How The World’s Best Restaurants Use Social Media To Bring Diners Back

The restaurant business is incredibly competitive. It always has been. If you’re thinking of starting a restaurant or if you already run one, how would you use social media to get to the top of the tree?

We thought it would be a good idea to take a look at some of the best restaurants in the world, and see how they are using social media to rise to the top. There are some excellent examples of food and beverage social media accounts in the world, but when it comes to making customers want to return to a restaurant and eat some more, these guys have got it all sewn up.

This is widely seen as the very best restaurant in the world, so they must be doing something right with food. When it comes to their Twitter account, you’re looking at some great practice. Very visual, and focusing on the charisma of Joan Roca, one of the founding brothers, it is constantly updated with news items and pieces that capitalise on his easy charm. As an added bonus, the restaurant consistently publishes behind-the-scenes images too.

Standout Tweet

Key takeaway: Use behind-the-scenes images to make your restaurant accessible. Pick out some great photos that show the human side behind your business for easier engagement.

Headed up by a celebrity chef in the best sense of the word – Massimo Bottura. This is an Italian place in Italy. It also has Massimo, who is a published author, major personality and an incredibly charismatic rock star chef. Seen as a bit of a maverick, Massimo features heavily.

Standout Facebook Post

Key takeaway: If you have a charismatic chef at the helm (who doesn’t?), make them the star. For those not in the restaurant business, consider the best way to present the business owner.

Headed up by another charismatic chef, and housed in a huge glass structure in Vienna, this restaurant is making waves. Known for unconventional, bold dishes, the restaurant also has a growing Facebook page. The restaurant aims for authority on Facebook, with links to magazines the chef and colleagues have written for, reviews of their food and plenty of photos of their amazing building.

Standout Facebook Post

Key takeaway: In restaurants, authority goes a long way. If you’re featured in the media, tell everyone about it on social. It will help you stand out. The same goes for other businesses. Customers love to see that you’re popular and judged worthy of coverage.

This is a Copenhagen restaurant that has a reputation for producing high quality, sustainable food. It’s also award-winning, and this level of accomplishment is maintained on Instagram by an intriguingly personal approach by the restaurant’s’ head chef. Witness how he updates every aspect of his birthday (there’s that charisma again) and also ensures that he engages with people who are helping maintain the Relae vibe.

Standout Instagram Post

Key takeaway: Make it personal and always talk to your audience directly, that’s engagement.

Thomas Keller makes for a very inspiring chef, and his food is justly celebrated around the world. He’s ensured The French Laundry (French food in California) has an outstanding Twitter feed too, with a massive focus on the food that his restaurant serves up. Currently undergoing a refurbishment and expansion, he is also ensuring Twitter keeps fans up to date. So, to sum up, show the food that you’re good at making, and keep fans posted on the restaurant’s journey. The rather large fan base shows that this kind of strategy can work.

Standout Tweet

Key takeaway: Make it all about the food and the journey the business is on. For other businesses, tell your story through personal content that speaks to the audience.

This restaurant is in Switzerland, and personally we think it has one of the most maddening websites in the world. Take a look if you feel like being a little confused for five minutes. The restaurant is famous for having a kind of fairy-tale castle set up, and this is reflected in that aforementioned website (to an extent). On Facebook, the business has an excellent, vibrant presence. It’s a heady mixture of behind the scenes stuff, a lot of pictures of Andreas (the head chef), and some real food photos that just make you want to go back. It’s all rather endearing.

If any business is to take anything from this, it’s to be different, focus on your food and your setting, and let the audience feel like they are part of a family. It’s very much about the chef who shows a real pride in what he has created.

Standout Facebook Post

Key takeaway: Let your audience see as much of your life in and out of the restaurant as possible, so they don’t forget why they enjoyed their meal. The same rings true for other businesses, which can show the office setting to encourage customers to feel part of your business and mission.

This is a real farm to table delight, with a working farm nearby and a head chef that is driven and focused on the customer experience. It recently entered the top 50 restaurants in the world, rated by San Pellegrino, and has gone from strength to strength. A little out of the ordinary (there is no printed menu), diners are often given a bit of a show before they are presented with food. On both Instagram and Twitter, there is evidence of their TV series and other multimedia experiences, including talks and events.

All of this gives their feeds a non-stop feel as if there is too much to talk about in such a small space. All photos are high quality, and the general feel is of a professional, branded entity. Interestingly, alongside the great imagery, there is also plenty of simple text-based tweeting, which should go against the norm, but hasn’t affected the restaurant’s popularity on Twitter. The result? A lot of diverse, rich content.

Standout Instagram Post

Key takeaway: Give lots of content to your audience and they’ll think of you next time they’re hungry. People love businesses that are alive and dynamic, so any business can up their content quota to ensure that people get excited.

While it may be a cutthroat arena, the world of restaurants has some pretty cool customers on social media. By mixing up the charisma of their chefs with behind the scenes stuff and a commitment to posting regularly, they are capitalising on social media as a strong branding tool.

Are you running a restaurant and want clear, quick metrics and tools on your social media? Try a free LocoWise trial, and be utterly amazed at our awesome grasp of the numbers that count. It’s all automatic, for you.