Why a Restaurant’s Messaging Matters

Twenty years of working in restaurants and bars can take a toll on a person, especially when that person just wants to go out. to. dinner. Period. No judging, no nit-picking. 

I’m careful about where I go for the precise reason described above: I’d like to eat without evaluating my food the entire time.

I can do that most of the time, but here’s the pork rub: I’ve been a writer and editor for another twenty-plus years. My job is to look for mistakes and, often, improve or shorten sentences and paragraphs. Just when I think I can go out and enjoy a meal without picking apart the service or the salad, I look at a menu and want to hoist my red pen into action. Plus, I’ve done plenty of food writing, including restaurant reviews, menus, and marketing materials.

So I don’t get it when I see errors, confusing and/or no descriptions of menu items, and misspellings.

Don’t get me wrong: my most important dining-out elements are the same as they are for most people. Those are the quality of food, service, and ambiance. Sometimes, my stomach leads the way, and I track down the place that will most assuredly satisfy my craving, whatever it is. Other times, it’s my mood. In these instances, I’m peering around for a comfortable booth or a sunny window to pull its weight.  

But how do you know if a place you’re trying for the first time is good before you commit and place your order? Yes, there are online reviews, but I’ve eaten at plenty of places with great online ratings and then had terrible meals. Why? Because people who don’t know the difference between good gravy and lousy gravy often write reviews anyway. And let’s face it: food quality is subjective. In other words, everyone has a right to be wrong and then write about it on Yelp. 

But what else do you have when you’re choosing a restaurant? Marketing. You have the messaging sent from point A (the restaurant) to point B (the potential customer) to entice you to spend your money and time in a joint. Hence, the reason for this blog (finally!).

I’m going to get to the thesis first (I mean, almost last): If a restaurant (manager and owner) cannot be bothered to get the details right or make the menu descriptions appealing, I assume they are also not tending to the details in the kitchen or within the service staff. It speaks to the overall operation when there are typos, words misspelled, or lousy messaging in general.

Hire a writer to do the writing, just like you hire a chef to do the cooking. Why do restaurants (and so many other businesses, to be honest) skip the first impression step when it comes to how their restaurant’s offerings are described on websites and marketing materials?

If you have a marketing person who generates terrific ideas but doesn’t provide copywriting, and your manager or owner doesn’t know how to write a sentence that makes sense AND entices, find a copywriter. Not all marketing professionals are writers, which is why larger agencies in markets where competition is steep, have dedicated writers on their teams. In those agencies, the brainstormers create brilliant ideas, the artists create the imagery, and the copywriters create the copy. Writing is a creative process, one in which words are intentionally chosen (or not) and the audience (customer) is kept top of mind, like all the other marketing departments do in their creative processes. 

In smaller markets or in mom-and-pop shops where the budgets are squeaking, they’re so tight, those elements often get ignored, especially that last one: writing.

I’m not talking about an errant comma; I’m talking about gross errors in editing: a misspelled word, inconsistency, or confusing description. Every menu has one/some/many. It’s a problem.

If you’re one of those restaurant owners who think, “The food speaks for itself,” think again. Everything is online. Menus are perused long before people get in their car to head downtown.

Let’s take modern technology out of the equation for a minute and put yourself in this situation: You are visiting a strange city, and you see two Italian restaurants next door to one another. Both restaurants’ menus are posted in their respective windows. They have identical menu items and prices. One menu has listed items, no descriptions, and typos: Cheese Ravioly. Ceaser salad. Meetballs. Chiccen parm. The other menu has the same items, each with brief, mouth-watering descriptions and no typos:

• Ricotta and smoked mozzarella ravioli, made fresh daily, drizzled with browned butter sage sauce
• Caesar salad with ice-cold chopped Romaine lettuce, grilled ciabatta croutons, and housemade Caesar dressing
• Four over-sized beef and pork meatballs with our signature roasted tomato marinara on pasta of your choice
• Chicken cutlets, lightly coated with seasoned bread crumbs, fried to a golden brown, topped with roasted tomato marinara and mozzarella, then broiled until bubbly and dusted with fresh-grated parmesan cheese. 

Which restaurant are you walking into and why?

Here’s another activity: Describe the salad in the picture shown in this blog as if it will be going on a menu. I want you to do the best you can in two minutes. Does it make you want to pay $20 for it?