More, and more honest, Google reviews for your restaurant

Before a new guest books with you, they've often already looked you up. On Google Maps, in the search results or on a review site, they see your rating, the number of reviews and what other guests have written within seconds. That picture helps decide whether they book with you or with the place down the street.

Yet many restaurants leave this to chance. Happy guests rarely write a review on their own; unhappy guests do so more often. In this article you'll read how to get more reviews in an honest way, what to avoid and how to get better from them.

Why reviews matter

Reviews play a part at two moments. First, in being found: Google itself says that the number of reviews and the rating factor into local search results. A restaurant with an up-to-date profile and a steady stream of new reviews stands out more there than a place whose last review is two years old.

Then, in being chosen. Guests don't just look at the average; they also read the recent reviews and your replies to them. A few recent, specific reviews say more than a high rating based on a handful of old ones. And reviews are free feedback: guests tell you what could be better, even if they didn't say it at the table.

When to ask for a review

Timing matters a lot. Ask at the table during dessert and it feels pushy. Wait a week, and the evening has faded.

A few rules of thumb:

• After dinner, a request the next day works well, for example during the morning or around lunchtime. The evening is still fresh and the guest has a moment to spare.
• After lunch, the same day a few hours later is fine.
• Not late at night. A message at half past eleven doesn't feel like hospitality.
• Once per visit, and not after every visit for regulars. Someone who comes every week doesn't want the same request every week.

How to ask

Keep it short, personal and easy. A good request thanks the guest for their visit, asks in one sentence how it was and has one clear button or link. The fewer steps, the more guests respond.

Choose a channel your guests actually read. Email is familiar and suits a slightly longer message; a WhatsApp message often stands out more and opens with a single tap on the phone. Make sure every message has a way to unsubscribe.

An example of a short message:

"Thanks for visiting us yesterday! We'd love to hear how it was. It'll take you less than a minute."

A card with the bill, with a QR code to your review page, works too. But give it to everyone, not just the tables that clearly had a good time.

Never filter, never buy

There are two things you never do.

You don't filter who you ask for a public review. It's tempting: first ask how it was, then send only the happy guests on to Google. This is called review gating, and Google's policies don't allow it. Google prohibits selectively asking for positive reviews or discouraging negative ones. It also creates a distorted picture that guests see through sooner or later.

You don't buy reviews and you don't write them yourself. Fake reviews are prohibited, whether they come from an agency, from family or from your own team. The same goes for rewards in exchange for a review, such as a free drink or a discount on the next visit. Google can remove such reviews and take action against your profile.

The honest alternative works better in the long run: ask everyone and make it easy. And a few critical reviews among many positive ones actually make your profile more credible.

Handle negative feedback quickly and personally

You can give guests the chance to tell you their story first, as long as everyone can still post a public review afterwards. So ask for a short comment in your request as well. A guest who wasn't happy and can tell you about it feels heard.

Then respond quickly, ideally within a day. A few tips:

• Get in touch personally, by email, WhatsApp or phone, and not with a standard text.
• Listen first. Ask what exactly happened before you explain or defend.
• Offer something if it fits, such as an apology and another chance. Never make that conditional on changing or removing a review.
• Record what you did, so a colleague knows it has been picked up.

This doesn't replace the public review. An unhappy guest is also entitled to post their opinion on Google.

Replying to public reviews

Replies to reviews are read more than you might think. New guests see not only what others thought of your restaurant, but also how you treat your guests.

What works:

• Reply to positive and negative reviews, not just to the complaints.
• Be specific. Mention the dish or the moment the guest mentioned, so it doesn't read like a standard reply.
• Thank people for criticism and show what you're doing with it, without making it bigger than it is.
• With a complaint, invite the guest to get in touch, with an email address or phone number, so you can continue the conversation away from the review site.

What to avoid:

• Arguing or explaining point by point why the guest is wrong.
• Sharing personal details about the booking, the bill or the party.
• Copying and pasting. Twenty times "Thanks for your review!" says nothing.
• Replying when you're angry. Write your reply, leave it for a while and then read it again.

Use the feedback with your team

Discuss reviews regularly with your team, for example briefly at the pre-shift briefing or once a week. If a guest mentions someone by name, pass that compliment on.

With criticism, look for patterns rather than individual complaints. One guest who found it slow may just have been unlucky. If several guests write about waiting times on Friday evenings, something is off in your planning or staffing. Discuss it without pointing fingers and agree on what you'll change.

What to track

You only know whether your approach is working if you measure it. At the very least, look at:

• The average rating and how it develops over the months.
• The number of new reviews per month.
• The response rate: how many guests respond to a request. If it's low, look at timing, channel and wording.
• The distribution of ratings. Lots of threes say something different from a few ones among many fives.
• Open follow-ups: low scores that haven't been picked up yet.

How this works in Tablejoy

Tablejoy has a reviews module, and it's included in every plan (see pricing). After the visit, Tablejoy automatically sends the guest a review request, by email, by WhatsApp, or by WhatsApp with email as a fallback. You choose the timing: the same day a number of hours later, a number of days later at a set hour, or manual only. Requests aren't sent late at night, each visit gets one request at most, and regulars are asked at most once every 30 days. Every request has an unsubscribe link, and your team can also send a request by hand.

The guest gives 1 to 5 stars and can add a comment. With 3 stars or fewer, the guest is asked whether you may contact them. You decide from which rating the guest also gets a button to share their review publicly. That button links to your Google review page by default, and you can change the link, for example to TripAdvisor. You can also show the button to everyone. We recommend that, because Google doesn't allow filtering.

On a low score, your team gets a push notification in the Tablejoy Host app. Each low score has a status (new, picked up, handled) and an internal note, and you can reply to the guest by email or WhatsApp. In the portal and the app you see the overview: average rating, response rate, open follow-ups, the distribution and the trend over time. You can adapt the intro and thank-you texts on the review page to the tone of your restaurant. You'll find setup guidance in the help centre.