Owner guide · More sales
Slow days at your restaurant: how to fill the quiet hours
Every restaurant has a quiet Tuesday or a dead 3 PM. Staff and the stove are paid either way, so a quiet hour that turns into a few orders is found money.
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Step by step
- Find your real quiet hours. Look at your POS or online orders by hour for a few weeks. Most places have two or three clear dips, like 2 to 4 PM on weekdays.
- Send one offer right before. A short text to your own guests an hour before the dip: “Slow afternoon in the kitchen. Order before 4:30 and a little treat is on us.”
- Make it small and specific. A free drink, a free side or double points. Small offers protect your margin and still give a reason to come today.
- Do not text too often. Once a week at most. Guests who hear from you every day stop reading, or reply STOP.
- Post the dish of the day. A real photo of today’s special on your Google listing and social media keeps you in mind when people decide where to eat.
More sales
- How to increase restaurant sales: 8 ways that work
- How to raise your average order without raising prices
- How to get more lunch orders
- How to price your menu, and when to raise prices
- Restaurant promotions that do not hurt your margins
- A restaurant marketing calendar for the whole year
- How to get more pickup orders
Ideas for specific slow times
Afternoons: a snack and drink deal or an early dinner pickup offer. Early week: a family meal deal for Monday or Tuesday. Bad weather: soup weather texts work well for noodle and soup restaurants. After the holidays: a small “welcome back” offer to regulars who have not been in.
How EatFuti helps
EatFuti looks at when your restaurant is quiet and sends a small offer to the right guests just before, once a week at most, and you approve it.
EatFuti is in Des Moines, Iowa, and works with independent restaurants across the United States, most of all in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Texas.
How it works with EatFuti
- Run the free check. Three minutes, no sign-up. See your Google page, where your Order button goes and how your site does on a phone.
- Say yes. Send your photos and menu, or we take the menu from your POS or online. Online ordering is live 48 to 72 hours after signup.
- Your website goes up. Built for you from your photos, menu and reviews, right after ordering is live. You approve it before it goes up.
Questions owners ask
Should I discount on slow days?
Small and targeted beats big and public. A free side for guests who order before 4:30 costs less than 20% off the whole menu and does not train guests to wait for deals.
How do I know which hours are slow?
Your POS reports orders by hour. Look at three or four weeks, not one, so a single rainy day does not fool you.