And no, this isn’t about Googling your name to see if your restaurant shows up on a map. It’s not about whether your restaurant or personal brand is “big” or trending. It’s deeper than that. It’s about whether your restaurant actually shows up in a way that feels like you. In a way that speaks to people. In a way that lives outside your four walls.
Because here’s what no one tells you when you open a restaurant: being great at what you do isn’t enough anymore. You can have the most skilled kitchen, a front-of-house team that runs like clockwork, and dishes that deserve those awards. But if people can’t find you or worse, if what they do find doesn’t reflect the reality of what you’ve built none of it matters. It’s like shouting into a void. You’re working too hard to be invisible.
The truth is, in the restaurant world today, the first impression doesn’t happen at the host stand anymore. It happens on a screen. On someone’s phone, in the middle of a scroll, while they’re standing in line or sitting on the couch. Someone hears about your place from a friend, or maybe they see a dish shared on IG. They’re curious. So they look you up. And in that moment, your online presence becomes your front door. So do you suck?
What happens next is critical. They find your IIG page. Is it up to date? Does it tell a story? Do they see more than just those borrowing food photos do they get a sense of your team, your space, your energy? Or is it a bunch of low-lit plates with no context, no faces, no feeling? OR those gravy pictures!
Then they check your website. Does it work? Are your hours current? Is your menu live, or is it a PDF that takes forever to load and takes you off their page, that hurts SEO? Maybe they check reviews. Maybe they search your name on TikTok. Maybe they never make it that far because something felt off and they decided to look somewhere else.
This is where a lot of great restaurants lose people before they ever had the chance to win them.
The industry is filled with chefs and operators who believe that word of mouth is enough. That if you keep your head down and do the work, people will show up. And yes, the food matters. The service matters. The details matter. But in 2025, the game has changed. People don’t just want to eat they want to connect, its almost like living in a movie. They want to know you before they show up. They want to understand the story behind the space. And if they can’t find that story online on social, they’ll find someone else who’s telling theirs.
People don’t follow restaurants anymore. They follow people, please remember this… They want to hear from chefs and owners and bartenders who have something to say. They want to see what happens behind in the kitchens, what a Friday night really looks like, what kind of care and chaos goes into creating something memorable. They want more than a food pic. They want a heartbeat.
And here’s the thing this doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need a social media manager or a viral strategy. You don’t need to post every day or chase trends. What you need is to show up. Show your team. Show your space. Tell people why you do what you do. Take a moment after a rush to share a photo, a story, a reflection. Post a 10-second clip of a dish coming together, or a moment of laughter at the bar. That’s what builds connection. That’s what makes people remember you.
The restaurant industry runs on emotion. It’s not just about transactions. It’s about moments. And the digital world is where those moments now begin. If your restaurant isn’t showing up there in a way that feels true and alive, you’re leaving something valuable on the table attention. Curiosity. Trust.
If you’re not intentional about your presence, people will assume you're not present at all. That you’re outdated. Disconnected. Irrelevant. And that might be the farthest thing from the truth. But in this business, perception is reality. And the perception starts the second someone taps your name into a search bar.
This doesn’t mean you need to be famous. It just means you need to be findable. Consistently. Clearly. Authentically. And if you’re a chef or an owner reading this thinking, “But I don’t want to be an influencer” you’re not. You’re just being visible. You’re owning your space. You’re taking the pride you already have in your food, your team, your standards and making sure it lives outside of your restaurant walls.
Because the hard truth is this… if no one can find you, they can’t support you. If your digital presence is thin, outdated, or doesn’t reflect who you really are, people will move on. Not because your food isn’t good but because they never got the chance to know that it was.
You’re already doing the hard work. You’ve already built something worth talking about. Now make sure it can be seen.
Because the story of your restaurant deserves to be told not just at the table, but everywhere people might be looking for it.
Canada’s Restaurant Guy, Jay Ashton
