How to Write a Restaurant Concept: Complete Easy-to-follow Guide + Examples

Are you planning on opening a restaurant? All the new terms, budgeting, and responsibilities may seem daunting at first, but you can succeed if you break everything into small, accomplishable steps.

Let’s start with how to write a restaurant concept, which you must do before you even start thinking about how to spend your money on location, equipment, and everything else.

In this article, you will learn what a restaurant concept is, how to write it, and find inspiration in the many examples.

What Is a Restaurant Concept?

A restaurant concept is the overall theme of your restaurant, starting from the type of cuisine and type of service and continuing with the menu design, décor, and ambiance.

The restaurant concept supported by restaurant branding will help you create a well-established business that is easily recognizable.

Read more: 12 Restaurant Branding Ideas to Build a Memorable Presence

Benefits of Restaurant Concept Development

The good news is that you don’t have to invest money in restaurant concept development. Sure, you could hire a marketing team, but it will be more personal and special if you do it yourself.

Here is what you will gain if you learn how to write a restaurant concept:

• Create a memorable experience: when picking a place to eat, people don’t just look at the food. There are so many options right now that potential customers seek out an experience. They want to be able to take photographs and rave about their dinner with their friends. By creating a unique restaurant concept, you give people what they want;
• Attract your target customers: your food will not be for everyone and that is ok. Developing your restaurant concept helps you identify your target market so you can better cater to their needs;
• Build a loyal base of customers: people who are a fan of your restaurant concept will keep coming back. Let’s say you have a casual old-style Italian restaurant. Clients who enjoy this type of food and atmosphere will become regulars;
• Enjoy long-term success: opening a restaurant with no attention to detail will increase your chances of failure. On the opposite industry, starting your adventure in the food industry with a well-thought-out restaurant concept increases your chances of succeeding year after year.

How to Write a Restaurant Concept

Let’s break it down into easy-to-follow steps, so you can learn how to write a restaurant concept in no time:

1. Find inspiration

There are many other restaurants in your area, so you need to make yours stand out if you want clients to visit you. To come up with a great restaurant concept, you need to find inspiration, be it from your travels, your upbringing, or your culinary journey. Here are some things to consider:

• Did you grow up eating a certain type of cuisine that you would like to share with others?
• Have you visited a place that impressed you food-wise and would like to make it visible at your business?
• Have you experimented with food and you have a unique product to share with the world?
• Are there traditional types of food in your area that you want to keep alive or maybe put your spin on it?
• Do you appreciate a particular type of art that you think will translate well in a restaurant?

2. Pick a type of service

The type of service you offer will heavily impact how you develop your restaurant concept. Here are some options to choose from:

• Bistro
• Buffet
• Fast Casual
• Fine dining
• Fast food
• Food truck
• Ghost restaurant
• Family style

3. Research your target market

A restaurant can’t function without clients. Therefore, it makes sense you should know who they are, so you can develop a restaurant concept that will persuade them to visit your business.

After you settle on a general area for your location, do a bit of research and find what type of potential customers there are such as age, occupation, and interests.

For example, if you want to open a restaurant inspired by the paintings of Degas, find out if there is interest. Do people often visit the museums or are there any clubs dedicated to him?

Read more: Restaurant Target Market: How to Identify It and Why It Is Important for Your Business

4. Choose your restaurant’s name

If you want to open a fine dining restaurant focused on Neapolitan cuisine, it wouldn’t be fitting to call it “Pizza Gregorio”, even if you have your take on pizza on the menu. The name should signal the type of sophistication clients must expect.

Therefore, choose a name that embodies your restaurant concept. It would also help for it to be short and easy to pronounce so people will remember it.

5. Create a menu that illustrates the concept

This is probably the most important step of how to write a restaurant concept because it is the one that the client immediately notices. Your menu should illustrate the theme, from the types of dishes to the menu descriptions.

For example, if you want to open a burger joint, people won’t be interested in ordering the seafood pasta you’ve added to the menu.

Furthermore, the way you write your item names and descriptions should also be in line with the concept. For instance, if you have a fast-food restaurant with a fun theme, your menu descriptions should be playful.

If you want to create a menu in minutes with little effort, we recommend you use the menu builder embedded in the online ordering system from GloriaFood. It is very easy for customers and you can make unlimited changes to it, free of charge.

Read more: 3 Secret Menu Writing Tips: The BEST Food Descriptions that Make You Hungry

6. Illustrate the concept with restaurant décor

When you search for how to write a restaurant concept, you shouldn’t limit yourself to a written statement. Instead, your concept should be visible in almost all aspects of your business, from how you decorate your walls to what napkins you choose.

A visitor should be able to make out your concept from the moment they lie eyes on your restaurant.

7. Write a convincing concept and promote it

A restaurant concept statement will vary according to the audience. We’ll give you a basic formula for how to write a restaurant concept and some tips on how to adapt it:

Why you chose to open the restaurant (Your inspiration) + What type of food do you serve + What makes your restaurant special

For your restaurant’s website’ About section, the above info will be good because you don’t want it to be overwhelming.

If you address a potential partner, consider adding more details, such as how the restaurant concept will be visible (décor, menu creation, name, target market).

Restaurant Concept Ideas

Before you start putting into practice all the advice above on how to write a restaurant concept, we’ve prepared a few ideas that could serve as inspiration.

• Malaysian Family Style restaurant: Our heritage has massively impacted the way we cook. We want to allow other people to explore the amazing Malaysian flavors packed in small servings that are meant to be shared. We welcome everyone to have a relaxed meal where they discover the food of our culture.
• Farm-to-table restaurant: We pride ourselves in the locally sourced organic ingredients that we get from our partners in the area. We aim to reduce as much waste as possible and use every part of our ingredients. Come in and enjoy a healthy meal and learn the story of the farmers who produce our ingredients.
• Protein-forward food truck: Do you need a quick pick-me-up after a workout? We prepare dishes packed with protein and we give you the calories and macro breakdown for every menu item. Reach your goals while eating delicious food that is served to you in minutes!
• Irish sports bar: Come watch your favorite sports team while enjoying a pint of stout with a side of our traditional Irish food. This is the best place to gather with your mates and forget about your worries.
• Fried chicken fast food: If you are craving finger-licking good fried chicken, this is the place to be. Our secret recipe makes the best crunchy, meaty, and savory chicken that you will dream about. We guarantee your meal will be served in less than 10 minutes!
• Reinterpreted traditional Greek food fine dining: Our Greek Chef has a lifetime of experience with traditional Greek food, from lessons from his grandma to extensive travels around the country. He has now put his spin on the amazing food and offers you a dining experience you will never forget.
• Spicy virtual restaurant: All spicy lovers, unite! All our dishes have the kick you crave, from our curries to our mouth-watering pad Thai. If that is not enough for you, check out our homemade spicy sauces in flavorful combos.

Final Words

Now that you know how to write a restaurant concept, it is time to search for your inspiration. Do your research so you can pick a unique concept and rely on useful tools like our menu creator, to make it obvious for your clients.