Restaurant websites that make people hungry

The Thai restaurant market is big and crowded. Kasikorn Research Center estimated the restaurant and beverage business at about 646,000 million baht in 2025, with around 690,000 outlets nationwide, and noted that brand loyalty is low and tastes shift quickly with trends. Restaurants that are easy to find and give complete information have an advantage.

Diners often search “type of food near me” or a district plus a cuisine, then look at Google Maps for food photos, reviews and opening hours. Next they may check the social page or website for the menu and prices. Restaurants with no online menu, or only an old, unreadable photo of one, often lose customers to a nearby place with clearer information.

Most contact with restaurants happens on LINE: DataReportal reports that 82.6% of Thai internet users are active on LINE. Restaurants that let customers book or order through a website connected to LINE OA spend less staff time answering the same questions and build a customer list for future offers.

The online menu is the most important page. It should be real text, not just a PDF or a photo of the printed menu, with real food photos, prices and icons for spicy, vegetarian or common allergen dishes. The restaurant must be able to edit the menu and prices from a phone, because specials and seasonal ingredients change often.

Basic details such as opening hours, address, parking and phone number should be visible immediately without scrolling, and must match your Google Business Profile whenever they change. A booking or ordering button should stay within easy reach on a phone at all times.

• Online menu with photos, prices and ingredient notes
• Table booking on the site or LINE
• The restaurant’s own takeaway or delivery ordering
• Opening hours, map and parking
• Private dining and group events page
• Offers and new dishes

Google Business Profile is the most important integration for a restaurant, because many diners find you on Google Maps before they see your website. Add your menu, booking and ordering links, refresh food photos and reply to reviews regularly. Then route bookings and orders from the site into the restaurant’s LINE OA, so staff see them at once and customers get automatic confirmation.

For direct ordering, use a payment gateway that accepts PromptPay and cards with automatic confirmation. Most restaurants stay on delivery apps such as GrabFood and LINE MAN to reach new customers. A sensible approach is to use the apps for discovery, then invite regulars to order direct through your site or LINE OA with a perk, cutting platform fees over time. If you have a POS system, check whether it can connect to online ordering.

Restaurant SEO is mostly local SEO. Your name, address and phone number must be identical everywhere: the site, Google Business Profile and review platforms. The home page should say plainly what kind of food you serve, which area you are in and what stands out, such as signature dishes, atmosphere or being family-friendly, so it matches what people search for.

Use Restaurant structured data for cuisine, price range, opening hours and menu link, and build an FAQ around questions such as do you take bookings, is there parking, are pets welcome, and do you have vegetarian or halal options. This is what AI assistants use to answer people looking for a place that fits their needs. Only claim halal if you hold a real certificate.

Thailand tightly controls alcohol advertising under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. Restaurants that serve alcohol should be careful with brand logos, images or wording that encourages drinking on their site and social media, and should check the current rules with the Department of Disease Control or a legal adviser before publishing. Be honest about common allergens, and if you sell packaged food online, Thai FDA requirements may also apply.

Booking forms and ordering systems collect names, phone numbers and addresses, so PDPA applies: state the purpose and get separate consent for promotional messages. Website prices should match in-store prices and say clearly if service charge or tax is added, because mismatches lead easily to bad reviews.

The numbers worth watching are online table bookings, the count and value of direct orders, direction requests and calls from Google Business Profile, and new LINE OA friends. They reflect real customers far better than social media likes.

Each month, compare direct orders with delivery app orders and work out the platform fees saved. Check which dishes get the most views on the site; that tells you what to feature in the next promotion or social post.

The most common problem is information that doesn’t match across channels: opening hours on Google that differ from the door, or an old price list on the website. Customers who travel to find the restaurant closed rarely come back, and may leave a review that stays for years.

Another is a good-looking site that nobody at the restaurant can edit. When the menu changes, someone has to wait for a developer, so the site never gets updated. Choose a system where staff can change the menu, prices and hours from a phone, and make it clear who is responsible.

• A menu that is a PDF or photo, hard to read on a phone
• Not updating hours for holidays
• Dark food photos that don’t match the real dishes
• No way to book or order direct, relying only on apps
• Posting alcohol images without checking the law

A restaurant site with menu, details and table booking can usually go live in around 4 to 8 weeks. Adding online ordering and payment, or several branches, takes longer. Food photography is worth investing in, because one set of photos works across your site, Google Business Profile, delivery apps and social media.

After launch, tell regulars through LINE OA and put the website link everywhere: social profiles, Google Business Profile and a sign or QR code in the restaurant. In the first month, note the questions customers keep asking and add the answers to the site. That cuts chat workload and makes the site more useful over time.

• Week 1: gather menu, prices and details, and set goals
• Weeks 1–2: food and interior photography
• Weeks 2–5: design and build with a menu editor
• Weeks 4–6: connect table booking, LINE OA and Google Business Profile
• Weeks 6–8: testing, launch and a launch set of social graphics