What Should a Restaurant Actually Put in Its Newsletter?

Your restaurant newsletter content starts with a decision: what would give a previous guest a worthwhile reason to hear from you today? A dish returning to the menu, a simpler way to organise a family meal or a useful update about an upcoming event all offer a starting point.

The difficulty is choosing. You have Sunday lunch, gift vouchers, a new starter and private dining to mention. Include everything at equal length and the email becomes a list of announcements. Choose a lead story and the reader has something specific to consider.

You do not need a major launch for every send. You need relevant information, enough detail to make the visit feel appealing and an obvious route to booking, ordering or finding out more.

Choose restaurant newsletter content around the next visit

Before opening your email editor, choose the occasion you want to encourage. This might be a relaxed midweek dinner, a birthday meal, a lunch break or an evening built around a local event.

Then identify the information a guest needs to make the decision. For a weekday lunch, speed, price and serving times matter. For a celebration, readers need group sizes, menu options and a clear enquiry route. Your restaurant's internal news earns space when the news helps a guest choose.

For example, a new supplier is an internal update. Explaining how their mushrooms feature in a seasonal risotto gives the customer a dish to consider. Add the serving days and a current menu link, and the story becomes useful.

Use a repeatable layout with room for one lead story

Start with this structure as an editorial working format. Adjust the length to the amount of useful information available.

• A short personal introduction. Two or three sentences from the owner or team, introducing the reason for this email.
• One lead story. A dish, occasion, event or service update, supported by a genuine photo where useful.
• One smaller supporting item. A relevant reminder or practical detail, kept brief.
• One main action. A clearly labelled booking, menu, ordering or enquiry link.

A starting range of roughly 250 to 400 words is an editing target, rather than a proven ideal. A tasting evening needs more explanation than a reminder about Sunday lunch. Remove repetition before removing information a guest needs.

Secondary links are useful when they support the decision. A menu link beside a booking button makes sense. A row of equally prominent buttons for vouchers, social accounts, delivery, events and private hire leaves the reader with more decisions.

Six topics worth keeping in your content plan

1. A specific dish and the reason to try

Choose one dish rather than reproducing the entire menu. Describe the ingredients, preparation or accompaniment in plain language. Use your own photograph and confirm availability with the kitchen before sending.

For a fictional example, “Roast squash, sage butter and toasted hazelnuts are on our lunch menu from Thursday” gives readers more to consider than “Our new menu has arrived”. Include the price when relevant to the decision and link to the current menu.

2. An occasion your guests are already planning

Connect your restaurant to a real customer need: a meal before the theatre, a family lunch after a walk or a gathering for colleagues. Explain serving times, booking arrangements and any relevant restrictions.

Keep the connection accurate. If a local show finishes after your kitchen closes, promote a pre-show meal. Avoid suggesting a convenient visit your service hours do not support.

3. Useful answers to booking questions

Turn a recurring customer question into a short item. Explain how to enquire about a group meal, where to find parking information or which days your lunch menu runs. Link directly to the relevant details.

This material is particularly useful when guests have shown interest but still need practical reassurance. Ask your front-of-house team which questions came up during the last few services.

4. A brief story from the kitchen or dining room

Introduce the person behind a dish, explain a menu change or share a preparation detail. Keep the story connected to the dining experience. A chef explaining why a sauce takes two days to prepare has more relevance than a staff biography with no link to the food.

Give the reader one concrete detail. Long accounts of your dedication and passion take space without helping anyone decide what to order.

5. An event with enough detail to assess

For a tasting night or special menu, state the date, start time, price, inclusions and booking method. Explain deposit or cancellation terms where relevant, and provide a route for dietary questions.

Use genuine deadlines or capacity limits. Check availability immediately before sending. A clear invitation does not need invented scarcity.

6. A small extra for subscribers

Offer early booking access, a short recipe, serving advice or first notice of a returning favourite. Choose something your team has the capacity to deliver consistently.

A price promotion belongs here when the commercial case supports one. Check the contribution after food costs, extra labour and the incentive. Avoid filling an already busy service with discounted bookings when full-price demand is available.

Plan four issues before writing the first

Use this sequence for your next four sends. These are hypothetical planning examples, with details to replace using your own menu and service arrangements.

1. Issue one: a seasonal dish. Lead with a genuine food photo and a short description. Add the days available. Main action: view the seasonal menu.
2. Issue two: an easy midweek meal. Explain a suitable dining occasion and your actual service times. Add one useful booking detail. Main action: book a midweek table.
3. Issue three: a kitchen story. Show a preparation detail behind an existing favourite. Add a brief reminder about when guests are able to order the dish. Main action: view the menu.
4. Issue four: an upcoming occasion. Give the practical details for a real event or group dining opportunity. Main action: reserve a place or make an enquiry.

Treat this as a rotation of customer reasons to visit. Change the order when your business needs change. A menu launch or approaching booking deadline deserves priority over a rigid calendar.

For guidance on when to send a quieter-service invitation, read when restaurants should email customers about midweek offers. Keep timing decisions separate from choosing what this particular email needs to say.

A worked restaurant newsletter example

The following is a fictional example for a neighbourhood restaurant. The menu, price, serving times and booking arrangements are illustrative, rather than a live offer.

Subject: Your Thursday supper, sorted
Pre-header: Roast squash risotto is joining our evening menu.

Hello from the team,

Our roast squash risotto joins the menu this Thursday. We finish each bowl with sage butter, toasted hazelnuts and aged cheese, and serve the dish throughout our Thursday evening service.

If you are planning an easy meal after work, our kitchen opens at 5.30pm, with last food orders at 8.30pm. The risotto is £18, and the full evening menu is available through our website.

Coming with friends? Our online booking page accepts tables of up to six. For a larger group or a dietary question, reply to this email and our team will help you plan your visit.

Book a Thursday table

Thanks,
Anna and the team

The email gives the food a clear introduction, sets out practical details and names the next action. In a real send, link the booking text directly to the booking page. Keep your normal sender details and unsubscribe footer.

Edit for the guest reading on a phone

Preview the email on your own phone before sending. The subject line should name the main reason to open. The pre-header should add useful detail rather than repeat the subject.

Use short paragraphs, a legible type size and a clear button label. Keep essential information in readable text rather than embedding everything inside a poster image. Check the meal, price, dates and opening hours against the destination page.

Send a test email and follow every link. A compelling invitation loses value when the button leads to an old menu or a booking page showing a different offer.

Record what the content produced

For each issue, note the lead topic, audience, main link and intended outcome. Review clicks alongside completed bookings, orders or genuine enquiries where your systems support attribution. Ask staff to record relevant customer mentions too, recognising these will be incomplete.

Open rates alone are an unreliable measure of readership. Mailchimp explains how Apple Mail Privacy Protection limits open measurement. Automated security checks also affect click reporting, so use your platform's filtering where available and compare engagement with actual customer actions.

Before your next send, choose one real reason to visit. Write the lead story, add one useful supporting detail and test the route to the main action. Save three unused ideas for later issues.

Products / Tools / Resources

• MailerLite's restaurant and café email guide: examples of content topics to use when your next issue needs a starting point.
• Mailchimp's bot activity guidance: explains why automated activity affects campaign reports and how its filtering works.
• Why Every Restaurant Should Build an Email List: supporting guidance if collecting subscribers is still your main obstacle.
• Your existing email platform and booking reports: use a saved layout and a simple issue log to connect content choices with recorded customer actions before adding more software.

Restaurant Owner Resource