The restaurant industry has transformed completely in a matter of days. In the absence of crowded dining rooms, eateries across the country and world have been testing creative ways to continue doing business. We at Resy have been inspired and humbled by the many innovative ways our restaurant partners are serving their customers outside of the dining room. From cocktail delivery to virtual tastings, below is a small sample of tactics you can draw inspiration from to generate revenue at your restaurant in a socially-distanced world.

Dear Restaurants,

We have been closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation with regards to COVID-19. As you take measures to ensure the wellbeing of your staff and guests, and continue providing hospitality in a time of huge uncertainty, know that Resy is here to support you. These are challenging times, and we are committed to standing by you during this time of crisis. We will be presenting guidance that we have aggregated across the industry. 

Everyone’s a critic. While in some markets it can still take a local food writer up to a month after your grand opening to publish a well-researched review in the newspaper, that’s no longer the case in many places. Today, guests have multiple avenues to provide feedback from the moment you open your doors.

As the Social Content Manager for Resy, I spend a lot of my time thinking about how I can best communicate who we are to diners all over the world through our social media posts. Before landing here, I spent several years working for public relations and social media agencies, finding the best copy, images, and videos to represent my restaurant clients. Although it can feel like the social platform landscape gets more crowded every day (I’m still learning TikTok), Instagram is still the best app to showcase the look and feel of your restaurant to potential diners. Because of Instagram’s visual-forward layout, it provides the most opportunity to open the curtain for local eaters to see the atmosphere and food in your restaurant. 

As you know, Valentine's Day is one of the biggest nights of the year for restaurants. Last year saw a new Valentine’s Day record spend of $20.7 billion, with 34% of that spent on an evening out. With a strong economy, and the holiday falling on a Friday this year, Valentine’s Day 2020 is likely to be another record-breaking year.