Modern-day eating establishments, be it restaurants, cafes, hotels, or takeaways, face massive competition due to the availability of options to customers as far as dining is concerned. 

So how does a restaurant stand out among its customers? One of the ways for restaurants to get to know their customers better is to understand their psychology, culinary preferences, and dislikes. The more specific any establishment goes into understanding its guests, the higher its chances of getting the right results. 

A properly crafted and well-thought customer survey with limited but specific questions can do wonders for restaurants in understanding customers.

Learn more: No more empty tables in 2024 – Proven strategies to minimize restaurant no-shows

How does a customer survey benefit a restaurant?

There are innumerable benefits a restaurant can get from a customer survey, starting from candid reviews, assistance in knowing the customer well, finding out what they like about the service, and collection of data for strategic purposes. 

Customers eating at a restaurant don’t want to waste time on a survey that asks boring and irrelevant questions. Thereby, it’s the restaurant’s prerogative to make customers take the survey through personal interaction or innovative and attractive methods. 

Even when it comes to online surveys, the attention span of a modern-day customer is minimal considering the number of notifications he/she gets on mobile phones. That's why it is important for the restaurant to reduce the number of questions.

Learn more: Mastering restaurant etiquette for staff: The ultimate guide to unlocking guest loyalty

10 ideal questions for a restaurant guest survey

Digital surveys are normally ratings-based, however, there are many instances when surveys need to be more in-depth especially when a restaurant has run special calendar events like Mother's Day, Christmas, or New Year celebrations. Here are some of the additional questions that restaurants can include in their ratings-based survey questions.

1. Did you enjoy the meal?

This may be a simple question but at the crux of this answer lies the biggest tool for customer retention. If a customer enjoys the meal, the chances of them returning are higher. 

2. How would you rate the quality of our food? 

In this question, the option of a scale or range (1 to 5 or Poor to Excellent) can be given to customers. Leaving an additional but optional space for comments will always help and might prompt a client to give honest reviews. 

3. Were you happy with the variety of our menu?

Menus go a long way in determining the range and variety of customers visiting a restaurant. Customers liking menus automatically translates into higher sales and valuable feedback can help a company in unimaginable ways. 

4. Was the staff courteous, polite, and catered to your needs?

The waiting staff at a restaurant forms the backbone of an excellent service system, almost as important as the food. If the staff at a restaurant is courteous and understands the customer’s needs, there is nothing better.

5. Did you order anything from our ‘specials’ menu? 

Curating a special menu unique to the restaurant is an exceptional way to stand out. Asking customers this question becomes critical for hospitality owners to find out if this can be part of a regular menu.

6. What did you like most about our food?

Understanding what customers loved the most about a restaurant goes a long way in improving in an establishment’s strengths and all aspects of hospitality service including food and customer service.

7. Were you happy with the speed of the service?

Time takes precedence over most things when it comes to customers and guests normally equate good customer service when meals are served faster. Feedback on the speed of service becomes essential to help improve restaurant operations. Hospitality owners can also use this as a basis to find out where they would be able to save staff time to make the service faster.

8. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate our drinks menu?

Many restaurants forget to take feedback on their drinks menu and that can often prove to be their undoing. Understanding the customer’s feedback on beverages and then improving accordingly, will surely give that particular restaurant plus points with their guests. 

9. Did you find anything missing from the menu?

Restaurants should always be open to finding out how they can improve. Asking this question directly will do wonders for a business in the long run.

10. How likely are you to visit our restaurant again?

This is an excellent way to end a survey to find out from a customer whether or not they will be interested in returning. A simple scale answer (Not likely to Very much likely or 1 to 5) tells a lot about a customer and provides, in microcosm, an overall review. 

Understanding and knowing the customer base is the cornerstone of any good business strategy and surveys prove to be brilliant tools for such analysis.

TableCheck allows restaurants to create and customize their own guest feedback survey in the guests' language. Results can be shared and compared across your restaurant group.

This article was first published in April 2022 and updated in June 2024.