Restaurant and Catering Website Design

Website design for Louisiana restaurants and caterers

Most people look up a restaurant on their phone before they walk in or order. They want the menu, the hours, and a way to reach you, and they want it in seconds. Caterers and venues have a slower decision: a customer comparing three companies wants menus, capacity, and a simple way to ask for a quote. Your website has to handle both.

Get a free quote Call (504) 356-1603

What a restaurant website needs first

  • A real menu as page text, not only a photo or PDF, so it loads fast on a phone and Google can read it
  • Hours that are correct, including holidays, Mardi Gras, and any closures after storms
  • Address, parking, and a map link, with a tap-to-call number
  • A clear way to order, either a link to the ordering service you use or your own pickup instructions
  • Real photos of your food and your dining room, not stock images
  • Accurate allergen and dietary notes, only where you can stand behind them

Menu pages that work on a phone

Text menus, not PDFs

A menu typed into the page loads quickly, reads well on a small screen, and gives Google the dish names people search for. Offer a printable PDF only as an extra.

Specials and rotating items

If your menu changes, give the specials a spot you can update in minutes, with the date. An outdated daily special is worse than none.

Dietary and allergen notes

Say what you can handle and what you cannot. If you are not sure whether a dish is free of an allergen, say to ask your server or call, rather than guessing.

Catering and event pages

A caterer's customer is a different person from a diner. Each event type deserves its own section so a visitor can tell you do their kind of event.

Weddings and rehearsal dinners

Show sample menus, serving styles, the guest counts you handle, and how far you travel. Explain how tastings and deposits work.

Corporate lunches and office orders

Offices want a clear order process: minimum order, lead time, delivery window, and individual boxed lunches versus trays.

Crawfish boils and outdoor events

Explain how you price by the pound or by the head, whether you bring equipment, and what the host has to provide. This is the page people search for in spring.

Private dining and venue rentals

If you rent a room, add capacity, photos, what is included, and how to check availability. End each section with a short inquiry form that asks for the date, headcount, location, and event type.

Louisiana food customers search for specifics

People here search for the dish and the occasion, not only the restaurant type: boudin, po-boys, a Friday lunch special, or a place for a rehearsal dinner. If your menu has specialties, name them on the page in plain words. A short paragraph about how you make a signature dish gives Google and your customers something real to read.

Seasons that drive searches

Crawfish season

Crawfish demand usually builds through late winter and peaks in the spring. A page with your boil sizes, pricing approach, pickup details, and ordering deadline, updated each year, catches searches your menu page will not.

Carnival and king cake season

From Epiphany through Mardi Gras, king cake searches spike. If you bake or sell them, post flavors, sizes, ordering and pickup instructions, and shipping if you ship.

Football weekends and holidays

Game-day platters, tailgate trays, and Thanksgiving and Christmas orders are all deadline-driven. A seasonal page with order cutoffs saves your phone line and gets found by people planning ahead.

Your Google listing matters as much as your website

Many restaurant customers never reach your website. They see your Google listing first, with hours, photos, and reviews. Keep your name, phone number, address, hours, and menu link identical on your profile and your site, and add a link to your ordering page. Our Google Business Profile checklist was written for home service businesses, but the setup steps are the same for a restaurant.

Mistakes that cost restaurants customers

  • A menu that only exists as a photo or a hard-to-read PDF
  • Hours on the website that do not match Google
  • No holiday or storm closure notice
  • A catering form that only asks for a name and phone number
  • Large photos that make the page slow to open on a phone
  • Third-party ordering links that bury your own phone number

Which package fits a restaurant or caterer

A single-location restaurant with a menu, hours, and an ordering link fits Essential ($900). A caterer who needs a quote form with event-type fields, separate pages for weddings and corporate orders, and local search setup fits Standard ($1,500). Multi-location restaurants, venues, and groups that need many pages or a redirect map from an old site fit Growth ($2,300).

Restaurant and Catering Website Design FAQ

How much does a restaurant website cost?

You pay once: $900 for Essential, $1,500 for Standard, or $2,300 for Growth. A restaurant that mainly needs a menu, hours, and an ordering link usually fits Essential. See the pricing page for what each includes, or request a free written quote.

What pages does a restaurant website need?

At minimum: a home page, a menu page with real text, a location and hours page, a contact page, and photos. Add a catering page, an events or private dining page, and an online ordering link if you offer them.

Should my menu be a PDF?

Page text is better. A PDF is slow on a phone, hard to read, and hard for Google to understand. If you want a printable version, offer a PDF in addition to the text menu.

Can my restaurant website link to online ordering?

Yes. You can link to the ordering service you already use, or show pickup and phone-order instructions. We link to it and keep it easy to find, and we do not take a cut.

How do caterers get more inquiries from Google?

Have a dedicated catering page with sample menus and event types, a short inquiry form that asks for date, headcount, and location, a Google Business Profile with catering listed, and photos of real events.

How do I handle seasonal items like crawfish and king cakes?

Give each its own page or section that you update every year, with the date you start taking orders, sizes, prices, and pickup details. Keep the same URL from year to year so the page builds history instead of starting over.

Do I need a page for each location?

If you have more than one restaurant, yes. Each location needs its own page with its own address, hours, phone number, and map, so customers and Google do not confuse them. A single restaurant does not need extra city pages.

How long does it take for a new restaurant site to show up in Google?

Most new sites are found within days to weeks, but rankings take longer, and many diners will see your Google listing before your site. Keeping your listing, reviews, and hours current helps as much as the site does. Nobody can promise a ranking, and we do not.

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Where we work

Ready for a restaurant or catering website?

Tell us about your menu, your events, and where you work. We will recommend a package and send a clear written quote.

Get a free quote Call (504) 356-1603
Call (504) 356-1603