Restaurant Instagram captions: how to write them, with examples to adapt

Why do restaurant Instagram captions matter?

The photo makes someone stop scrolling; the caption tells them what the dish is and how to get it. Adam Mosseri, who runs Instagram, wrote that the text typed into search is the strongest signal Instagram Search uses, matched against usernames, bios, captions, hashtags and places, and that a post is found through the keywords and hashtags in its caption, not its comments. So a caption reading "wood-fired lamb shoulder, Thursday nights in Shoreditch" can turn up for someone searching lamb in Shoreditch, while "Feeling hungry?" can't turn up for anything. For a restaurant, café or bar, that makes the caption part of how new guests find the kitchen.

How do you write a restaurant Instagram caption?

1. 1. Open with the dish, in the words a guest would search

   Start with what is in the photo: the dish's name as it reads on your menu, its main ingredients and the cuisine. "Burrata with blood orange and pistachio" can be found by someone searching burrata; "Our new favourite" can't. Using the menu name also lets the guest order it by name.¹

2. 2. Say where and when

   Add the street or neighbourhood and when the dish is on: "Tuesday to Saturday evenings, on Rua das Flores". Instagram advises a local business to name its location in its bio and to put keywords in its captions, so a place name in the caption is one more word a nearby guest might search.¹

3. 3. Give one detail only your kitchen can give

   Who makes it, which farm the cheese comes from, why it is only on until the tomatoes run out. One true detail tells a guest more than a row of adjectives, and it is the line they repeat when they tell a friend about the place.

4. 4. End with one action

   Book a table, order for pickup, or come in when walk-ins start. Pick one and say where: "Book through the link in our bio" or "Walk-ins from five". If your profile has a Reserve or Order food button, point to it; our guide to social media for restaurants shows how to add one.

5. 5. Use up to five hashtags a guest would search

   Instagram's help centre now allows up to 5 hashtags on a post, and a comment carrying more than 5 won't post. Spend them on words people search: the dish (#burrata), the cuisine with your city (#lisbonfood) and your own name. Keep them in the caption, since Instagram's search advice puts hashtags there rather than in comments.²

6. 6. Keep it as long as the post needs

   Meta's publishing reference caps a caption at 2,200 characters, so you will rarely hit the limit. A dish post usually needs a few short lines: the dish, the detail, when to come and the action. Save the long caption for a story worth telling, such as a new chef or a visit to a supplier.³

7. 7. Write alt text for the photo

   Instagram writes an automatic description of each photo for people using screen readers, and you can replace it under Accessibility before you share, or through Edit afterwards. Describe the plate the way a guest would see it: "Grilled octopus on white beans with parsley oil, on a blue ceramic plate."⁴

8. 8. Adapt these examples

   A dish: "Burrata, blood orange, pistachio. The burrata comes from a dairy an hour north and arrives on Thursday mornings, so it is on until it runs out. Book through the link in our bio." A weekday special: "Set lunch is back: soup, a main and a coffee, Tuesday to Friday. Walk in from noon." An event: "Quiz night returns on the first Wednesday of the month. Teams of up to six; book a table through the link in our bio."

9. 9. Reuse the line on your Google profile

   The same dish line and photo make a Google Business Profile post, which guests see when they look you up on Maps. Swap "link in our bio" for the post's own Book or Order button, and leave out wine, beer and cocktail offers: Google lets a business in a regulated industry such as alcohol post, but not about the products. Our free social post generator turns one sentence about a dish or event into an Instagram, a Facebook and a Google post for you to edit.⁵

Checklist

• Dish name and main ingredients in the first line
• Street or neighbourhood named
• One true detail about the dish
• One action, and where to take it
• Up to five specific hashtags, in the caption
• Alt text written for the photo
• Same line reused as a Google post

Written by Joseph Jang, Co-founder, PlacePilot