Guide
Is a Facebook Page enough for your restaurant?
By Joel Marie Riego de Dios · · 4 min read
In short
A well-kept Facebook Page beats a neglected website. A site earns its place when your menu has to be readable on a phone, findable on Google, and yours to keep. Four things matter: the menu as real text, your hours, an address that opens Maps, and a number that dials when tapped.
Most restaurants in the Philippines run entirely on a Facebook Page, and for a lot of them that genuinely works. Before spending anything on a website, it is worth being honest about what a website adds that a Page does not.
What a Page already does well
A Page handles the things a restaurant needs most often. People message you to ask if you are open. You post today's specials and regulars see them. Reviews accumulate. Someone tags you in a photo and their friends find you. None of that needs a website, and a website will not replace it.
If you are choosing between maintaining a Page well and having a neglected website, keep the Page.
What a Page cannot do
Three things, and they are the whole argument.
Your menu is not readable. The most common way a Philippine restaurant publishes a menu is a photo of a printed one, or a PDF. On a phone, both mean pinching and dragging around an image to find whether you serve something. A menu that is actual text reflows to the screen, can be searched, and can be read aloud by a screen reader. It also means Google can read your dishes, which is how you turn up when someone nearby searches for the thing you make.
Nobody decides what your customers see except you. A Page post reaches a fraction of the people who follow you, and which fraction is not your call. A website has no algorithm in the middle.
You do not own it. A disabled Page takes the menu, the hours, the photos and the reviews with it. This is uncommon, and it is unrecoverable when it happens.
The four things yours must get right
Everything else is optional. These are not.
- The menu, as text. Prices included. If prices change often, that is an argument for text rather than against it: editing a line is faster than redesigning an image.
- Hours, including which days you are closed. The single most searched thing about a restaurant. Put it where it is visible without scrolling.
- The address as a link that opens Maps. Not an image of a map. Someone reading on a phone should be one tap from directions.
- A phone number that dials when tapped. Most reservations in this country still happen by call or by Messenger, not through a booking form.
That is the whole requirement. A restaurant site that does those four things well beats one with a reservation system nobody finishes.
What you probably do not need
Online ordering. If you are on GrabFood or Foodpanda, they handle the payment, the rider and the disputes, and they already have the customer. Building your own ordering flow means handling all three yourself to save a commission you may not be losing much to yet.
An app. People will not install an app for one restaurant.
A blog. Unless you actually want to write one, which is a different decision.
What it costs
The website itself can be a one-off. Hosting a site like this is free on Cloudflare Pages or Netlify, genuinely, with no trial that expires. A .ph domain is the recurring cost, usually a few hundred pesos a year, and you can start on a free subdomain and add one later.
The number worth watching is not the build cost. It is whether anyone updates the menu six months from now. A site you can edit by changing a line of text gets updated. One that needs the person who built it does not.
Common questions
Do I need a website if my restaurant is already on Facebook?
Not necessarily. A well-kept Page beats a neglected website, and a Page handles messages, specials and reviews better than most restaurant sites do. A website earns its place when you need a menu people can actually read on a phone, want to be found by someone searching for a dish rather than a name, or want the menu and hours to survive the Page being disabled.
What does a restaurant website cost in the Philippines?
Hosting a static site is free on Cloudflare Pages or Netlify, with no trial that expires. The recurring cost is the domain, usually a few hundred pesos a year for a .ph. You can start on a free subdomain and add one later. The build itself is a one-off.
Should I put my menu online as a PDF?
No. A PDF or a photo of a printed menu means pinching and dragging on a phone, cannot be read aloud by a screen reader, and cannot be read by Google, so you do not appear when somebody nearby searches for the dish you make. A menu as real text solves all three and is faster to edit when a price changes.
Do I need online ordering on my own site?
Usually not, if you are on GrabFood or Foodpanda. They handle the payment, the rider and the disputes, and they already have the customer. Building your own ordering flow means taking on all three to save a commission you may not be losing much to yet.