Most visitors decide where to eat and drink before they ever walk past your door. They search on their phone, open a map, skim a few photos and reviews, and pick. So getting discovered in 2026 is less about advertising and more about showing up accurately, and appealingly, in the handful of places travellers actually look, then giving them a reason to choose you and come back.
You are already working long hours on thin margins, so every tactic below is chosen to earn its place: low cost, no agency required, and doable in the gaps of a normal week. Whether you run a bistro in Ghent, a bar in Antwerp, or a café near the coast, the same seven fundamentals move the needle.
1. Get your Google Business Profile working for you
This is the single most important item on the list. Your Google Business Profile is what appears in Google Maps and local search, and increasingly in the AI answers people get when they ask where to eat nearby. If your hours are wrong, your photos are dark, or there is no menu, you lose the visit before anyone tastes your food.
First step: Claim your profile, which is free, and complete every field that matters to a hungry traveller:
- Correct opening hours, including public holidays and seasonal changes.
- Your phone number and a working link for reservations.
- A handful of bright, recent photos of the room, the terrace, and a few signature plates.
- A link to a clear, current menu with prices, ideally in the local language and English.
2. Reply to every review, good and bad
Travellers read reviews to decide, but they also watch how you respond. A calm, human reply to a critical review reassures the next reader far more than a spotless five-star average ever could. Responding regularly also tells Google the profile is active and cared for.
First step: Block ten minutes, twice a week, to answer new reviews. Thank the happy guests warmly; reply to the critical ones politely and briefly, offer to make it right, and never argue in public.
3. Build one simple Instagram habit
Short-form video is how people who do not yet follow you find you now. A ten-second clip of a dish being plated or the terrace filling up on a Friday reaches well beyond your existing followers, which is exactly the audience of visitors you want to reach.
First step: Commit to one Reel a week. Film it on your phone, keep it real rather than polished, and add your neighbourhood and city so people searching the area can find it.
4. Be on the maps and apps travellers actually use
Visitors rarely rely on one app. They plan on one, navigate on another, and check reviews on a third. The more of those surfaces you appear on, correctly, the more chances you have to be the place someone picks.
First step: Make sure you are listed and accurate on Google Maps and TripAdvisor first. Then get onto the trip-planning apps people use for your city. Restaurants and bars can list a venue for free through SMOVECITY's partner program and be discoverable to travellers planning a trip to your city.
5. Partner with the people visitors meet first
Hotel receptionists, guesthouse hosts, and walking-tour guides are asked where their guests should eat several times a day. Being their easy recommendation is worth more than most paid advertising, because it arrives as trusted, personal advice at exactly the right moment.
First step: Visit the three or four hotels and B&Bs closest to you this week. Introduce yourself, leave a short stack of cards or a one-page menu, and offer their guests a small welcome such as a free coffee or an aperitif. Make it effortless for their staff to send people your way.
6. Turn first-time visitors into regulars
A visitor becomes valuable when they return or tell a friend. Chasing new faces every night is exhausting and expensive; keeping the ones who already liked you is cheaper and steadier, which matters most through the quiet winter months.
First step: Start the simplest list you can. Put a small card or QR code on the table inviting guests to join for news and a modest perk. Even a monthly email about a new dish or a seasonal evening keeps you in mind, and a light loyalty card does the same in person.
7. Get on the radar of local press and food creators
A mention in a city guide, a local paper, or a trusted food account gives you something advertising cannot: a recommendation people believe. For visitors researching a city, those lists often become the shortlist they eat from.
First step: Write down the food writers, city blogs, and local creators who cover your city. Send a short, warm invitation to come in for a specific reason, such as a new chef, a seasonal menu, or an anniversary. No fee is needed; a genuine welcome and a good meal is the pitch.
Where to start
You do not need all seven at once. Fix the two that are most broken today, usually your Google profile and your reviews, this week. Then add one habit a month. Done steadily, being easy to find becomes the quiet advantage that fills tables no advertising can buy.