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How to Create a Restaurant Survey that Will Amplify Guest Experience

A restaurant survey can help you improve the quality of your food and service, boost customer engagement, measure your performance, and avoid negative reviews. In the article below, you’ll learn all about the main questions you should ask, how to measure guest satisfaction based on the results, and how easy it is to create your own survey.

10 Questions to Ask in a Restaurant Guest Survey

While there are many questions you can ask in a restaurant survey to gauge your customers’ feelings toward your business, asking more than 10 at a time is excessive. Most customers won’t take the time to complete a survey if it takes more than five to 10 minutes.

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There are multiple types of restaurant survey questions you can ask, from the overall experience to food, service, ambiance, takeout or delivery, reservations, and other services.

If you’re looking for a general survey that touches upon all the aspects of dining at your restaurant, a mix of the following questions is a good starting point.

1. How would you rate your overall visit?

This is a question that every restaurant survey should contain, just to give you a general idea of what your customers’ experience was like. You can provide a range from 1 to 5 or from “very good” to “very bad.”

2. How did you hear about our restaurant?

This is an excellent way to find out if your marketing is delivering the expected results and what you should invest your resources in.

Is word-of-mouth working wonders? Encourage customers to tell their friends and family about you. Do most people learn about you from online reviews? Create profiles on the most popular restaurant review sites and actively ask for reviews from satisfied customers.

3. Were you satisfied with the menu options?

Regardless of the audience you’re catering to, you want to make sure they’re satisfied with the variety of your menu. Try to include multiple portion sizes, as well as at least one vegetarian and vegan option.

Pay attention to what your customers want and try to meet their expectations to improve the guest experience and boost your profits.

4. What is your favorite menu item?

Building a successful restaurant menu involves a lot of trial and error and relies heavily on what your customers want. That’s why you should ask them what their favorite menu item is.

This way, not only will you learn what the most beloved dish is, but you’ll also identify those that get zero mentions from customers. Another similar question you can ask is “What is your least favorite menu item?” When it comes to creating an unforgettable dining experience, a well-designed restaurant menu templates can make all the difference. With the right restaurant menu design ideas, you can captivate your customers' attention, showcase your culinary offerings in an enticing manner, and leave a lasting impression.

5. Was your server attentive and friendly?

Your servers are a huge part of what makes your restaurant popular and well-loved. Ensure you have a dream team by hiring people who adhere to your restaurant’s culture.

Train and support them every step of the way, and the reply to his question will always be a resounding “yes.”

6. How would you describe the ambiance of our restaurant?

Another piece of the guest experience puzzle is the restaurant’s ambiance, from the seating arrangement to the music, décor, and overall mood.

Ask your customers to describe it to see whether you’re hitting your mark and putting out the kind of “vibe” you wanted.

7. Did you reserve a table in advance?

An easy way to see whether customers use your table reservation system to book a table before visiting your restaurant.

If they don’t, this is also an excellent way to let them know they have this option in case they were unaware of it. Giving them the option to reserve tables will help you increase the table turnover and serve more customers daily.

8. How easy was it to reserve a table?   

If customers did reserve a table, how easy did they find the process? If you have your own table booking system on your website, this will tell you how user-friendly it is and if you need to make any improvements to it.

If you’re accepting reservations through a third-party and customers are not satisfied with the process, maybe it’s time to switch to your very own in-house system

9. Did you ever place a takeout or delivery order on our website?

Just as with table reservations, asking this question will inform you of the popularity of your delivery and takeout service, as well as give you a chance to promote it.

The reason we’ve highlighted your website is that you should focus your efforts on enabling customers to order directly from you, as opposed to a third-party app.

10. What would you improve about our online ordering system?

Is your online ordering system the best that it can be? Are your customers satisfied with the ordering experience, from start to finish? This is your chance to find out.

Features like mobile-friendliness, scheduled orders, no-contact delivery, and irresistible promotions are must-haves if you want to keep your clients happy and your restaurant ahead of the competition.

How to Measure Guest Satisfaction at Your Restaurant

There are multiple ways of measuring customer satisfaction via a survey, based on the main types of rating scales:

  •  Graphic, where customers can select an option between “Very satisfied” and “Very unsatisfied” or “Very happy” and “Very unhappy.”
  • Numerical, where they choose numbers instead of words, from 0 to 10 or 1 to 5.
  • Descriptive, where they’re given multiple options such as “happy,” “neutral,” or “unhappy.”
  • Comparative, where you’re comparing your restaurant with a competitor and asking for a rating in comparison.

These rating scales can be used to reach different types of scores that will help you measure guest satisfaction, such as:

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) looks at how likely customers are to recommend your restaurant to friends, family, or colleagues.
  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures your customers’ happiness, typically using a 1 to 5 or 0 to 10 rating.
  • Customer Effort Score (CES) evaluates how much effort customers must make to interact with your restaurant. For example, if you ask how easy it was to reserve a table, you can give them a range between “Very easy” and “Very difficult.”

How to Create a Restaurant Survey Fast & Easy

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information presented above, don’t worry. Creating a restaurant survey is easy when you have the right tools.

A restaurant feedback management system with built-in survey software is all you need to create your surveys from scratch, have them reach a large number of customers, and track their effectiveness.

You can experiment with the types of surveys you send out based on what your main goal is, whether you want to learn more about your food delivery service, the new menu you’ve just released, or the general restaurant experience.

The good thing about survey software is that it allows you to distribute the surveys on your website, via email, SMS, mobile, or even offline. You can reach your customers anywhere.

In Closing

Don’t turn the guest experience into a guessing game. Take matters into your own hands and learn what your customers are thinking by creating a comprehensive restaurant survey. It will help you establish a close relationship and continuously improve your restaurant operations.



Laura Voicu

Written by Laura Voicu

Feb 13, 2023

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