Web design for restaurants

Web design for restaurants that fills tables without paying commission

When someone decides where to eat they search first and call second, and web design for restaurants that ranks well turns that search into a booked table. A fast site with your menu and a direct booking option means more covers filled on your terms, not through platforms taking a cut of every one.

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Local search opportunity

Web design for restaurants that keeps tables full

Right now, people across Ireland are searching for somewhere to eat, and judging each place on its website in seconds.

The restaurants with fast, locally-ranked sites fill their tables first. Everyone else loses the customer before the phone ever rings.

The reality right now

→Most restaurant sites run slow WordPress hospitality templates
→Deliveroo and Just Eat take 25% to 35% on every order
→Almost none target the local food searches people actually make
→A site built right today can outrank most competitors within months

What it costs

Fixed price agreed before any work starts. No retainers, no monthly surprises, no lock-in. You own everything when it is done.

No obligation · same-day reply

Talk to me about your restaurant

Tell me a little about your food business and what your site needs to do. I'll come back with honest advice and a clear quote, no obligation.

What moves the needle

Restaurant web design that actually moves the needle

A restaurant website has to do more than look attractive. It needs to rank for the local food searches that happen every day, then turn that search into a booking or a visit before the customer clicks away to a competitor.

A busy restaurant kitchen during service

Local SEO

Local SEO for restaurant websites

Ranking locally for food searches depends on three things working together. First a fast, well-structured site with pages built around the queries people in your area actually search. Then a Google Business Profile kept current with your hours, menu and photos, backed by a steady flow of genuine reviews. Those signals largely decide who appears in the map pack when someone nearby is deciding where to eat.

The pages that matter most are often the ones owners overlook. A dedicated page for your Sunday brunch, your private dining room, or your takeaway and collection service gives Google more to rank and gives customers clearer answers. 'Brunch Dublin 8', 'best pizza Galway' and 'family restaurant Kilkenny' are different searches that each deserve their own page.

A chef checking orders on a tablet beside stacked takeaway containers in the kitchen

No commission

Online ordering web design that cuts the commission

Just Eat and Deliveroo charge significant commissions on every order, typically between 25% and 35%. For a busy takeaway or a cafe offering collection, that adds up fast. A direct ordering or pre-order system built into your own site removes that cost entirely, so customers order from you, pay you directly, and the only fees are the standard payment processing costs every business accepts.

The case for the big platforms is discovery, they do bring in new customers who would not otherwise have found you. But once someone has ordered from you once, there is no reason they should pay a commission on every order after. A well-built direct system, paired with a clear incentive to use it, shifts returning customers back to the channel you own. I can advise honestly on what makes sense for your volume and location.

A cook plating a fresh salad bowl at an open kitchen counter

On the move

Web design for food trucks and pop-ups

Food trucks and pop-ups have different needs from a fixed venue. You need a site that can surface where you are this week, when you are trading, and how customers can find or follow you, whether that is a simple location feed, a booking form for private events, or a page built around the markets and festivals you attend.

The same local SEO principles apply. A food truck that ranks for 'street food Cork' or 'wood-fired pizza market Dublin' brings in new customers who have never heard of it before. The difference is the site has to be genuinely easy to update, because your schedule changes every week, and I build with that in mind from the start.

A host checking reservations on a tablet at the door of a restaurant

Bookings

Booking integration on your restaurant website

If you use ResDiary, OpenTable or Bookatable, I can integrate the booking widget directly so customers complete their reservation without ever leaving your site. For smaller operations that do not want the monthly cost of a full reservations platform, a direct booking request form tied to your inbox or phone works cleanly and costs nothing beyond the initial build.

I recommend what actually fits your operation, not what sounds most impressive in a proposal. The right setup depends on your covers and how your front of house runs, and I will talk you through the options before anything is built.

A restaurant owner standing in their dining room

Built to last

Restaurant websites built from scratch, not templates

Most restaurant websites in Ireland run on WordPress with a hospitality theme. They load slowly, score poorly on Core Web Vitals, and look similar to dozens of other venues. A site built from scratch in clean, modern code loads faster, ranks better, and looks like your restaurant rather than a generic template with your logo dropped in.

Every site I build is yours outright, with no monthly platform fee, no lock-in, and no developer needed for standard updates like changing your opening hours or the menu. Fixed price, clear timeline, everything yours at the end. If you are eligible for the Trading Online Voucher through your Local Enterprise Office, that can cover up to 50% of the project cost, so ask me about it when you get in touch.

Why it works

Fast, lead-generating websites that earn their keep

A fast, clean site built around one goal: turning visitors into enquiries. No bloated builders, no templates that look like everyone else's.

✓

Loads well under a second

✓

Reads clearly on a phone, where most of your customers are

✓

Every page points towards getting in touch

Dave Coleman, web designer and SEO specialist

Who you'll be working with

Built by Dave Coleman, not an agency

I'm a Dublin-based web developer and SEO specialist with over 20 years building fast, lead-focused websites for Irish businesses. When you work with me on your restaurants and cafes site you deal with me directly: no account managers, no offshore teams, no padded invoices.

I'll tell you straight what you need, what you don't, and what it costs. If there's a cheaper way to get the same result, I'll say so.

More about how I work

What goes into the build

Web design for restaurants and cafes, and everything that makes it work

Fast, modern websites built from scratch, never WordPress. A well-built site is the foundation. Local SEO, custom web development like booking systems, and apps sit on top of it, added only when they will genuinely earn their keep.

Web design for restaurants and cafes

Who it's for: restaurants and cafes that want more than a tired template, a fast, credible site that looks the part and turns visitors into enquiries.

Every site is built from scratch in clean, modern code, not a recycled theme. It loads in well under a second, reads clearly on a phone where most of your customers are searching, and points every visitor towards getting in touch.

Fast, clean website built from scratch, never WordPress
Mobile-first and Google-ready from day one
Clear calls to action on every page
Contact forms and click-to-call buttons that are impossible to miss
You own everything: code, domain, content
Fixed price, no monthly lock-in

How I build sites → Get a quote

What you get

Fast, clean website built from scratch
Mobile-first, Google-ready from day one
Clear calls to action on every page
Contact forms and click-to-call buttons
You own everything, code, domain, content
Fixed price, no monthly lock-in

Typical timeline

2–3 weeks

From first conversation to live site

Local SEO for restaurants and cafes

Who it's for: restaurants and cafes that rely on local customers finding them on Google, and want to outrank competitors still running slow, dated sites.

A site nobody can find is just an expensive business card. SEO is built into every page from the start, so you rank for what people actually search, across your town, your county and every "near me" query that matters.

On-page SEO across every page
Google Business Profile set up and optimised
Local area and "near me" targeting
Structured data for local search
Fast page speeds as a ranking signal
Honest reporting, no vanity metrics

How SEO works → Talk to me about ranking

What's included

On-page SEO across every page
Google Business Profile setup & optimisation
Local area and "near me" targeting
Structured data for local search
Fast page speeds as a ranking signal
Honest reporting, no vanity metrics

What happens straight away

Your site goes live properly structured, fast and indexed by Google from day one. Rankings build as Google sees it performing, most businesses see movement within weeks, not months.

Web development for restaurants and cafes

Who it's for: restaurants and cafes that need their website to do something, take bookings, process payments, save hours of admin, not just sit there looking nice.

When an off-the-shelf plugin nearly fits but never quite does, I build the real thing: custom web development shaped around how your business actually works. The most popular is an online booking system on your own site, no commission, no monthly platform fee, and you own it outright.

Booking, ordering and payment built into your own site
Deposits taken up front to cut no-shows
No commission to third-party platforms
Customer areas and tools that fit your workflow

Custom web development → Get a quote

What I can build

Online booking systems
A website you can update yourself
Customer portals & login areas
Private dashboards and tools that fit your workflow
Yours to own, fixed price, no lock-in

The honest bit

Not every business needs custom tools. If a simpler site would do the job, I'll tell you. You only build what actually earns its place.

App development for restaurants and cafes

Who it's for: restaurants and cafes that want to be on their customers' phones, or a proper tool for a team on the road instead of paper and phone calls.

Sometimes a website isn't the whole answer. I build apps for Irish businesses, customer apps for booking, ordering or loyalty, and team apps for jobs and sign-offs out in the field, for iPhone and Android, or as a no-download web app. I'll tell you straight whether you actually need one.

Customer apps: book, order, pay, stay loyal
Team apps for the field: jobs, photos, sign-offs
One build for both iPhone and Android
Or a web app, no download, no app store

App development → Talk it through

Start here

Most businesses are better off starting with a fast website or a web app than a full phone app, cheaper, and it reaches more people. I'll help you pick the right one.

The opportunity

Most Irish restaurant sites are not built to rank. Yours can be.

Local food searches happen thousands of times a day in every county. A fast, properly structured site with the right local pages will outrank most competitors within months, not years.

Start the conversation

Common questions

Web design for restaurants: your questions answered

Ask me directly

Not on the list? Send it over and I'll give you a straight answer, no sales pitch.

contactus@daveacoleman.com Send a question

Do restaurants and cafes really need their own website?

Yes, and it matters more than most owners realise. The majority of people searching for somewhere to eat look on Google before they decide. If your site is slow, hard to find, or links straight out to a third-party platform, you are handing that customer to someone else. A fast, well-ranked site with your menu and a direct booking option keeps the relationship, and the money, in your own hands.

Can you integrate an online booking system into the site?

Yes. If you already use ResDiary, OpenTable, or Bookatable, I can embed the booking widget cleanly so customers never leave your site to reserve a table. If you want something simpler, a direct enquiry or booking request form works well for smaller operations and has no monthly subscription cost. I'll recommend what fits your volume and setup, not what sounds impressive.

What about online ordering for collection and delivery?

I can build a direct online ordering or pre-order system for collection so you are not paying a percentage to Just Eat or Deliveroo on every order. For delivery-heavy operations, there are cases where the big platforms still make sense for reach, but your own site should always be the direct channel you own and control. I can advise honestly on what combination works for your model.

We change our menu regularly. Can we update it ourselves?

Yes. Every site I build includes a way to update standard content, including menus, without needing a developer each time. For restaurants with seasonal or weekly menus, I can set up a simple PDF download or a structured menu page that is easy to keep current. You should not need to call anyone just to change a dish.

Can the site help with the Trading Online Voucher?

Restaurants and food businesses can apply for the Trading Online Voucher through their Local Enterprise Office. The voucher covers up to 50% of eligible web costs, capped at €2,500. I have worked with LEO-funded projects before and can provide the documentation you need for your application. Ask me about this when you get in touch.

How long does a restaurant website take to build?

A standard restaurant or cafe site, homepage, menu, about, contact, and booking integration, takes around three to four weeks from brief to live. If you need online ordering or a larger site with multiple locations or event pages, allow four to six weeks. You get a fixed price and a clear timeline before any work starts.

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