For restaurants and cafes
Social media for restaurants:
what to set up first
For a restaurant or cafe, a complete Google listing and recent reviews do more than daily posts. Here is the order to set things up, what each profile needs, and the five posts to make first, so someone deciding where to eat tonight can see the menu, the hours and how to get a table.
Paste your restaurant’s website
Free · no credit card · nothing publishes without your OKSet up in this order
Start where people look for somewhere to eat, and add the next channel when the one before it is complete.
Where someone lands when they search for dinner nearby. Your hours, address, phone number, menu, photos of the food and the room, and your reservation and ordering links all live here.
FirstThe Page your regulars already check, with a Reserve or Order button, your hours and a link to the menu. 71% of US adults use it.2
SecondThe grid of dishes, the room and the people in the kitchen. Linked to your Facebook Page, so one post can go to both. 50% of US adults use it.2
ThirdShort clips of a dish coming together, the pass on a busy night, a cook explaining what is on the plate. Worth adding once the first three are complete. 32% of US adults use it.2
LaterWhat each profile needs
The same list on every channel. The first group is what a guest checks before choosing you; the second group is what makes the profile look tended.
- A profile pictureYour logo, or the front of the restaurant. The same one everywhere.
- A short bioWhat you serve, the neighborhood you are in, and who is in the kitchen.
- A linkYour reservation or ordering page, or your website if the menu is there.
- Your hoursKitchen hours and bar hours if they differ, and holiday changes, the same on every channel and on Google.
- A Reserve, Order or Call buttonFacebook and Instagram both have one, so a guest can book or order without hunting for the link.
- Photos of the foodThe dishes you serve, in good light, taken by you: the plate, the room, the table set for dinner.
- A complete Google listingCategory, address, hours, phone, menu, photos, and a listing that matches the name on your other profiles.
- Reviews, and recent onesAsk at the end of a good meal. See the numbers below for why this comes before posting.1
- HighlightsOn Instagram: Menu, The room, Specials, How to book.
- A menu, or a list of what you serveDishes, drinks, whatever you actually serve, in the words guests use, with the menu a tap away.
- A cover photoThe dining room, the front of the restaurant, or the dish you are known for. Not a stock photo.
- A pinned "why us" postThe first post a visitor sees. Who you are, what you serve, how to get a table.
- A photo of the teamThe people a guest will meet: the chef, the owner, the front of house. A phone photo in the kitchen is enough.
- The right categoryRestaurant, cafe, bakery or bar, whichever fits, set the same way on every channel.
- The same name everywhereOne spelling of your restaurant's name on Google, Facebook, Instagram and your site.
- A post from the last two weeksSo the profile looks open. Not daily; recent.
Reviews come before posts
For a local business, the review count and how recent the reviews are do more than the posting schedule. From a 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults.1
read reviews for local businesses.
won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
look for reviews from the last three months.
So the first habit is the ask at the end of a good meal, and the first post to make is the one that points a new guest to your reviews.
The first five posts
One job each, in this order. Together they answer what a guest wants to know before choosing you: who you are, whether you are any good, what you serve, how to get a table, and what a visit is like.
Who you are and who is cooking. The owner or the kitchen, the neighborhood, how to get a table. Pin it.
One real plate, in your own photo, or a review quoted with the guest's permission. A real result, not a claim.
The menu as a post: the dishes, the drinks, the prices if you list them. The same words as your menu.
The reservation link, the ordering link, your hours, and whether you take walk-ins.
The room, the pace, how long a table usually takes, where to park. Takes the guesswork out of the first visit.
What to check before you post
Four things that are specific to restaurants. One line each.
Ask before you post a photo of a guest, and say which channels it will go on. A note of who said yes, for which photo, is enough.
If you offer something for a review, offer it for any review, good or bad. The FTC says a reward can't depend on the review being positive; see its Endorsement Guides questions and answers.3
Use the words only for a dish that meets FDA's definition. FDA says restaurants making a gluten-free claim on their menus should be consistent with it, and the same words in a post make the same promise. See FDA's gluten-free guidance.3
A boosted post is an ad, and Meta's ad rules apply to it. Ads that promote alcohol have age limits, and they cover venues that depend on alcohol sales. If drinks are in the post, check Meta's alcohol ad rules before you boost it. Your state's alcohol board has its own rules on how drinks can be advertised.3
Rebbel reads your site: the menu, where you are, the photos of the food and the room, the way you talk about it.
Your words, colors and photos, kept in one place you can see and correct. You confirm the photos it may use.
The five posts above and the ones after them, in your voice and colors, for the channels you connect.
Where the posts go
The channels live today. Connecting one takes a few minutes; the guide walks through it.4
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Bluesky
LinkedIn (Personal)
PinterestCommon questions
What should a restaurant post first?+
The five posts above, in that order: who you are, one real plate or a review with permission, what you serve, how to book or order, and what a visit is like. After those, one new dish or one night a week is plenty.
Is this for cafes, bakeries and bars too?+
Yes. A cafe, bakery or bar needs the same list: the Google listing first, then Facebook and Instagram, with the menu, the hours and the booking or ordering link on each. Set the category that fits you the same way on every channel.
Can I post a guest's photo?+
Yes, with their OK. Ask before it goes up, say which channels it will go on, and keep a note of the yes.
Do I need to post every day?+
No. For a local business, a complete listing and recent reviews matter more than the posting schedule.1 Keep one post from the last two weeks on each profile so it looks open.
Do I need templates or a designer?+
No. Rebbel makes finished posts in your colors and type from the photos you confirm. Your own phone photos of your own food do better than stock pictures.
Does Rebbel post to my Google listing?+
Posts go to the channels listed above. Your Google listing is where reviews live, so this page's checklist covers what it needs, and you keep managing it as your Google Business Profile, from Google Search or Maps.
What does Free include?+
One brand, one campaign a month, a brand guide and a strategy, and publishing to Facebook and Instagram. No card, no time limit.
Set up and read more
1 BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults): brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey. 97% read reviews for local businesses; 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews; 74% look for reviews from the last three months.
2 Pew Research Center, Social Media Fact Sheet, 2025: share of US adults who use each platform. Facebook 71%, Instagram 50%, TikTok 32%. pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media.
3 FTC, Endorsement Guides questions and answers: an incentive for a review can't depend on the review being positive. www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides. FDA, "'Gluten-Free' Means What It Says" (content current 2023-05-04): restaurants making a gluten-free claim on their menus should be consistent with FDA's definition (under 20 parts per million). The rule itself is written for packaged food; the restaurant expectation comes from this guidance. www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/gluten-free-means-what-it-says. Meta, Alcohol ad policy (change log 2024-06-26): the policy covers ads that promote alcohol, including venues and events whose primary business model depends on alcohol sales; ads may not be shown to under-18s, and some countries set a higher minimum, such as 21 in the United States. Organic posts follow Meta's Community Standards instead. transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/restricted-goods-services/alcohol. Rules differ by state and city and change over time. This page is a checklist, not legal advice.
4 The channels listed are the ones live in Rebbel today. The profile list is the one Rebbel checks for a restaurant or cafe; the order within each group is ours.
Last checked 2026-10-19; re-checked every 30 days.