# Restaurant social media posts: 25 ideas that fill tables [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/restaurant-social-media-posts) A restaurant feed has one job: make someone nearby decide where to eat tonight. Twenty five post ideas that do exactly that, grouped by what they achieve, plus the sizes and the look that tie them together. ## The short version - The restaurant social media posts that fill tables answer practical questions: what is on, what is new, when you are open and who is cooking. - Menu drops, daily specials, staff introductions, events, guest reviews and opening hours cover almost everything a local diner wants to know. - Food photos look most consistent when the dish stays natural and the frame, type and background around it stay the same every time. - Stories and Reels use a 1080×1920 frame, feed posts work best at 1080×1350, and Google Business posts use 1200×900. - Repeating a small set of templates is faster and more recognisable than designing every post from scratch. The **restaurant social media posts** that fill tables are the ones that help someone nearby decide where to eat: what is new on the menu, tonight's special, who is cooking, what is happening this weekend and when you are open. Below are 25 ideas grouped by what they achieve. Pick five or six that suit your kitchen, turn each into a template, and post them on a rhythm. A feed that answers questions beats a feed that only shows pretty plates. ## Restaurant post sizes to design at Design each post at its platform's own size so nothing gets cropped. Diners mostly see you on Instagram, Facebook and in Google search, so these four cover nearly everything. - Feed post 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350 - Story and Reel 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920 - Google Business 1200×900: 1200 × 900 - Facebook event 1920×1005: 1920 × 1005 The four shapes a restaurant uses most, drawn to scale. Reel covers share the story frame but get cropped to the centre in your profile grid. Google Business posts are easy to forget and show up right where people search for somewhere to eat. The full spec is in [Google Business post size](https://gradiently.design/guide/google-business-post-size). ## Menu and food post ideas 1. **New menu drop.** One cover post naming the season, then a carousel of the new dishes. 2. **The dish of the week.** One plate, one line about where an ingredient comes from. 3. **Ingredient spotlight.** The supplier's produce on the pass before it becomes a dish. 4. **Menu in a sentence.** A typographic post: "Wood fire, small plates, natural wine." 5. **Plating in a Reel.** Ten seconds of a dish being finished, filmed from above. 6. **Last chance.** A dish leaving the menu this week, so regulars come back for it. 7. **Drinks pairing.** The dish and the glass side by side, with one line on why they work. A portrait post announcing the autumn menu from Thursday, with squash, game and wild mushrooms, on a warm gradient A menu drop cover: the season, the date and three words that make people hungry. A vertical story announcing tonight's special, crab linguine, until it runs out, on the same warm gradient A daily special as a story. Same look, made in under a minute. ## Specials and offers that bring people in 1. **Today's special** as a story every service, posted before people decide on lunch or dinner. 2. **Set lunch** for local office workers, with the days and the time it ends. 3. **Early evening menu** for pre theatre diners or families. 4. **Weekday quiet night offer**, aimed at the night you most want to fill. 5. **Gift vouchers** before holidays and birthdays, with how to buy them. > **Same corner, every day** Put the special's name in exactly the same place on every story. Regulars learn where to look, and the series becomes a habit to check. ## People: the staff and guests behind the food 1. **Meet the chef.** A portrait and the dish they would cook on their day off. 2. **Front of house intro.** The person who will greet you, by name. 3. **Kitchen before service.** The quiet hour of prep, filmed as a short Reel. 4. **Guest review.** One real line from a review, credited with permission. 5. **Regulars' order.** The dish your regulars always come back for. Review posts work because they are someone else's words. Quote the review exactly, keep it short, and set it in your brand type rather than screenshotting the platform. [Testimonial post design](https://gradiently.design/guide/testimonial-post-design) shows how to lay one out. A quote post reading Best Sunday lunch we've had in years, from a guest review, on a soft gradient An example review card: a guest's exact words, credited with permission, in your own type. ## Events and seasonal posts 1. **Supper club or guest chef night**, with a countdown in stories. 2. **Live music or quiz night**, the same template every week. 3. **Holiday bookings open**, posted early with the set menu. 4. **Private dining**, showing the room set for a party. ## Practical posts people actually need 1. **Opening hours**, pinned and updated whenever they change. 2. **Holiday closures**, posted a week ahead and again the day before. 3. **How to book**, with the link in your bio and in a story sticker. 4. **Find us**, a photo of the front door so first timers recognise it. That is 25. The practical ones are the least glamorous and often the most useful, because they answer the exact question a hungry person has at six o'clock. ## How to keep restaurant food photos on brand Plates change colour every day, so the dish can't be your signature. The frame around it can. Keep food photos natural and appetising, shot in daylight near a window, then let the background, type and layout stay constant. For atmosphere shots such as the dining room, the street or a hand pouring wine, a duotone tint in your brand colours ties the feed together. ### Avoid - Tinting the dish itself, so the food looks unappetising - Text laid straight over a busy plate - A new font and colour for every post - Photos taken under warm yellow restaurant lighting ### Do - Natural food photos, tinted mood shots - Words on a calm area of background beside the photo - One template family for every post type - Daylight from a window, shot from above or at 45 degrees Gradiently's Studio can tint any photo in your Mark's colours as mono, duotone or a soft wash, and the Mark keeps the words readable by calming itself behind the text. Its templates include menus, posts and stories, so the menu board and the feed share one look. A palette drawn from your own food helps too: see [food colour palettes](https://gradiently.design/guide/food-color-palettes). ## A simple weekly plan | Day | Feed | Stories | | --- | --- | --- | | Monday | Dish of the week | Week ahead and opening hours | | Wednesday | Meet the team | Today's special | | Friday | Guest review or event | Today's special, weekend bookings | | Sunday | Behind the scenes Reel | Sunday lunch, last tables | Four feed posts and a daily special story. Enough to stay visible without taking the chef out of the kitchen. For the bigger picture, [café and restaurant branding](https://gradiently.design/guide/cafe-restaurant-branding) covers the identity behind these posts, and [restaurant menu design](https://gradiently.design/guide/restaurant-menu-design) covers the menu they should match. ## FAQ ### What should a restaurant post on Instagram? New dishes, daily specials, staff introductions, events, guest reviews and practical posts like opening hours and how to book. Practical posts answer the questions hungry people actually have. ### How often should a restaurant post on social media? Three or four feed posts a week plus a daily story for the special is a sustainable rhythm for most restaurants. ### What size is a restaurant Reels cover? 1080×1920 pixels, the same as a story. Keep the dish and words in the centre because the profile grid crops the cover. ### Should I edit food photos in brand colours? Keep the dish natural so it looks appetising. Tint atmosphere shots, like the room or the street, and let the frame and type carry the brand. ### How do I post reviews without screenshots? Quote one short line exactly, credit the guest with permission, and set it in your own type on your usual background.