A restaurant has something on TikTok that plenty of accounts don't: scenes that look good and people who want to know where to eat nearby. What works isn't advertising today's set menu, but showing the kitchen, the people and the moments that make someone say "I have to go there". And measuring it with your neighbourhood in mind, not views.
Is TikTok worth it for a small restaurant?
For many, yes, for a simple reason: TikTok doesn't only show videos to your followers. The For You feed shows videos to people who don't follow you, so a restaurant with hardly any followers can reach people in its area if the video hooks them. If you want to understand that feed, here's what FYP means.
What TikTok won't do is fill tables on its own. It works like a shop window: it gets you known, remembered and picked on a Friday night. So think of it as a habit over several weeks, not a one-video campaign.
What videos should you film if you run a restaurant?
These ideas are filmed on a phone during service or just before. None of them needs a film crew.
The kitchen at work
One dish from the moment the order comes in until it goes out. The sizzle of the grill, the hands, the plating. It's the most natural result-first format there is: show the finished dish in the first second, then how it's made.
The people
The cook who has made the same recipe for twenty years, the waiter who knows every regular's order. A talking head video with someone from the team explaining why they do things their way builds more closeness than any photo of the dining room.
Scenes your customers recognise
The POV format fits really well: "POV: you order 'the usual' and they're already making it", "POV: it's Friday, it's nine o'clock and you didn't book". They're about your customer, not about you, which is why they don't sound like ads.
What's changing
A seasonal dish, the first day the terrace opens, an ingredient fresh from the market. It works with a news hook: something new that only happens at your place this week.
Your customers' questions
What's the most ordered dish? Is there a gluten-free option? Can you book for groups? Every question you hear again and again on the floor is a video.
How many videos should go to the menu and offers?
If every video sells, your account looks like a leaflet and people stop watching. A sensible ratio is one video in four or five talking directly about the menu, an offer or bookings, and the rest being content that's worth watching for its own sake. And don't post two selling videos in a row.
If you'd like it planned week by week, the content mix planner spreads your product videos among the rest.
Selling videos don't have to be ads: it can be today's special told by whoever cooks it, with the price and opening hours at the end. The difference is that they ask for something.
What should you say in the first seconds?
The hook decides whether someone stays. For a restaurant, the types that work best are:
- The result first: the finished dish, close up, in the first second.
- The question: "Do you know why our tortilla has no onion?"
- The story: "This was my grandmother's recipe and we nearly took it off the menu."
- The list: "Three dishes we order when we eat here ourselves."
Put the name of your neighbourhood or town in the text or the caption. Someone looking for a place to eat cares that you're close. The guide to types of hook has a template for each.
What if a video does really well?
If a video is clearly above normal, you could consider promoting it with a small budget aimed at people in your area. Before you do, read how to promote a TikTok video: only promote videos that already work on their own, never a weak one to "fix" it.
How I'd measure it
Views matter, but for a restaurant what counts is whether people come in. I'd measure two things at once:
- Each video against your normal video: the median of your videos at the same age, for example at 24 hours. That tells you which kind of video hooks people most on your account.
- Signs of visits: ask at the table "how did you hear about us?", count how many people message to book after a video, and watch for comments like "where is this?".
Example
Your normal video has 900 views at 24 hours. Kitchen-at-work videos land at 1,400, 1,100 and 1,600; team talking videos at 800, 950 and 700. With these made-up numbers the kitchen hooks more, but if diners tell you they came because of the cook's video, that video is doing its job too.
Give each kind of video at least four tries before you decide. And if there's no clear difference after ten, the honest answer is that it's not clear yet: stick with whatever is easiest to film.
Frequently asked questions
How many times a week should a restaurant post?
As many as you can keep up without it affecting service. Two or three videos a week for months works better than seven one week and none the next.
Do I have to be in the videos?
Not necessarily. Your hands, the kitchen or someone on the team who's comfortable can be in them. But faces help people feel they know the place.
Does TikTok work if my restaurant is in a village?
It can, especially if you include the name of the village and the area. Fewer people will see you than in a big city, but a bigger share of them might come.
TikTok or Instagram for a restaurant?
Both can work, and you'll find out by trying. Measure each one separately: the audience isn't the same, and adding their numbers together hides what's happening on each.
Your next step: this weekend, film one dish from order to table and post it with the name of your neighbourhood.