Facebook for Restaurants: 9 Strategies to Get More Orders
Facebook for restaurants works best as a local storefront: a complete Page, a button that sends guests to your own ordering or booking page, a few posts a week, fast replies, and a small ad budget behind posts that already work.
Below are 9 strategies, from completing your Page to identifying which posts and ads drive sales.
1. Complete your restaurant's Facebook page
No Page yet? Create a Page from your personal account (your personal details stay private) and choose a restaurant category such as "Restaurant" or "Pizza place." The category unlocks restaurant features like the menu section.
Then fill in what guests check first:
- Photos: your logo as the profile picture and a signature dish or your dining room as the cover.
- Contact details: address, phone number, website, and opening hours.
- Username: facebook.com/yourrestaurant, short enough to print on menus and receipts.
- Menu: in your Page's About section, select Menu and upload a photo or PDF with readable item names and prices.
A menu file goes out of date with every price change, so link your live online menu as well:
Menu photo or PDF on Facebook | Link to your online ordering menu | |
|---|---|---|
Where guests find it | Menu section of your Page | Action button and posts |
Price changes | Upload a new file each time | Update once in your ordering system |
What guests can do | Read it | Order and pay |
Update holiday hours and closures on Facebook and your Google Business Profile at the same time so guests don't get two different answers.
2. Add an "Order Food" or "Book Now" button
The action button under your cover photo takes guests from your Page to an order in one tap.
- On your Page, click Add action button (or Edit if a button is already set).
- Choose Order food for takeout and delivery, or Book now for reservations.
- Paste the link to your own online ordering or booking page and save.
Point the button at your own page, not a delivery marketplace. You skip the commission and keep the guest's contact details, so you can invite them back.
That matters more than one order: in UpMenu's study of 1,709 restaurants, a guest with 10+ orders brought in about €420 a year, compared with about €31 from a one-time guest.
You can change your premises or menu tomorrow. Your customer base stays for years — and it’s worth tens of thousands of euro.
If you take orders through the online ordering system, paste your ordering page link into the button, then pin a post with the same link to the top of your Page.
3. Post a few times a week and schedule ahead
A few planned posts a week keep your Page active without daily effort. Create a week of posts in one sitting and schedule them for free in Meta Business Suite:
- Open Meta Business Suite and select your restaurant's Page.
- Click Create post and add your photo or video and caption.
- Under Scheduling options, set the date and time. Business Suite suggests active times when most of your followers are online.
- Click Schedule. Scheduled posts appear in the Planner, where you can move or edit them.
Short on ideas? Use these Facebook post ideas for restaurants.
4. Use Reels, Facebook Live, and Events
Each format does a different job:
Format | Best for | Restaurant example |
|---|---|---|
Reels | Reaching people who don't follow you yet | A 15-second clip of a pizza coming out of the oven |
Facebook Live | Real-time conversation with regulars | A chef Q&A the day before a new menu launches |
Events | Filling a specific date | A wine pairing dinner, trivia night, or holiday brunch |
Create events early and post updates to them: Facebook notifies people who mark an event as "Interested" or "Going." For filming tips that work across platforms, see our guide to video marketing for restaurants.
5. Reply to comments, messages, and reviews
Check comments and messages every day. For questions you get every week (hours, parking, delivery area, allergens), set up automated responses in the Meta Business Suite inbox and answer everything else personally.
Facebook shows reviews as Recommendations on your Page. Thank guests for positive ones.
For negative ones, reply publicly once (acknowledge the problem and say what you'll do), then move the details to a private message. Here's more on responding to bad restaurant reviews and getting more Google reviews.
6. Share guest photos and work with local creators
Ask guests to tag your Page or use your own hashtag, then reshare their photos with credit after asking permission. A simple photo contest (the best shot of your dish wins a meal for two) can kick things off.
Local food creators mostly post on Instagram and TikTok, but you can still use their content on Facebook: agree in advance that you may reshare it. For finding the right creators, see our guide to influencer marketing for restaurants.
7. Run Facebook-Only offers and promote loyalty program
Post an offer for Facebook followers on your slowest day and give it its own promo code, so you can count the orders it brings in. Keep it to one dish, one deal, and a clear end date.
Facebook is also a place to show your loyalty program to people who haven't ordered yet. In UpMenu's study of 69 restaurants, the customer base grew 15% in the year after a loyalty program launched, and 64% of those new customers had never ordered from the restaurant before.
As UpMenu founder Marcin Muras puts it, "real loyalty only begins with the first reward claimed," yet only 11% of guests collecting points ever redeemed one. Show the rewards themselves in your posts, not just "earn points."
No program yet? Set up a loyalty program that collects points on both online and in-store orders.
8. Boost best posts, then run local Facebook Ads
Start by boosting a post that's already getting reactions. Move to Meta Ads Manager when you want to drive orders and measure the cost of each one.
Boosted post | Meta Ads Manager campaign | |
|---|---|---|
Setup | A few clicks from an existing post | A separate campaign |
Targeting | Location, age, and interests | A radius around your restaurant, customer lists, and website visitors |
Best for | Showing a post that works to more locals | Driving orders and tracking cost per order |
Customer lists need marketing consent, and website-visitor targeting needs the Meta Pixel (see the next step). For ad formats, setup, and budgets, follow our step-by-step guide to restaurant Facebook ads.
9. Track which posts and ads bring in orders
Check two places every week: Meta Business Suite insights (reach, engagement, and clicks on your posts and action button) and your ordering system (orders and revenue).
Add the Meta Pixel to your ordering website so Meta can measure what people do after they click your ads; UpMenu supports the Meta Pixel integration.
What to check | What it tells you | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
Reach | How many people saw your posts | If it drops, post at active times and add Reels |
Engagement (reactions, comments, shares) | Which content people care about | Make more of the formats that get comments |
Link and button clicks | Interest in ordering | Many clicks but few orders? Test your ordering page on a phone |
Orders from Facebook offers and ads | Actual sales | Compare them with ad spend before raising the budget |
Once a month, compare these numbers with sales in your restaurant analytics and adjust your restaurant marketing plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Invite your personal contacts, add the Page link to your website, receipts, and email signature, print a QR code on menus and table tents, and reshare guest posts that tag you.
Facebook shows each post to only part of your followers, favoring posts people are likely to engage with. Post at your followers' active times, add Reels, reply to comments, and boost posts that already perform well.
Short videos of your dishes, behind-the-scenes moments, your team, guest photos, weekly specials, upcoming events, and reminders that guests can order online from your Page.
About the author
Marketing Manager
Leads UpMenu's marketing and helps restaurants grow. Writes about restaurant marketing, branding, websites, menu design, and opening a restaurant — from pizzerias and food trucks to coffee shops and ghost kitchens. Digital marketer driven by data and AI — for 6+ years working with restaurants.