Ways to advertise
Advertise in Local Restaurants
Advertise in local restaurants when the people you want are the ones eating out a few miles from your shop or office. Restaurants are one of the few places neighbors sit still for half an hour or more. The question is whether that beats a gym, a grocery store, or a waiting room for your business.
Restaurants Next to Other Places a Local Ad Can Go
Most local businesses have a short list of in-person venues: grocery stores, gyms, salons, doctor's waiting rooms, and restaurants. Each one catches people in a different mood.
Grocery shoppers are moving and focused on a list. Gym members are mid-workout. Waiting rooms are calm but small. Restaurants combine a calm, seated moment with a steady stream of locals, many of them regulars at the same spot every week.
- Grocery stores: high traffic, short attention
- Gyms: loyal members, distracted moments
- Restaurants: seated locals, repeat visits, time to read
The Lunch Crowd vs. the Dinner Crowd
A restaurant's audience changes by the hour. Weekday lunch skews toward people who work nearby: office staff, trades between jobs, and medical workers on break. Weekend breakfast and weeknight dinner skew toward families who live nearby.
That matters when you pick restaurants. A personal injury lawyer or tax preparer may want the lunch counters near office parks. A tutoring center or pediatric dentist may want the family dinner places off residential streets.
Why Restaurant Owners Say Yes
Owners don't want clutter or ads that compete with their food. Our model gives them free napkin dispensers and a starter supply of napkins with no contract, approval over every advertiser, and a rule that no food, drink, or delivery business ever advertises at their tables.
That's why the ads that do appear are local services, one per category, which keeps the table from feeling like a billboard. It also means your card isn't fighting a coupon for the burger place down the street.
When a Restaurant Is the Wrong Venue
If your business is itself a restaurant, a food brand, or a bar, we can't place your ad. The same goes for alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, political, and adult ads.
And if your customers come from across the county rather than a few nearby neighborhoods, a citywide channel may fit better. Restaurant ads work when distance matters to the customer.
From first call to your card on the table
- 1
Tell us where your customers are
Call or send the short form with your business address or the zip codes you serve. We reply within one business day with the restaurants near you that have an open spot in your category.
- 2
Pick your restaurants and a plan
Choose one restaurant, a cluster of five, or fifteen across an area. One advertiser per category per restaurant, so once you take the dentist spot at a restaurant, no other dentist can.
- 3
Approve your card
Send a logo, an offer and a phone number or QR code. We design the card, send a proof, and print it on heavy stock once you approve. You can also send a print-ready file.
- 4
Your ad goes on every table
We install your card in every dispenser at your restaurants on the next route visit, then check it on regular visits and send you photos.
- 5
Track and adjust
Use a code, a tracking number or a QR link that appears only on the napkin card. Swap the offer with the season. Add restaurants in areas that respond.
Flat monthly plans
Design, printing, installation and route visits are included in every plan.
Single Spot
$149/mo
1 restaurant
Your card in every dispenser at one restaurant you pick.
- Every dispenser in one restaurant
- Free ad design, proof and printing
- Category exclusivity at that restaurant
- Route visits with photo check-ins
Neighborhood
$499/mo
5 restaurants · about $100 per restaurant
Five restaurants clustered around your business or service area.
- Every dispenser in 5 restaurants
- Free ad design, proof and printing
- One free design change per quarter
- Category exclusivity at each restaurant
- Route visits with photo check-ins
Area Takeover
$1,199/mo
15 restaurants · about $80 per restaurant
Fifteen restaurants across the zip codes you serve.
- Every dispenser in 15 restaurants
- Free ad design, proof and printing
- Monthly design changes
- Category exclusivity at each restaurant
- First pick of new restaurants in your area
3-month minimum term, then month to month. Multi-area and multi-location campaigns: call (818) 383-6869.
Questions we get
How much does it cost to advertise in local restaurants?
Our plans are a flat monthly fee by number of restaurants, with a minimum term: one, five, or fifteen restaurants. Design, printing, installation, and check-ins are included. Prices are not final, so see the pricing page for current numbers.
Can I choose which restaurants carry my ad?
Yes. You pick from the restaurants in our network near your business. The owner approves each advertiser, and only one business per category appears at each restaurant, so you won't share the table with a direct competitor.
What kinds of businesses advertise in restaurants?
Local service businesses that are not food related: dentists, realtors, plumbers, HVAC companies, insurance agents, tutors, gyms, salons, and similar. We never place ads for restaurants, food brands, delivery apps, or beverages.
Is restaurant advertising better than grocery store ads?
Neither is better in general. Grocery ads reach shoppers who are standing and moving. Restaurant ads reach diners who are seated with time to read. Pick the venue where your customers spend unhurried time, and track each with its own code.
Open spots
See which restaurants near you are open in your category
One advertiser per category per restaurant. We reply within one business day with what's open.