Bad Eating house Reviews: How To Respond To Negative Guest Feedback

Online reviews are becoming the new word of rima oris. According to BrightLocal's 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey, 97 percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, including restaurants. That ways skilful reviews are basically gratuitous marketing for your restaurant, and responding to every review you receive shows how much care about your guests and their experience at your restaurant. But what well-nigh bad eating house reviews? How should you lot handle those?

It'southward inevitable that your restaurant volition receive a negative review at some point. What's important is knowing how to bargain with bad restaurant reviews, keeping hospitality and good customer service at the heart of your response to minimize the bear on bad reviews can accept on your concern.

Hither are the steps you can take to prepare, acquire from and avert bad restaurant reviews.

How to hear virtually bad eating house reviews ASAP

In guild to answer to and gear up bad reviews, you lot're going to need to hear almost them as soon as they go online. That ways you need to track bad restaurant reviews on Yelp, Google and other review sites, as well equally monitor other online chatter near your eating house.

Commencement by claiming your restaurant'southward listing on sites similar Google Maps, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Foursquare. This will allow you to monitor reviews as they're posted, so you hear whatever negative (or positive) feedback right away and can start working on a response immediately.

And so, set alerts on Google, Twitter and other sites so you lot'll be notified when people talk about your restaurant online (if you're not certain how to ready alerts, Build Book Buzz has a neat guide). This can help y'all catch any negative feedback that'due south posted to social media, outside of traditional review sites.

How to respond to bad restaurant reviews

Bad restaurant reviews are inevitable — somewhen, your eatery will receive ane. What matters is what you exercise side by side; how you handle the review can help determine how much of an impact it has on your time to come business.

When y'all see a bad review, at that place are some steps you should have to handle it the right way.

Pace i: Stay calm and don't overreact

1 of the worst things you can practice is to write an firsthand, emotional response to a bad review, so the start step is to hit suspension, take a deep jiff and know that information technology's non going to help to blitz into your response. Even the worst eating place reviews aren't the end of the world, so don't panic.

Step 2: Take your time planning your response, simply non too much time

Before responding to bad eatery reviews online, craft your response the erstwhile fashioned way: on paper. Write it out, and then accept a suspension from it and then you tin can come back subsequently with fresh optics. The idea is to accept your time so your response isn't reactive or overly emotional, but to notwithstanding reply speedily.

When crafting your response, you lot should do these three things:

  • Apologize to the invitee, and give thanks them for their honest feedback.

  • Let them know you'd similar to endeavour to gear up the problem.

  • Offer to go along the conversation offline (and away from the eyes of the public) past leaving a phone number or email address where they tin can achieve y'all direct.

Step iii: Fix the problem

Whatever the reviewer complained nearly, address it. If they thought the service was deadening, talk to your staff about how yous can cut down on wait times. If at that place was a fault with their food, brand sure the kitchen staff knows so that they can exist more careful not to repeat the mix-up.

Step iv: Offering a solution or incentive

If the reviewer follows up with you i-on-ane after y'all respond to their review, address their concerns and tell them how you're fixing things. Information technology'southward also a skillful practice to offer an incentive, like an appetizer or drinkable on the house, if they're willing to come up back and give your restaurant some other effort.

Step 5: Remember not all bad reviews are your mistake

Sometimes a guest only can't be pleased, or they're taking out a bad solar day on yous and your staff. Practise what you tin can to address bad eating place reviews and ready the problems they highlight, simply don't dwell on negativity if the guest won't let you fix the problem for them.

Lessons you tin learn from bad eatery reviews

After providing a quick response and solution to bad restaurant reviews, information technology's a skilful idea to take some time to reflect on them. Every bad review has the potential to teach you something most your eating house. Brand certain to record bad reviews somewhere, like a dedicated spreadsheet, along with ideas well-nigh how to address or solve them. Go over bad reviews in staff meetings and talk nearly them with your squad, as well as how y'all tin all work together to turn a bad review into a positive change at your eating place. Then check out the below examples of bad restaurant reviews, as well as the lessons you lot can learn from each of them.

Lesson 1: Improve your food

Sometimes a bad eating place review happens just because the food wasn't to a guest'due south taste. But if a review mentions a problem with a dish, like the above review that calls out oily grunter ears, it's worth looking into how that menu item is being prepared and whether any improvements can, or should exist made.

Lesson 2: Make your menu inclusive to all diets

Today'due south diners expect restaurants to exist able to cater to a variety of lifestyles (vegetarian, vegan, keto, paleo) and food sensitivities (dairy, gluten). If reviewers are upset about your restaurant's lack of options for people with certain dietary needs, recall of information technology as an opportunity to expand your offerings and then more guests — with more diverse dietary needs — have a place at your table.

Lesson iii: Adapt your prices

If just one bad restaurant review says your nutrient is overpriced, it'southward possible y'all had just a guest with tight handbag strings. But if you get-go to notice a theme where multiple reviewers are proverb your nutrient costs besides much or doesn't deliver value that matches the cost tag, it's not a bad thought to revisit your pricing. Even if yous don't want to outright lower prices, you tin offer more than to help your guests feel similar they're getting improve value, like bigger portion sizes or a costless bread basket.

Lesson four: Meliorate service

If you notice a pattern of bad restaurant reviews mentioning that your service is lacking, information technology might exist fourth dimension to investigate those complaints and implement measures to ameliorate service and hospitality. Whether information technology's because of wait times, poorly trained staff or a disorganized kitchen, get to the bottom of service complaints and fix them.

Lesson 5: Improve temper

Complaints about the decor, the music, the temperature or the lighting at your restaurant can all be clues that it'southward time to update your ambiance. If your guests aren't happy with the atmosphere, accept the necessary steps to right what they don't like and brand the dining feel more than pleasant for anybody who visits your eating place.

Lesson 6: Don't look for a bad review

Fifty-fifty good reviews can come up with constructive criticism, which is why it's a adept idea to continue tabs on everything that's being said virtually your restaurant online — the bad and the expert.

You should besides effort to see your restaurant through a reviewer'due south eyes. Separate yourself from your love for the business, and come across the feel, atmosphere, food and service every bit objectively as possible. Endeavour to anticipate anything guests may complain about, and address those issues before a bad review is even written. By being proactive instead of reactive, you may be able to avoid some bad restaurant reviews altogether.

Combat bad restaurant reviews with proficient ones

It's hard for a potential guest to focus on a bad review or 2 when at that place are hundreds or thousands of glowing reviews to combat the negatives.

Talk to guests when they're in your restaurant, and if they've had a great experience, encourage them to get out you a good review. Include links to your social media and review site pages on receipts and menus. Offer tablets where guests can exit positive reviews before they fifty-fifty leave the restaurant, while the good experience is still fresh in their heed. Inquire for reviews from loyal guests and regulars — there's a reason they go on coming back, and odds are expert they'll want to share that with other people.

Love them or hate them, online reviews are a major part of running a restaurant in 2019. Existence able to properly respond to bad restaurant reviews will give y'all a huge advantage over restaurants that don't take a strategy in place to bargain with inevitable negative experiences. Remember to stay calm and use bad restaurant reviews as an opportunity to better your eatery, and you'll weather the bad-review storm without any problems.

Lauren Sulek Headshot

Lauren Sulek
Business Evolution Rep
ChefHero