Marketing your restaurant.
One of the more appealing aspect of starting a restaurant is that it doesn't take much in the way of sales. But it takes ten times the marketing effort. Restaurants make their money with repeat business. If you can't get them in the door the first time, you can't get repeat business. There are hundreds of ways to market a restaurant. Choosing the right ones depends largely on the type of restaurant you're starting.
The sign for the restaurant.
Hire a professional to design and build the sign. Nothing says greasy spoon like a plywood sign painted free-hand. I'd even go a step further and consider signage when you're trying to find a spot to lease for your restaurant. The box that holds and lights the sign is more expensive than the sign itself.
Get a web site and market your restaurant
You don't have to get a professional for this but it might help. Just make sure they build the web site with a thorough understanding of how search engines work. It's a waste of money if you can't find it in the search engines. If you're going to budget $500 for your web site, budget at least $1000 for having it optimized for the search engines. More and more people search for things on the web every day. Before long these searches will overtake the traditional yellow page directories. Make sure you include the menu, directions, phone number and any specials you are running. To effectively promote the site read our step by step guide to search engine optimization.. If you decide to go the professional route we recommend Intralink. They charge about $2500 for the website marketing but they get results and they don't use any of the under handed tricks that get you to the top for a short time, and then get you banned.
The Yellow pages.
Most potential business owners are shocked when they find out how much a small display ad is in the yellow pages. But if you've got the right business it's a no brainer. There are hundreds of restaurants listed in most yellow page directories so work on your ad to make sure it's easy to read, the directions are clearly stated, and you have a phone number promptly displayed.
Direct Mail.
Companies like vistaprint.com will print a post cards that you design for just about 200 dollars per thousand. It's cheap, and the postage is cheaper. If you're starting a high end restaurant I'd recommend not having a coupon. You can also buy lists that just drop the post cards off at each house in bulk. There addressed to RESIDENT.
Nothing wrong with this at all. In fact, because it's a post card it's much more likely to be read than an envelope someone has to open that is clearly an advertisement.
Radio and television
Unless you've got a pretty big marketing budget I'd recommend staying away from radio and television. Both methods work but it's expensive. If you're going to use radio use it to build awareness of your restaurant. This means you have to use your name over and over in the commercial (the name of the restaurant of course) and change the menu so to speak. For one month you may just run 20 spots talking about a main course and location. The next month you may want to run a few more spots and feature the deserts, or happy hour.
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