This is it. You’ve spent months or even years thinking about your theme, your menu, finding a space, and picking out a name for your restaurant. Now, you need to make sure your restaurant’s grand opening is all sizzle and no fizzle.
A lot hinges on your grand opening. People will form their first impression, many will flock to Google and post reviews, and social media could wind up buzzing with positive news of the hot new flavors in town. Or things could go awry and result in disaster and salty reviews.
But fear not. With these restaurant grand opening ideas and a little secret sauce, you can become the new restaurant destination in town.
Contents
- Partner with a local sports team
- Run a social media campaign
- Host a gift card drawing
- Tie your opening to a local charity or cause
- Hire a band or entertainment
- Pack the place with employee families
- Run a boots on the ground promotion campaign
- Create a food challenge for opening night
- Get local influencers talking ahead of time
- Hand out opening-night goodies
- Sponsor a local group or team
- Give away food
- Host a soft opening ahead of time
13 restaurant grand opening ideas guests will eat up
Ready to start promoting your new restaurant? Here are some restaurant grand opening ideas you can work into your restaurant’s business plan that will have you hitting max capacity on night one.
🌱 Make a game plan to grow your restaurant’s presence fast with our free, easy-to-use growth strategy template!
1. Partner with a local sports team
Your area likely has some local sports teams, whether through the schools or a minor league. Reach out to local athletic teams and see if any of them are interested in partnering up to host a giveaway or discount.
There are a few ways you can approach pitching a partnership to local athletic teams:
- Decide that every goal, or number of goals, equals a percentage off for that weekend.
- Offer co-branded merchandise exclusive to the sporting event and your grand opening.
- Create a menu full of special tailgate food bundles for select sporting events.
Get creative and have fun with it. If you keep striking out and can’t find a team willing to partner before your grand opening, don’t lose hope either. You can always partner up with one once your restaurant is more established.
2. Run a social media campaign
Social media marketing is always a great idea ahead of your restaurant’s grand opening. Host a countdown the week before the opening, and consider sharing sneak peeks of menu items.
It’s also a good idea to get your social profiles up and running well ahead of launch. You can start building a following by sharing an introduction post, pictures of your restaurant as it’s put together, menu teasers, and so on. Let your followers feel like they’re a part of something special!
3. Host a gift card drawing
Host a gift card drawing ahead of opening night or even during your opening night. This can take place at your restaurant or in another location.
For example, you could set up a booth ahead of time at your local farmer’s market. From there, you can promote your restaurant while also hosting a gift card drawing. People can write their name and contact info on a card and enter for a chance to win a gift card for your restaurant.
Bonus points if you collect their email for the entry, as this gives you a nice head start on your email list for marketing efforts down the road. But, remember not to spam your mailing list. Also, a birthday club that gives your subscribers a free dessert or the like is a nice way to show you appreciate your community!
💡 Learn how to generate buzz for your restaurant’s big day with our free definitive guide to brand awareness!
4. Tie your opening to a local charity or cause
Whether you’re new to town or well established, as a new business building trust and goodwill with the community is huge. Partnering with a local charity or cause is a great way to do this.
Partner with a local charity or group and donate a percentage of grand opening sales to them. Make it known that you’ll be doing this—post on social media and share flyers that let others know their meal will help serve a greater purpose.
The timing may not coincide with the grand opening of your restaurant, but you can also take part in a larger restaurant-based fundraiser. For example, many restaurants partnered up for the Dallas and Fort Worth Restaurant Week in Texas.
Consider having a vote ahead of time to get a sense of what group or cause people in the community are passionate about. This can help steer you in the right direction and give people a chance to feel engaged with your restaurant ahead of time.
5. Hire a band or entertainment
Open your restaurant with a giant exclamation point and hire a live band or other form of entertainment to make things extra festive. Advertise that live entertainment will be present at your grand opening as well, including details on flyers and social media posts.
A word of warning: Make sure it’s understood there won’t always be live entertainment at your restaurant (unless, of course, there will be). You don’t want to set expectations you can’t always meet and have disappointed diners upset that there isn’t music every day.
6. Pack the place with employee families
Working in a restaurant is no walk in the park. Show your staff you appreciate them by having them bring their friends and families to your restaurant’s grand opening.
Not only does this show you appreciate your staff, but it will also give your dining room a nice boost and ensure there are at least some people present.
7. Run a boots-on-the-ground promotion campaign
Get out in the community and hand out or hang flyers to promote the grand opening ahead of time. Sure, online promotions are great. But, for people not plugged in or already following you, flyers can help you expand your reach even further.
Make sure you ask for permission before hanging flyers of course. Also, be sure to ask neighboring local businesses if they’d like to have flyers inside. It’s not uncommon for businesses to have stacks of flyers and/or business cards at their counter, and yours could be right on top.
8. Create a food challenge for opening night
People love food challenges, whether it’s eating something ridiculously hot or absurdly massive.
Think of a challenge that ties into the theme or menu of your restaurant. Then, run an opening-night-only challenge with an exclusive prize—like a shirt, trophy, plaque on the wall, etc.
Make sure you get consent from participants and then capture the event. Photos and videos make great fodder for social media posts and can help promote your restaurant after the fact. Plus, if you’re lucky, an opening-night challenge could attract the press and result in some news coverage.
9. Get local influencers talking ahead of time
Contact local bloggers, food critics, and other influencers ahead of time to get them talking about your restaurant. If you have a cold open, invite them so they can share their opinions of your food beforehand.
Make sure you do a little homework ahead of time as well. If a food critic is notorious for hating a certain type of food, and you’re building your foundation on that type of food, you likely don’t want them reviewing your restaurant right away.
Note: There is of course the risk that things go poorly and influencers only help amplify negative reviews or feedback. If you have any reservations about this idea, don’t do it, or run a limited menu at first and make sure your dishes are ready for showtime.
10. Hand out opening-night goodies
People love exclusive stuff. Give out exclusive goodies on opening night, like branded koozies. If you can afford a designer, professionally designed can help your goodies pop. If you don’t have the marketing budget for a fully designed line of goodies, don’t worry. You could instead use a free or low-cost design tool, like Canva, to format your small business logo for items you could customize and order online.
11. Sponsor a local group or team
While athletic partnerships aren’t always feasible as teams may be leery about partnering with a new business, sponsorships can be a lot more doable. Sponsoring a local team or recreational sports group is a nice way to build your brand’s community while also amplifying your restaurant’s grand opening.
Your town likely has some little league teams. If it’s within your budget, sponsor them to secure a promotional spot for your restaurant’s grand opening at one of their games.
As an added bonus, consider making an appearance at a game ahead of your grand opening. This is a great opportunity to hand out flyers, generate buzz, and get taste buds tingling with some free samples of select menu items.
🚨 Looking for more ways to promote your new restaurant? Download our free guide to 37 ways to promote your business (with or without money)!
12. Give away food
It’s not the cheapest tactic, but you can always give away free appetizers or the like during opening night.
If there’s a particular item you’re really proud of, make that the free food item. Does your restaurant do unique queso or mozzarella sticks? Offer free samplers that day!
To reduce the cost, consider offering free food during non-peak hours or limiting the typical portion size to only offer a small taste or bite of your dish. This will lower the chances of giving away a ton of food, and help bring people in during hours you’d normally be fairly quiet.
And of course, don’t forget to advertise the free appetizer before the grand opening.
13. Host a soft opening ahead of time
Last but certainly not least, don’t neglect the importance of a soft opening for your restaurant consisting of a select invited group. This gives you a chance to see whether people like the food, or if there are certain workflow issues with your kitchen or dining room, etc.
This restaurant grand opening idea allows you to have some sense of control, while still testing the waters before the big day.
A soft opening also gives you a chance to take pictures of your restaurant, full of people (hopefully) enjoying your food. If the reception to your restaurant is positive, sharing these pictures and details about the soft launch on social media can help generate some hype ahead of time.
Satisfying taste buds well after your restaurant grand opening
Your restaurant’s grand opening is a big day, but it’s important to keep the promotion and marketing efforts coming well past this moment. Momentum goes a long way. After your victorious grand opening, keep on moving — send promotional emails, post on social media, manage your local listings, run search ads, host fun events at your restaurant, and get creative.
There’s no getting around how time-consuming it is to run a restaurant, however, you don’t have to get your marketing off the ground all on your own. See how our solutions can help your restaurant in front of the right people and make every week feel like a grand opening.
