Restaurant owners can take advantage of a website in order to serve potential and regular patrons.

What elements should a restaurant website include?

Patrons of any restaurant will ask three key questions:

Where is the restaurant located?
What is the atmosphere?
What is on the menu?

A restaurant's website should answer all three of those questions.

Location

Independent restaurants should place the address in the upper right hand corner of the main page. Visitors will immediately see the address and won't have to fumble through the site looking for a separate location page. Provide a link to MapQuest or some other mapping tool that displays the location of the restaurant on a map. People won't come to a restaurant they can't find. Give them all the information necessary in helping them locate the establishment. Beneath the address, include a phone number. Again, no need to have users click even once to find this basic contact information.

For multiple site chain restaurants, which will need a separate locations page, make sure the link to that page is very prominent. Do not bury this information.

Atmosphere

Is this an elegant dining restaurant that requires a coat and tie? or is it a casual environment? Let visitors know up front. The best place would be in the sidebar on the main page.

Menu

This is probably the number one item visitors to a restaurants website are looking for. A menu page should include all the items that exist on the real menu handed out in the restaurant. This includes prices. Unlisted prices will just mean sticker shock when patrons sit down at the table.

Remember that the website needs to answer the questions that patrons are asking. Patrons want to know what to expect when they walk in the front door. Imagine what a patron would feel like if after visiting the website, they walk in with jeans on expecting to pay $10 for a meal, but are greeted with valet parking and the average cost per meal is $25. Use a website to communicate clearly and serve your patrons.