently: Use a system to automatically send positive reviews to public platforms and route negative ones for direct resolution.
• Remember that customers seek validation: We all look for recommendations before trying a new restaurant. Positive reviews reassure potential diners that they'll have a good experience.

Once positive reviews are published on platforms like Google Business Listing or Yelp, you can cherry-pick the most impactful customer experiences to be published directly on your website. 

5. Mouthwatering menu photos are essential for driving sales

According to our recent Owner.com survey about restaurant website design, US restaurant guests almost always (43%) or usually (41%) look at photos of menu items before deciding to order something. That means high-quality visuals are crucial for capturing attention and enticing customers to try your food.

Here's why you should invest in mouthwatering menu photos:

• Increased desire & sales: Compelling photos are scientifically proven to trigger our salivary glands, making customers crave the dishes they see. This can significantly boost sales, especially for new or unfamiliar items.
• Visual storytelling: Pictures can showcase the quality, freshness, and portion sizes of your food in a way that text descriptions simply can't.
• Enhanced user experience: High-quality photos elevate your website's professionalism and create a more engaging browsing experience for customers.

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By incorporating professional menu photography, you can significantly increase the effectiveness of your online menu and convert more website visitors into paying customers.

Inspiration: The 12 best restaurant website examples

To illustrate these principles of smart restaurant website design, I put together the following list of the best restaurant websites for 2024 for inspiration. Each restaurant website showcases the power of user-centric design and highlights various strategies for attracting customers and increasing sales. 

Explore these examples and see how you can use similar tactics to create a website that drives success for your restaurant.

Ottavio's Italian Restaurant

Ottavio’s showcases a clean and elegant design with a focus on high-quality food photography of their delicious Italian dishes. Their user-friendly online ordering system and prominent display of customer reviews instill trust and encourage online orders.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales:

• Individual pages for the top menu items increase visibility in Google search results and attract customers to the website

Talkin' Tacos

Talkin' Tacos demonstrates the power of a well-executed loyalty program. They strategically place colorful and clear calls to action (CTAs) throughout their website. 

They can target a mix of conversion goals, like “Order Now” to increase online sales and “Join Rewards” to support returning customers and collect restaurant analytics like customer data. This focus on customer retention and engagement has contributed to a significant increase in direct online sales.

‍Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• Promoting their loyalty program at the top of their website and with a pop-up CTA has earned Talkin’ Tacos more than 40,000 customer contacts in their loyalty program. These are long-term customers who repeatedly order, which helped grow their direct online sales to $120,000 a month. 

All Day Baby

All Day Baby proves that a visually stunning website can translate seamlessly to mobile. Their responsive design ensures clear CTAs, optimized images and a seamless user experience across devices. This mobile-first approach caters to today's browsing habits and positions them for success in search engines.

‍Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• The site is easy to navigate with resized CTAs and photography, so mobile users get the same information as desktop users without sacrificing function or beauty. 

Doo-Dah Diner

Doo-Dah Diner leverages social proof to build trust and credibility with potential customers. By showcasing local awards, positive reviews and customer favorites on their homepage, they effectively convince diners to choose them over the competition. This focus on social proof has driven significant traffic and new customers.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• Doo-dah Diner includes little hearts throughout its menu so users can easily see which dishes are fan favorites and vote on their own. 

Maciel's Plant Butcher Shop

Maciel's utilizes high-quality food photography to entice customers and showcase their specialties. Their strategic placement of images throughout the website allows them to answer user questions, highlight seasonal offerings and create a visually compelling online presence.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• They feature their Instagram feed at the bottom of their homepage to increase engagement and showcase new items or seasonal specialties through beautiful images.

Metro Pizza

Metro Pizza builds a strong connection with customers through a focus on history, community and authentic recipes. Their website incorporates personal touches, such as customer reviews and family photos, to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. 

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• From the first heading on the homepage to their story page with family photos, MetroPizza feels like a warm, welcoming place to be. The text, photos and reviews tell you that the staff will greet you with a smile and a hot, classically delicious pizza pie. 

Kuma's Corner

Kuma's Corner uses its unique brand identity to create a memorable online experience. Their website features bold imagery, captivating copy and a strong focus on the restaurant's signature burgers and beer. 

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• Kuma’s Corner places bold claims like “Best Burgers On The Planet” next to original photography to show you how good their burgers are. Plus, they back it up with high-profile reviews from the likes of Food Network and TIME.

SushiMe Roll'n

SushiMe Roll'n prioritizes conversions with a clear and focused website design. Their homepage features prominent calls to action, enticing promotions and a user-friendly online ordering system. This streamlined approach has resulted in a significant increase in direct online sales.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• This website’s design is built to drive sales. The site begins with a promotion to entice new customers, then backs its brand up with social proof, photography and CTAs to get customers browsing their menu. 

Forage

By highlighting its commitment to healthy, sustainable food and showcasing unique menu items, Forage attracts a health-conscious clientele. The website's clear focus on the restaurant's specialties and use of compelling visuals drive customer engagement and conversions.

‍Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• You don’t even have to scroll to learn that Forage makes healthy and delicious food, thanks to clear headings and CTAs and original photography showcasing specialty salads, grain bowls and original Forage Kombucha. 

Rebel Cheese

Rebel Cheese demonstrates the power of content marketing in driving website traffic and sales. Their informative blog posts, product pages and FAQs provide valuable information to customers, establish the brand as an authority in the vegan cheese market, and improve search engine rankings.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• Rebel Cheese takes every opportunity to talk about its product, from telling the store’s history and creation process to explaining how they ship and store specialty vegan cheeses and deli meats. This is great for showing up in searches online to attract new customers and answering important questions for customer experience.

Saffy's

Saffy’s website has an inviting atmosphere and emphasis on community to foster a strong connection with customers. By focusing on the dining experience and highlighting the restaurant's personality, Saffy's successfully differentiates itself from its competitors.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• The images are purposeful, with the top photo showing multiple dishes, hands reaching across the table and a freshly poured glass of wine. It shows action and community, and even their animated illustrations add a flair of personality and switch it up from other restaurant images. 

Talat Market

Talat Market prioritizes reservations and in-person dining experiences by showcasing its location and hours prominently on the homepage. Their website focuses on creating anticipation and excitement for the dining experience, encouraging customers to plan their visits in advance.

Their secret sauce for increasing sales: 

• Where most restaurants place an “Order Online” button in the top-right corner, Talat Market promotes “Reservations” as their primary goal to encourage customers to commit to a date and come in to place their order. 

Keep the momentum going by marketing your restaurant

A well-designed website is just the beginning. To truly thrive, you need a comprehensive marketing strategy. Focus on these key areas:

• Re-engage existing customers: Nurture relationships with past patrons through targeted promotions and loyalty programs.
• Attract new customers: Expand your reach through strategic marketing efforts to bring in fresh faces.

Combine a strong online presence with effective marketing to position your restaurant for long-term success.

But you may still be wondering, “how do I make it happen?”. You can achieve these two objectives and thrive through difficult times by following this comprehensive Restaurant Marketing Guide.

Over the last several years, Owner.com has helped thousands of restaurants grow revenue and increase profits using the exact restaurant marketing strategies inside this guide. Those restaurants have seen sales for online orders grow by an average of 270% in just 90 days. 

By combining designs from the best restaurant websites with effective marketing, you'll position your restaurant for long-term success.