5 steps to sizzling summer restaurant marketing

Skip the article and turn takeaways into action by scheduling a call with our team.

Summer, for many people, means getting outside, getting social, and getting into good grub. For restaurants, this means a major opportunity to make a splash with new customers and regulars alike—and options abound when it comes to attracting eyeballs. Summer restaurant marketing capitalizes on the increased flow of foot traffic and tourists to build buzz and increase market share.

Tying in with local events, dolling up your outdoor area, and revamping your menu for the summer are all vital ways to draw that summer crowd. Keeping up with trends and boosting your visibility with tech tools are next-level steps that keep a restaurant ahead of the curve. So, let’s take a look at actionable strategies for summer restaurant marketing that’ll keep customers coming back.

1. Tie in with local events

The summer months buzz with all kinds of events: festivals, county fairs, markets, and more. Keeping track of local events and tying your restaurant to them boosts your visibility and will help draw in new customers and tourists while giving your regular customers ample reason to continue to visit. So, how to make the most of the busy summer season?

• Participate in local festivals. Set up a booth at food festivals, music festivals, or any other large gathering in your area. This gives you an opportunity to showcase your signature menu items and promote your brand as a cornerstone of the community.
• Sponsor your community. Sponsoring a local sports team or charity—with your logo on banners and uniforms—creates a built-in audience and gets your name out there. Provide discounts for the team you sponsor to make your spot the go-to for post-game festivities.
• Cross-promote with local businesses. Partner with local breweries, gyms, bakeries, florists—whoever’s in your circle, really—to cross-promote your businesses. For example, team up with a local brewery for Father’s Day specials or promote your healthy menu items at the local gym, offering discounts on each end of the partnership.
• Host themed events. The Fourth of July can be a big day for business, especially if there are fireworks in your area and you have a good view. Look for other big days to celebrate—for example, if your restaurant has any French influence, make Bastille Day special.
• Promote your event tie-ins on social media. Many customers are looking for a special place to make their own for events—get the word out early and often to spread brand awareness across multiple social media platforms using photos and short-form video.

2. Promote your outdoor area

Warm weather means it’s the perfect time to capitalize on outdoor socializing. Offering customers outdoor dining and outdoor events can draw in customers and make the most of your patio area. Some ideas:

• Offer a sunset happy hour for your outdoor space or rooftop. Draw in a crowd early with drink and appetizer special offers, and create drinks that are refreshing and summery. A classic margarita never goes wrong, nor does sangria—but get creative with recipes and see what sticks.
• Get that outdoor vibe going. Transform your patio or outdoor dining area into a cool, fun spot with string lights, comfy seating, shade options, and pet-friendly areas. If you’re in a scorching-hot area like Texas or Arizona, offer outdoor cooling options like evaporative coolers to keep customers from melting or diving inside for air conditioning.
• Host outdoor summer events. Live music with local bands can be a big hit, but they’re not the only option. Game nights, trivia, movie nights, or even fitness classes like yoga can attract customers all throughout the summertime. Interactive events like grilling classes can also attract potential customers looking to up their spatula game. Kids’ nights with outdoor games and balloon animal artists can be popular with families.
• Offer unique takeout options. Creating fun takeaway options, like picnic baskets with summery menu items like sandwiches, fruit, and refreshing drinks like mocktails can be perfect for customers looking to eat somewhere like a local park.

3. Mix and match menu-based marketing ideas

Summer menus should highlight the flavors of the season. Light, fresh, seasonal ingredients and grilled foods are perennially popular, so lean into what already works…and tap into current food trends as well. With that in mind, what kind of marketing strategies make the most impact?

• Capture beautiful photos and videos and caption them. Pay special attention to plating, lighting, and garnishes for the wow factor. Use vivid menu descriptions, e.g., “Chilled cucumber gazpacho with garden-fresh mint, local goat cheese, and a drizzle of Spanish olive oil” to evoke the senses. Share behind-the-scenes stories of your chefs making dishes or share how you source your ingredients.
• Promote limited-time offers. Create urgency with limited-time offers based on trends, like Hawaiian BBQ Weekend or Gourmet Taco Tuesday to draw customers and tap into the fear of missing out.
• Highlight cool beverages. Refreshing drinks ranging from uniquely flavored iced teas and lemonades to creative cocktails are always popular in the summer. New flavors give customers a good excuse to visit your establishment.
• Introduce seasonal dishes. Summery favorites like zucchini, summer squash, peaches, watermelons, and a range of grilled dishes give your customer base a nudge to dive into summer flavors. Include light dishes like salads, ceviche, and grilled seafood.
• Brush up on brunch. Adding or revamping a brunch menu can boost business throughout the day, especially on weekends and during summer holidays. New menu items for brunch can create buzz.
• Team up with influencers. Working with local influencers to spread the word on Instagram and TikTok can provide a substantial boost to visibility. Some 20% of restaurant customers look to influencers for restaurant recommendations.
• Highlight flights. One of the big trends for 2025 is tasting flights, all the way from egg and pasta flights to coffee flights—and, of course, wine. Highlight the different tastes customers can share with their friends to promote the social vibe of your spot.
• Tap into trends. Check out the food trends for 2025 and adjust accordingly. For example, could you make a fast-food-style combo that would intrigue your customers?

4. Align with local events and tourist behavior

Summer brings everyone out. Tourists and locals alike flock to events, parks, beaches, and really any attraction around—whatever’s a good reason to get out of the house. It behooves restaurant owners to tailor their restaurant marketing to outward-bound customers’ expectations.

• Target tourists. Marketing to tourists is a must in the summer. Make sure your online visibility is maxed out on platforms like Yelp and via local restaurant SEO. Team up with local businesses, especially hotels and tour companies, with promotions like, “Show your hotel keycard for a 10% discount.” Put up flyers at tourist attractions with QR codes that link customers to your business.
• Tap into local event calendars. Promote specials tied to nearby events, like a post-concert happy hour or a pre-game burger special if you’re near a sports arena like a baseball stadium.
• Remember families and kiddos. Families are active during the summer, and parents love the idea of their kid doing something that’s not screen-based. Offer kid-friendly menus, kid-friendly restaurant events or entertainment like cooking classes or face painting, or even “kids eat free” nights to attract parents.
• Use geo-targeted ads. Geo-targeted ads on social media can be powerful tools to reach customers who might otherwise never have heard of you. Share your summer menu and events far and wide!

5. Boost visibility with Yelp

Yelp is a powerful tool for restaurants to attract summer diners. It can be especially powerful for tourists and locals researching nearby options—i.e., new potential customers. At the same time, Yelp Guest Manager works to improve the dining experience and boosts customer loyalty with top-notch front-of-house support and valuable marketing tools. Some strategies to make the most of Yelp:

• Update your Yelp profile. Verify that your business page includes your current hours, summer menu highlights, and high-quality photos of outdoor seating and seasonal dishes. Add attributes like “outdoor seating” or “summer specials” to attract searchers.
• Promote summer events. Use Yelp’s event feature to promote live music nights, pop-up stalls, or festival appearances. This will help users browsing local goings-on to find you.
• Monitor metrics. Track profile views, check-ins, and review volume to gauge your visibility on Yelp.
• Combine Guest Manager and Yelp Ads. Restaurants that use Yelp Guest Manager and Yelp Ads experience up to a 17% monthly lift in diner bookings through Yelp.
• Share your booking links on social media. Yelp Guest Manager users can share unique booking links across all social media posts that take customers directly to the reservation page—no friction at all.
• Share your best message via Yelp Connect. Yelp has a massive audience in the US: It reaches 8x more consumers online than OpenTable.
• Respond to reviews. Customers regularly read reviews—so show them your human side by responding to all reviews, positive and negative.

Yelp and Yelp Guest Manager are a dream team for restaurants looking to increase their visibility. Guest Manager helps both with acquiring customers and with keeping them well-served and happy. When new customers become regulars, a business starts to win. That’s what we’re all here for.

Want to see what a full-service front-of-house platform looks like? Curious what the best reservation and waitlist platform out there can do for you? Give us a shout for a free demo. We’re looking forward to restaurants doing well in the summer—especially yours.