Beginners guide to designing a vegan restaurant website in 2026!
You might be wondering why would anyone want to start a restaurant in these crazy times?
Well…..people are still following their dreams and opening up restaurants during this time because I’d imagine it’s been in the works for years already.
When you’ve built up momentum in a business, it’s hard to press the pause button. People may argue that it’s not a good idea, but it’s really up to the individual business owner to decide and if people are still going ahead with their restaurants, I want to be a resource for people going forward because it’s something that I am passionate about!
On that note, I want to say that designing a restaurant website doesn’t have to be a huge overwhelming endeavor. The best way to get started is to do it in steps, so you can make progress over time.
This guide is more about preparing your website before you get to the nitty-gritty of the actual design. The prep is just as important as the build because it sets your website up for success! Web design is a process, so I wanted to give you bite-sized pieces to get you started!
A website is the first impression of your storefront, so make sure it’s designed in a way that reflects your unique business personality.
Take photos of your food offerings that are on-brand to display on your website.
There’re many photographers who specialize in food photography that you can hire, or if you have a smaller budget, ask one of your friends to help out. For best results, a pro camera is recommended instead of an iPhone, unless your phone takes good shots.
There are also tons of courses and tips on food photography, so if your balling on a budget, you can do it yourself.
When you’re taking photos of the food, be sure to think about how it’s going to look on your website.
Think about the vibe you’re going for, and what colors you would like to use. Be sure to use props for your photos that are the same colors you want to have on your website.
For example, if you are going for a minimum vibe on your website, then the food photography backgrounds should reflect that, and vice versa. The photo prop colors should match your brand, so it displays nicely online.
If you’re taking a bunch of photos that have a rustic vibe, then be sure that’s what you’re going for with your brand.
Your online presence will have a scrappy DIY vibe if everything is not holistic across the board.
Do some research first before you take photos or hire someone. The photos are the main part of a website, so be sure to nail the vibe you want first and give your photographer clear instructions on what style you want.
Pinterest is a great way to gather inspiration, and it’s quite easy to make a mood board and hand it off to your photographer; it’s an important step and must be thought out!
Check out Swift Cafe and look at the vibe they have going on. Everything looks cohesive which helps your restaurant website stand out and look professional.
For best results, there should be a photo of every food item that is served, so people can see what they’ll be eating. I know it seems like a ton of pictures, but trust me, your menu will look fantastic which will help boost sales because online ordering is in full effect these days.
Write copy for your website.
The copy on your website should be specific to your audience, so write about what makes you different, and the problems you solve.
On your homepage above the fold, it needs to be written out who you serve loud and clear.
It should be stated that you serve vegan food in the very first section of your website, so when customers land on your site they know right away they’re in the right place.
When customers are searching for the kind of food you serve, if it’s written in your copy, your website will show up in searches.
Be sure to write out what makes you different as well….do you source locally? Are you zero waste? Do you compost your food waste?
Choose a CMS to design your restaurant website!
CMS stands for a content management system, and It’s basically your online website storefront.
There are tons of options to choose from like Wix, WordPress, etc., but I find Squarespace is an ideal platform to host your site and it’s what I use to design restaurant websites for my clients because It easily hooks up with restaurant online ordering systems like Chownow and Square.
Type out out your menu on your website.
You want to make sure you type everything into your site instead of uploading PDFs, because although It looks pretty…. functionality is better than looks in this case.
If you upload a menu PDF you’ll be missing out on all the SEO because Google can’t index PDF menus, so be sure to keep that in mind.
Integrate an online ordering system into your restaurant website design.
Chownow and Squarespace have a partnership, so you can easily integrate it into your Squarespace website.
You’ll need to sign up for an account on the Chownow website first before you can add it. Once you receive your customer id through Chownow, you’ll be able to integrate chow now to Squarespace.
Hook up social media to your site.
I’m seeing a trend now with many vegan restaurants to opt for social media instead of a website.
Keep in mind Social media is there to leverage your marketing and shouldn’t be the only marketing platform. Why? You own your website, whereas, with social media, the algorithms are always changing, so things can happen to your account that you can’t control.
If you have a website home, people can sign up for your email list, where you can connect with your audience directly and always have a way to stay in contact with them.
I encourage restaurants to use their website as their main marketing tool and hub along with social media.
Sign up for Google My Business.
When people are searching on the internet for restaurants, your business has the potential to show up.
Potential customers can click on it and be directed right to your website! It really does help people find your business easier, and there’s a spot for people to write reviews! Check out Google My Business and register your business with them!
Think about hiring a professional web designer.
Hiring a professional web designer will ensure the website design for your restaurant will be done right the first time around. DIYing sounds easy, but to be realistic there’s a significant amount of work that goes into it and if you’re new to building websites, you might miss some very important steps!
Learn more about my 1:1 web design services for vegan restaurants, and schedule a free consultation call we can talk about your project.
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