The Guest Expectation Tool Your Restaurant Is Probably Missing

One of the biggest mistakes restaurants make is believing their food is what sets them apart.

If an ingredient, or a single dish is your entire differentiation, the clock is ticking. Someone will eventually do it bigger, bolder, or better.

Good food is table stakes. (Same for good service, but that’s a whole different blog post.) Guests expect good food. They photograph it. They talk about it. But it is not the thing that creates loyalty or separation.

People don’t go to Chick-fil-A for the sandwich. They go because the food is consistently solid, the hospitality is dialed in, and that line moves faster than physics should allow.

People don’t go to Starbucks because the coffee is better or because the cup is red. They go because it is fast, reliable, and gives them a tiny dose of everyday luxury.

People don’t go to Chili’s because their mozzarella stick is cheesier. Sure, price matters, the food matters, but at the core, people go because they know they will get a little escape from their everyday life.

So what does that mean for you? What is the actual lesson here? Or better yet, “Hey Rev, you’re the how-to guy… how do I do this?”

I got you.

I think about this stuff constantly. I love systems and frameworks, and my mission is to elevate the dining experience everywhere so it is always enjoyable to eat out. So here is step one:

A brand promise is not your story. It is not your “About” section. It is not your mission statement. Those are all important, but they are different.

Your brand promise is the guarantee you make to every single guest, on every single visit. It is the baseline expectation they can count on every time they walk through the door, hit your drive-thru, or order online.

When you can lock that into one tight sentence, you suddenly have a measuring stick for every decision you make.

Let me use an example from our restaurant, Handcraft Burgers and Brew:

“It's our mission to bring you hand crafted, fresh, never frozen, 100 percent beef, gourmet smashed burgers and tater tots, french fries and craft beers with full hospitality style service in a quick service environment.”

That is what we promise. That is what we deliver. Every time.

And when we don’t, it is on us. We will own it, apologize, and make it right.

A brand promise is a short statement that wraps up your mission, your “About,” your differentiation, and your service model into one clean sentence. It is basically your elevator pitch for the guest experience.

Don’t overthink it. Just answer one question: What can every guest expect every single time they visit?

This becomes your standard. You should be able to write it in minutes.

1. Put it in every review reply on Google, Yelp and Tripadvisor. It reinforces what guests can expect next time and tells anyone reading your replies exactly what you're about.

2. Add it to your link in bio. People discovering you on social for the first time should instantly know what you stand for.

3. Put it on your About page, menu, welcome email flow, wall art, training docs, everywhere. Anytime you’re explaining your restaurant, this line or parts of this line should show up.

4. Use it as your decision filter. Does this dish, this service touchpoint, this training decision, this employee action deliver on our brand promise? If the answer is no, wrong direction. If yes, green light.

Your brand promise becomes your barometer for your own standards and for the expectations you are setting with guests.

And if your brand promise includes innovation, unique dishes, or bold flavors, great. Now your creativity isn’t pinned to one item. You are not a one-hit wonder. You are a brand built on delivering a specific type of experience.

So what is your brand promise?

Drop it in the comments. And if you want help getting yours locked in, I’m happy to jump in.