5 tips to make your restaurant more Instagrammable

Guests are already taking photos. These five tips decide how good they look.

Guests judge a restaurant long before they taste anything. They judge it through a phone lens, and the verdict gets posted for everyone they know to see. That is free advertising you cannot buy, and it doubles as word of mouth: one good photo of one good plate travels further than most paid campaigns ever will.

You cannot control what people say about you. You can control how your venue looks in the picture. These five design features, borrowed from the venues that constantly get tagged, are what make a place worth photographing.

1. Good lighting

The perfect snap needs good light. Natural light is the ideal, but not every venue has it: you might be tucked down a side street, in a basement, or simply full at eight in the evening. That is where artificial lighting earns its keep.

There is more choice than you might think: warm white, cool white, daylight bulbs, or coloured light for effect. Warm white flatters food; cooler light suits bars and late nights. Most venues benefit from a mix, with a dimmer to shift the balance as the day runs into the evening. Quirky additions like fairy lights or a neon sign add character and give guests a background worth framing.

2. Attention to detail

Detail is usually discussed as service or operations. It applies to the physical room too, because the camera sees everything: the crockery, the table setting, the decoration behind the table.

Plain white plates are the default, and defaults rarely get photographed. Colourful, interesting crockery changes how a dish reads through a lens. Plants, unusual signs, a neon piece or a quote that reflects your brand all give people something to shoot. Refresh these elements from time to time so regulars see something new, and do not neglect seasonal decoration: it dates the photo in the best way and gives you a reason to post.

3. A signature dish

You may already have one. If not, it is simpler to build than you think. Take a bestseller, the dish or drink people already order most, and lift it a notch: a new flavour combination, a bolder presentation, a serve that arrives with a bit of theatre.

Then name it well. Something memorable that fits your brand, and a hashtag of its own. Share it on your channels before your guests do, so the first shots set the tone. A signature dish gives people a reason to visit and a reason to post, which is the whole point: it creates the buzz that brings the next table through the door.

4. The venue's aesthetic

Zoom out from the table to the room, and then to the building. Start outside, because that is where walk-in traffic decides whether to come in. A colourful wall or a piece of artwork can transform a plain exterior; restaurants have invested in photogenic decor specifically to attract Instagram users, and a local artist looking for a showcase will often do it for less than you expect. Make sure your name is visible from the street, so every photo carries the brand with it.

Inside, artwork should fit your story, and wallpaper makes an instant backdrop for portraits and flat lays. Then look down: most restaurant floors are forgettable grey. Decorative, striking tiles turn the floor itself into a feature, as this San Francisco restaurant found when its tiled interior became the photo everyone took. Some venues go further still, with light-up stairs or a dedicated photo wall. Whichever direction you take, keep it tied to your brand so the room reads as one thing, not five.

5. Storytelling

Every venue has a story: how the idea started, something surprising about the owners, the history of the building itself. Stories get shared, and a caption carrying a story does more work than a caption carrying a menu.

Build the story into the room and the food so guests find it without being told. Mammas Pizza in Edinburgh keeps a chalkboard on the wall explaining that the owner was an extra in two Star Wars films, written in the style of the films' opening crawl. Guests photograph the board, read it, repeat it. That is marketing for the price of a chalkboard.

Start with one corner

None of this means tearing down walls or spending a fortune. Pick the corner of your venue that gets photographed most, or could, and improve the light, the detail or the backdrop there first. Small tweaks, repeated, move you up the Instagram-friendly scale without touching the budget for the kitchen.

One last thought. When guests get their shot, they want to post it, and posting needs Wi-Fi. Your guest Wi-Fi is the moment a photograph turns into permission: guests log on, opt in, and you can invite them back with targeted promotions and review requests. The photo brings them in once. The data brings them back.

Want help turning sign-ins into campaigns? Book a demo and we will walk you through it.