10 Cool Pinterest Restaurant Ideas

Pinterest is a fun way to promote your restaurant. Use Pinterest to build a series of virtual bulletin boards to promote different parts of your restaurant, from your menu to your nightlife to your catering services. You can also use Pinterest boards to enhance your restaurant’s reputation by showing off media buzz, awards, in the news. Do you take part in community fundraisers? Build a board to show it off. Finally, use Pinterest to learn something new to try at your restaurant including recipes, tablescapes, cocktails.

1. Restaurant Tablescape Ideas

Parties and events are very popular on Pinterest, as any prospective bride will tell you. Forget the standard white linen tablecloth and napkin folded in a fan. Today’s event planners, whether brides, businesses or others, want a certain wow factor from their caterer. Check out the many tablescapes ideas available to inspire you for weddings, rehearsal dinners, and other catered events.

2. Holiday Boards

Put yourself in the holiday spirit of and drive traffic to your website at the same time. Mix pictures of seasonal events with recipes, drinks, crafts, and images. Starbucks does a good job of integrating seasons with their products. For example, on their Christmas Board, there are pins of their coffee alongside Christmas breakfast ideas, snowman crafts, and holiday table centerpieces.

3. Copycat Recipes and More

Food is huge on Pinterest. Pin recipes you think would be good to try at your restaurant. You may be surprised at the ideas out there. Show your customers what you’re thinking about trying for tonight’s special. Popular among some chain restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen are boards dedicated to copycat recipes from various blogs. Invite your customers to post their own pins of recipes inspired by your restaurant. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

4. Photos From Customers

Invite customers to pin pictures they take at your restaurant. If customers post photos of themselves at your restaurant on Facebook, pin those pictures onto Pinterest and vice versa. But first, be sure that you have your customer’s permission.

5. Going Green

Boards dedicated to green issues as well as local and sustainable food are popular on many official restaurant Pinterest boards. Along with recipes using local foods, you can also pin tips like how to freeze fresh herbs in ice cube trays.

6. Build a Menu

Customers who already enjoy eating at your restaurant may have some good ideas about what they’d like to see on the menu. How about a board that customers can add recipes ideas to. Let them know via your Facebook page and Twitter feed when you are going to try out one of their menu ideas.

7. Drinks You Love

Show off your bar menu with images of house specialty cocktails, and the various brands of beer and wine you carry.

8. Fun Stuff to do Around Town

What else can people do in your town or city, besides eating at your restaurant? Pin photos of local attractions, for example, Gloria’s restaurant, with locations throughout Texas, has a board completely dedicated to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Mooo Restaurant in Boston has a board highlighting local attractions, entitled “Around the Town.”

9. Humor

Everyone loves a good laugh and with Pinterest, you can show off your restaurant’s fun side. Build a board of funny images, ecards or other memes. Try to find pins that are somehow food-related.

10. Awards Boards

Is your restaurant in the news? Dedicate a Pinterest board to anything newsworthy, from press releases, community news, awards and other stuff that makes your restaurant look (and feel) good.