Social media playbook for restaurants
People decide where to eat with their eyes, often on their phone an hour before. A restaurant's social media should make a dish look like the obvious choice tonight and make booking or ordering simple. Real food, real kitchen, real people beat polished stock shots.
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What social media is for, for a restaurant
Make people hungry for a specific dish, then make booking or ordering obvious.
Where to post
Best first. You don't need every app; these earn their time.
Instagram
Where people check the food and the room before they book.
TikTok
Food videos travel. A dish being plated or a sizzling pan reaches locals who don't know you yet.
Facebook
Events, opening hours, specials and the local crowd. Many regulars live here.
What to post
Four kinds of post, with ideas you could make this week.
The food
One dish per post, close, in natural light. Show it being made or the first cut, not just sitting on a plate.
- The pasta being tossed and plated
- Cheese pull on the house special
- This week's new dish, start to finish
The kitchen and the people
The chef, the prep, the team. It shows care, and care sells food.
- 6am prep before service
- The chef's favourite dish that isn't on the menu
- Meet the person who makes the desserts
The room
Help people picture the night: the table, the light, the noise level.
- Friday 8pm in 10 seconds
- The best table for a date
- The terrace now it's open
Reasons to come now
Specials, events, seasonal menus and last tables.
- Two tables left tonight
- Sunday lunch is back
- Last week of the summer menu
A simple week
One post a day. Share each one to the other platforms above.
- MondayDish of the week reel
- TuesdayBehind the kitchen
- WednesdayThe room at night
- ThursdaySpecial or event
- FridayWeekend booking reminder
- SaturdayWeekend service clip
- SundayChef or team story
Opening lines that work
The first line of a reel or caption decides if people keep watching. Make them your own.
- The dish people order twice.
- We make this one by hand every morning.
- If you only order one thing here...
- Watch this go from pan to plate in 15 seconds.
- Tonight's special won't be back next week.
Mistakes to skip
- Dark, yellow photos of food. Shoot by a window in daylight.
- Posting the menu as a photo of a PDF.
- Old opening hours on any profile.
- Ignoring questions in comments. Each one is someone deciding.
How to tell it's working
- Bookings and orders from your profile links.
- Messages asking about tables, menus or events.
- Which dishes get saved and shared, and whether they sell more.
Run this playbook without the daily work
- Reads your menu and website and makes dish reels, carousels and posts in your restaurant's style.
- Posts the same idea to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and the rest, sized for each.
- Answers 'are you open Sunday?' and 'do you have vegan options?' in comments on Growth and Pro, and DMs on Pro.
- You approve each post with a tap, or switch on autopilot on Growth and Pro.
Questions people ask
What should a restaurant post on Instagram?
Your best dishes being made or eaten, the room at its best, the people behind it, and specials with a reason to come this week.
Should a restaurant be on TikTok?
If you can film food being made, yes. It's one of the easiest ways to reach locals who don't follow you yet.
See your own posts first.
Paste your restaurant's website and Socialhand makes a reel, a carousel and posts for all 8 platforms, free. If you like them, plans start at $97 a month.