6 Best (FREE) Website Builders for Restaurants in 2024

A restaurant’s website needs more than just the basics. You’ll need to be able to display a menu and easily update it as your offerings change. You need good SEO tools to attract locals searching for dining options and templates that fit your brand and put your mouth-watering food photos front and center. Plus, it helps to have online ordering tools available so you have the option of scaling up later.

A lot of website builders claim to be ideal for restaurants, but I’ve found that few truly deliver when it comes to these features – at least without costing a fortune.

After trying dozens of website builders, I’m here to share some free solutions that simply devour the competition. While not every feature is available on the free plan, you’d be surprised at how much value you can get without spending a dime. I’ve also included three nearly-free website builder options that I believe are worth every penny for a restaurant owner.

Among the platforms I evaluated, Wix was the clear winner for restaurants. It’s particularly friendly for beginners and provides a vast array of tools tailored to the food industry, even on its free plan. You can try Wix for free or read on to find out which other builders made the cut.

What We Look For in the Best Website Builders for Restaurants

Just because a website builder is free doesn’t mean it should lack important functionalities, so I made sure to focus on the features most crucial for restaurant websites.

• Budget-friendly. I looked for builders that let you create your website either for free or at a relatively low cost. This way you can establish an online presence without much initial investment.
• Ease of use. You’re a restaurant owner, not a developer. These website builders all have little to speak of in the way of a learning curve – and you definitely don’t need any coding experience! Some even have tools that save you time, like AI-assisted content generation.
• Restaurant-specific features. The builders I found come with specialized features for restaurants, like menus and reservation systems. Most also integrate with third-party tools that offer even more advanced versions of the builder’s in-house restaurant features.
• Customizable templates. Customization is key for a restaurant’s website to stand out. The builders I chose offer templates specifically designed for restaurants, and all are customizable to fit your unique brand and style.
• SEO tools. The inclusion of SEO tools was crucial in my selection. Improving your website’s visibility in search results can draw more potential customers to your restaurant.

1. Wix: Best for Design & Customizability

Wix stands out for its vast library of 800+ templates. This includes over 70 Restaurants & Food templates, with 26 specifically designed for restaurants. Many templates have the latest design trends, like interactive web animations, to show off how appetizing your food is. Plus, Wix sites automatically adjust to fit mobile screens, providing a smooth user experience across different devices.

I love Wix’s customization options, which are the most extensive of any major builder. You can set your site’s color palette, choose fonts that reflect your identity, design buttons and much more. Aside from site-wide changes, you can edit anything on your page. So not only can you add page elements, like a banner announcing a promotion, but you can change every detail about a given element.

Wix’s free plan comes with nearly all customization settings and page elements, including a menu display. However, this option includes Wix ads and a Wix domain, so you’ll need to upgrade to avoid those. To take orders and reservations you need at least the Core plan. Luckily, it comes with a 14-day free trial, so you can test out the features first.

Features

• Delivery integration. Wix streamlines the ordering process by integrating your menu directly onto your website, allowing customers to browse, order, and pay in one place. Both you and your customers will receive real-time updates, keeping everyone informed about order status. Note that you need a paid plan to use this feature.
• AI website builder. You can chat with Wix’s AI assistant like you would with your personal web designer. The AI can refine elements such as design, text, layouts, and more until your site fully matches your vision. It even simplifies tasks such as generating enticing product descriptions for your menu items.
• Wix Owner app. With the Wix Owner app, you can manage your restaurant’s online presence from anywhere. Update menus, respond to customer inquiries, and handle orders right from your phone. Plus, you get insights about your site’s visitor numbers and popular orders to help you make smart decisions.
• Suite of SEO tools. Wix boosts your restaurant website’s visibility with SEO tools, like an SEO setup checklist and meta tag management. These features help optimize your pages with relevant keywords and track your site’s p, so you can get more customers.

Read our expert Wix review for more details.

2. SITE123: Get Your Website Up and Running Quickly

If Wix is all about design and customizability, then SITE123 is about speed and simplicity. It provides 6 restaurant templates, and each has at least 2 different layouts. The point-and-click editor allows you to adjust colors, fonts, and add information about your restaurant with ease. There are fewer design options, but that makes setting up and updating your site way faster.

The free plan comes with several different options for displaying your menu, and aside from that you can upload photos to highlight your best dishes. The free plan even lets you add a reservations tool so your customers can easily book tables. This tool also lets you set grace periods for late arrivals.

You can use the free plan as long as you want, which is a big plus if you’re just starting out. However, as with all free plans, there are some limitations. You’ll need a paid plan to drop SITE123’s branding, use your own domain name, or accept payments for things like food orders. Luckily, the premium plans are relatively affordable.

Features

• Testimonial page. Encourage your guests to leave feedback with a dedicated testimonial page. This feature not only allows you to collect valuable insights but also lets potential customers see the positive experiences of others.
• Contact form builder. You can easily add and customize contact forms. This is essential if your restaurant is open to reservations for special events, or if you just want to gather leads.
• Email marketing. You can create and manage email marketing campaigns to promote your latest sales, new dishes, seasonal offerings, and more. There are even some email templates to make things easy for you.
• Events. SITE123 offers an array of event management tools, including the ability to list upcoming events, like themed dinners or cooking classes. With a paid plan, you can even sell tickets for your restaurant’s events.

Unsure if SITE123 is right for you? Read our full expert review.

3. Webador: Intuitive and Simple Website Creation for Food Entrepreneurs

Like SITE123, Webador prioritizes user-friendliness. But Webador is arguably even simpler than SITE123, and that makes it perfect for beginners. Its drag-and-drop editor is the easiest I’ve ever used. While the customization is not advanced, it has all the essentials needed to build a functional and personalized website – and if you’re new to this, that’s a worthy tradeoff.

Webador has 8 restaurant templates, including a few cafe templates, and any of its 50+ templates can be easily adjusted to suit your restaurant. You can also integrate your site with third-party widgets. For example, you can add the reservation management tool Resmio, or Common Ninja’s restaurant menu display.

Webador has a free plan with unlimited storage, so you can upload plenty of high-quality food photos. As usual, you need premium plans to use a custom domain or take payments, but Webador’s paid plans are relatively affordable. Whatever you choose, the combination of low prices and ease of use makes Webador an attractive option if you’re just starting out.

Features

• Embedding widget. You can display third-party widgets on your page by copy-pasting codes or URLs. For example, if you want to display a how-it’s-made video about a popular dish, you can just upload it to YouTube and paste the video URL into Webador’s editor.
• Comments and ratings. You can add a 5-star rating option or a comment field anywhere on the page. This is a good way of displaying your customers’ praise for your menu and restaurant atmosphere.
• Business mailbox. A dedicated business mailbox allows for professional communication between you and your customers or suppliers. You do need a paid plan for this feature though.
• Customer accounts. With an online store plan, you’ll be able to enable customer accounts to offer a personalized experience for repeat visitors. This feature can help in tracking orders, reservations, and preferences, leading to improved customer service.

Want to learn more? Read our expert Webador review.

4. Squarespace: Best for Elegant Eye-Catching Restaurant Websites

With world-class designers at the helm, Squarespace’s eye-catching templates are perfect for creating a stunning online presence for your restaurant. There are 15 templates dedicated to restaurants, but you can tweak any of Squarespace’s 160+ templates to suit your establishment. And all are perfectly optimized for mobile devices.

As far as customization goes, Squarespace is less flexible than Wix but more flexible than SITE123 and Webador. You can customize layouts by adding or moving features within a predefined grid. This is particularly beneficial if you’re not a professional designer since it prevents you from making a mess of your site’s design.

It’s important to note that Squarespace offers a 14-day trial, but you’ll need to choose a paid plan to continue using its services beyond that. But given all the specialized features and templates designed for restaurants, the paid plans offer a lot of value for the money.

Features

• Tock. Tock is Squarespace’s restaurant management tool. It allows you to manage your reservations, takeout and delivery orders, and more, all in one place. It also lets you take payments in-person and keeps all your orders in sync.
• Flexible checkout process. Squarespace allows you to tailor your checkout process with custom forms for various needs, such as gift messages or special delivery instructions. This customization ensures that your restaurant can provide personalized service and meet specific customer requests efficiently​​.
• Automatic search engine indexing. Not only is each Squarespace site automatically search engine-friendly, but you can also edit your page’s meta titles and descriptions. There’s a handy preview tool so you can see how your site will appear in search results and optimize it to appeal to potential customers.
• Integrated marketing. With Squarespace’s Unfold tool, you can craft social media campaigns using helpful templates for online posts. You can also add an email marketing add-on, or take advantage of strong contact management tools, which helps to engage new and returning customers​​.

For more details, read our in-depth Squarespace review.

5. IONOS: Empowering Restaurants With Advanced AI Support

CAPTION: Spice up how you showcase your daily specials with an IONOS template

IONOS has 25 website templates, including 3 for restaurants or cafés. Each template is fully functional and sports a modern, clean design. Given the small selection, it’s worth trying IONOS’ AI site generator, which can create a decent, custom site after you answer a few questions. Overall, there’s a limit to how much you can customize but you can still tweak the general layout, colors, and fonts.

For restaurants, IONOS rolls out some nifty features. Plans come with a restaurant menu widget that’s customizable and mobile-friendly. It lets you display images and price lists with ease. Plus, IONOS has a booking tool that can double as a reservations platform. You can even choose to require deposits for the reservations.

Although IONOS doesn’t offer a free plan, it’s quite wallet-friendly with very low introductory prices. You pay a promotional price for the first six months, so even though the price increases after that, the overall cost is still relatively low. Combined with the powerful business tools, this makes IONOS an affordable option for building your restaurant’s online presence.

Features

• Competitor tracking. IONOS will provide you with updates about your competitors’ search result rankings, social media activity, and online reviews. It’s a great way to stay one step ahead in the bustling restaurant scene.
• SEO help. Aside from being able to customize your pages’ meta titles and descriptions to fit search keywords, you can use an AI-powered SEO text generator to make that process easier. IONOS also comes with Google PageSpeed Insights, which analyzes your site’s performance.
• Image optimization. You know how we eat with our eyes first? IONOS automatically adjusts the size and quality of your site’s images to fit different devices. This way your site will always load quickly for hungry visitors while still looking good.
• 24/7 support. Running a restaurant can be an all day gig, so having support at any hour is a lifesaver. You can contact support via email, live chat, or phone. And beyond that, each IONOS account gets assigned a representative that can offer advice on optimizing their site and making the most of IONOS’ features.

See more in our IONOS review.

6. Shopify: Revolutionizing Restaurant Retail With E-commerce Integration

Shopify is unique on this list because it’s dedicated solely to commerce. Even though Shopify offers a wide range of features, it’s actually designed to be beginner friendly. The interface is simple to navigate, and the setup process is straightforward. It also has plenty of resources and support available to help you get started.

Shopify offers 92 themes specifically designed for restaurants, including 2 free options, plus about 10 more food and drink-related templates. But don’t let the cost deter you – the quality of these themes is top-notch. You can tweak the layout to your heart’s content, and beyond that, each template is extremely functional. Many come with promotional banners, in-menu promotions, quick-buy buttons, and more.

After the 3-day free trial period, you’ll need to choose a paid plan to continue using Shopify. However, Shopify heavily discounts your first month. The plan prices are on the higher side, but you have ample time to decide if they’re worth the cost. You can also consider Shopify Starter, which is $5.00 a month and lets you build a very simple store that allows you to sell on social media.

Features

• Point-of-sale (POS) systems. Shopify’s in-person POS systems include special hardware or a POS app on your phone. This solution lets you keep your physical and online presence in sync, and also provides custom staff permissions and detailed reporting.
• Custom discounts. You can create and offer your patrons any type of discount to encourage loyalty and attract new diners. You can also offer gift cards, which is a great way of expanding your customer base.
• Extensive app store. Shopify’s app store offers a vast selection of 8,000 tools to enhance your restaurant business. For example, you can find apps specifically designed to integrate your site with online ordering platforms like DoorDash or Grubhub, streamlining your take-out and delivery operations.
• Marketing tools. All major Shopify plans get access to a robust set of marketing tools. That includes email marketing, social media selling, and SEO – all of which are ideal for attracting more customers to your restaurant.

Check out our expert Shopify review for more selling features.

Go With One of These Best Free Website Builders for Restaurants

Each builder I’ve talked about lets you whip up a professional site for your restaurant, packed with features that’ll draw customers in. But the right pick really hinges on what you’re looking for.

Wix is the best builder for most restaurants overall, but definitely choose Wix if you prioritize personalization. With a powerful editor and dozens of food or restaurant templates, you’ve got plenty of freedom to make your restaurant stand out in a crowded field.

Alternatively, SITE123 is great for getting online quickly. It has a great mix of simplicity and power, with features like menu displays, reservation and event management, and more.

Lastly, Webador’s best for beginners. Its setup is a breeze, the site editor is one of the simplest around, and the paid plans are affordable if you want to upgrade from the free version.

FAQ

How much does it cost to make a website for a restaurant?

Creating a restaurant site can be free if you choose builders like Wix, Webador, or SITE123. These platforms offer a free plan with many useful features for restaurants. However, keep in mind that free plans come with limitations, such as ads on your site, a domain that uses the builder’s name, and a lack of e-commerce capabilities.

How can I design a menu for my restaurant?

It depends. Generally, most builders will let you upload and display documents like PDFs. With this method, you could create a menu in a word processor, then print it for your restaurant and also upload it to your site. Alternatively, you can create an online menu that’s part of your website’s design. For example, SITE123 provides tools for creating an online menu. In that case, it varies based on the editing interface.

Are there website builders that integrate with online ordering and delivery services?

Yes, in different ways. Some website builders that offer e-commerce can accommodate online food ordering. But integrating your site with delivery services will usually require a third-party app, so it depends on how extensive a site builder’s app market is. Shopify’s app store offers delivery integration tools, and so does Wix.

How can I ensure my restaurant’s website ranks well on search engines?

It’s a mixture of choosing a good website builder and managing some content on your end. In the very least, you should customize your page’s meta data to appeal to local eaters and keep an eye on analytics. Some builders make that easier. For example, Squarespace’s SEO tools let you visualize how your site’s meta data looks in search results.

For more info on how to get your restaurant to show up in search results, check out our guide to building a website in 2024.