Night after night, your restaurant dishes out the best food any foodie would love to have. You’re happy and probably think that your customers feel the same way too. This is how most restaurateurs picture the scenario, after opening a restaurant in Dubai. Surely all diners on the lookout for a new eating joint will flock to your restaurant at least once, but will they return for a second time?

To answer that question, you need to broaden your horizons about attracting more customers. Having a good menu is just one part of the solution, but not all of it. This could even mean redecorating the restaurant interiors once every 3 – 5 years as per changing trends, to make your restaurant look more appealing to regular customers. You can consider these 4 ways to attract more customers to your restaurant:

1) Reach Out To Tourists: Every year, Dubai attracts close to 14 million visitors (Source: www.go-gulf.ae), most of them making use of tourist sites like TripAdvisor to find local attractions and food joints. Make it easier for them to find your restaurant by marketing your restaurant on these platforms. By doing so, they’re sure to visit your restaurant and recommend your restaurant to other tourists as well.

2) Host Events: Want to ensure your restaurant is lively and welcoming to potential diners? Start hosting events. If diners are on the lookout to celebrate special days like New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc. help them celebrate in your restaurant by hosting special themed parties or Live gigs. If your restaurant cannot accommodate such big events, aim for smaller events like private parties, birthdays, corporate lunches, etc. Another way to promote your restaurant is at food exhibitions where you can set up a stall or have your head chef host a cooking masterclass involving your restaurant’s signature dish.

3) Create Interactive Experiences: You can create interactive experiences in your restaurant to enhance the dining experience for your customers. Try out something like ‘make your own meal’ where you let diners customize and even cook their own food. You can maybe host a food tasting event before launching new items on your menu and create a buzz for the launch by inviting notable food bloggers, restaurant reviewers and notable chefs.

4) Offers And Promotions: Foodies love a good deal, when they can pay less and eat more. And they won’t pass off a good offer easily, especially when discounts or free food is involved. Tempt your diners with special offers on days or hours when your restaurant gets the least footfalls. This simple trick will help to increase footfalls into your restaurant and help boost your restaurant’s sales.
Remember, your potential customers spend most of their time on social media platforms, so make sure to target your promotions to them as well. Make use of promotions like a weekend brunch, happy hours, midnight buffet, buy 1 get 1 Free, etc. and reach out to them.

At Ribbon, we provide you with personalized consulting and management services, to help you create a profitable restaurant business in Dubai. Reach out to us at info@ribbon-me.com or give us a call on (971) 4360 5758.

Most restaurateurs, in order to attract more customers, modify their restaurant’s menu, look or feel. But in a saturated and competitive market, you need to think outside the box. Events, pop-up stands, food trucks, refurbishments, promotions – they have all been done before. So, what’s your ‘BIG IDEA’ that will help your restaurant business in Dubai stand out in the crowd and pull in more customers? Let us know…