How to Get More Catering Orders for Your Restaurant (A 2024 Guide)

To get more catering orders for restaurants, you must create a dedicated catering section on your website, optimize your Google Business Profile for local searches, and actively market your services to corporate clients and event planners. A streamlined online ordering and quoting process is essential to convert interest into booked jobs, giving you a significant advantage over slower competitors.

Key Takeaways

• Create a dedicated catering landing page on your website with clear menus, pricing, and a direct inquiry form.
• Optimize your Google Business Profile specifically for catering by adding services, photos, and encouraging reviews.
• Target high-value local keywords like "office lunch catering [City]" and "event catering near me."
• Automate your quoting process to provide faster, more accurate proposals and win jobs before competitors respond.
• Use email marketing and social media ads to reach corporate clients and event planners in your service area.

Catering can transform a restaurant's revenue from inconsistent to predictable. A single corporate lunch order can be worth more than a dozen individual tables. But most restaurants treat catering as an afterthought—a hidden menu link and a clunky email inquiry process. This guide gives you the exact steps to build a reliable pipeline of high-value catering clients.

How to Get More Catering Orders with Your Website

Your website is your digital storefront for catering. A potential client looking to feed 100 employees won't dig through your dinner menu to guess if you can handle their event. You must make it obvious and easy for them.

Create a Dedicated Catering Landing Page

This is the single most important step. Do not just add a PDF menu to your main site. Build a separate, dedicated page (e.g., yourrestaurant.com/catering) that speaks directly to a catering client. This page is your 24/7 salesperson.

This page must include:

• Clear Headline: "Catering for Corporate Events & Private Parties in [Your City]"
• Who You Serve: Mention specific client types like corporate offices, weddings, pharmaceutical reps, or private parties.
• Types of Catering: List your service styles—buffet, boxed lunches, platters, full-service events.
• Social Proof: Add logos of past clients and short testimonials.

Having a dedicated page also massively helps your SEO. It gives Google a specific URL to rank when someone searches for "corporate catering in [Your City]," making you more visible than a competitor who just mentions catering on their homepage. It also ensures AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini can find clear, structured information about your catering services when a user asks for recommendations.

Showcase Your Menu & Packages Clearly

Catering clients are busy. They think in terms of headcount and budget. Don't make them do math. Structure your catering menu into packages.

• Per-Person Pricing: "The Executive Lunch: $18/person. Includes choice of sandwich, side salad, and cookie."
• Tiered Packages: Offer a "Basic," "Deluxe," and "Premium" package. This simplifies decisions and helps you upsell.
• Dietary Options: Clearly label and showcase options for vegetarian, gluten-free, and other common dietary needs. This is a major decision factor for office managers.

Use High-Quality Photos and Videos

People buy with their eyes, especially with food. Generic stock photos won't cut it. Invest in professional photography of your catering setups.

• Show the food: Beautifully arranged platters, neat stacks of boxed lunches, and bountiful buffet lines.
• Show the experience: Photos of your team setting up at an office, or happy people enjoying the food at an event. This helps the client visualize success.
• Video: A short, 30-60 second video showing your catering in action can increase conversion rates significantly. Show your team, your process, and the final product. For more on improving your website's performance, see our guide on how to improve small business website conversion rates.

Add Clear, Unmistakable Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

Every visitor to your catering page should know exactly what to do next. Don't make them hunt for a phone number.

• Use action-oriented buttons: "Get a Free Quote," "Build Your Catering Order," or "Inquire Now."
• Place CTAs strategically: Put one at the top of the page, one after the menu/packages, and one at the bottom.
• Use a simple form: Your inquiry form should be short. Ask only for the essentials: Name, Company, Email, Phone, Event Date, and Estimated Guest Count. You can gather more details later.

Master Local SEO for Catering

Catering is a local game. A company in downtown Dallas isn't ordering lunch from a restaurant in Fort Worth. Winning at local search means you show up when a decision-maker searches for options near them. This is how you get found by new, high-intent customers.

Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP) for Catering

Your Google Business Profile is often the first impression a potential client has of your business. According to Google, providing complete and accurate information is crucial for local ranking. Go beyond just listing your restaurant's main details.

• Primary Category: Keep this as "Restaurant."
• Secondary Categories: Add relevant categories like "Caterer."
• Services: This is critical. In your GBP dashboard, go to the 'Services' tab and add every type of catering you offer as a separate item. Examples: "Corporate Catering," "Boxed Lunches," "Wedding Catering," "Holiday Party Catering." Add descriptions and, if possible, starting prices for each.
• Photos: Upload the high-quality catering photos you took. Create a specific album labeled "Catering."
• Q&A: Proactively add your own questions and answers to the Q&A section. "Do you offer delivery?" (Answer: Yes, we deliver within a 15-mile radius). "What's your minimum order for catering?" This preempts customer questions and shows you're thorough. For a deep dive on this, check out our Google Maps ranking tips.

Build Local Citations and Backlinks

Citations are mentions of your business's name, address, and phone number (NAP) on other websites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific directories. Google uses these to verify that your business is legitimate and located where you say it is.

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. A link from the local Chamber of Commerce or a food blogger who reviewed your catering is a powerful signal to Google that you are a trusted authority.

• Action Step: Search for "catering directories [Your City]" and get your business listed. Join local business associations that have member directories.

Create Content Targeting Local Catering Keywords

Think about what your ideal customer is typing into Google. They aren't just searching for "food." They are searching with intent.

• "office lunch catering downtown [Your City]"
• "best boxed lunches for meetings near me"
• "holiday party caterer for 100 people"

Create blog posts or pages on your website targeting these terms. For example, a blog post titled "5 Things to Look for in a Corporate Caterer in [Your City]" positions you as an expert and helps you rank for relevant keywords. This is the same strategy we recommend for other local businesses, as detailed in our HVAC content strategy guide.

Streamline Your Quoting and Ordering Process

Speed wins deals. The first restaurant to provide a professional, comprehensive quote is the most likely to get the job. If your process involves scribbling notes on a pad and emailing a basic price 24 hours later, you are losing money.

Implement an Online Ordering & Quoting System

Investing in catering-specific software (like ezCater, FoodStorm, or HoneyBook) moves the process online. A client can build their own order from your pre-set packages or submit a detailed inquiry that gives you everything you need to create a quote in minutes, not hours.

This automation does two things:

1. Improves Customer Experience: Clients get instant gratification and a sense of professionalism.
2. Saves Labor: Your manager or catering coordinator spends less time on administrative back-and-forth and more time on sales and execution.

Manual vs. Automated Catering Quoting

Here's a direct comparison of the old way versus the new way.

Feature	Manual Quoting (Email/Phone)	Automated Quoting System
Response Time	Hours or days	Instant or minutes
Accuracy	Prone to human error, missed items	Consistent, rule-based pricing
Labor Cost	High (staff time per quote)	Low (one-time setup, minimal management)
Customer Experience	Inconsistent, slow, requires follow-up	Professional, fast, 24/7 availability
Lead Tracking	Difficult, relies on spreadsheets	Centralized in a CRM or dashboard

Use a CRM to Manage Your Sales Pipeline

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps you track every lead from initial inquiry to final payment. It prevents high-value leads from falling through the cracks.

Instead of a messy inbox, a CRM shows you a clear pipeline: New Inquiry -> Quote Sent -> Followed Up -> Booked. This is essential for managing more than a few orders per month. Many catering software platforms have a built-in CRM, but standalone options are also available. Learn more about choosing the right tool in our guide to the best CRM for local service automation.

Build Your Reputation and Social Proof

Nobody wants to be the test case for an important event. Catering clients, especially corporate ones, need to know you are reliable and that the food will be good. Social proof is how you build that trust before they ever speak to you.

Actively Collect and Showcase Reviews

After every successful catering order, send a follow-up email with a direct link to leave a review on Google. Don't just hope they do it—ask.

• Email Template: "Hi [Client Name], we hope you enjoyed the lunch today! Would you mind taking 30 seconds to share your experience on Google? It helps us immensely. [Link to Google Review]."

Display your best reviews prominently on your catering page. A stream of recent, positive reviews is one of the strongest buying signals.

Feature Client Testimonials and Case Studies

Go beyond a simple review. Ask your best clients for a detailed testimonial or to be featured in a short case study.

A case study for a catering business can be simple:

• The Client: A local law firm.
• The Challenge: They needed a weekly lunch for 40 associates with varied dietary needs.
• The Solution: You provided a rotating menu of individually packaged and labeled boxed lunches, including vegetarian and gluten-free options.
• The Result: A quote from the office manager: "[Your Restaurant]'s catering saved me hours of work each week and our team loves the food. They are incredibly reliable."

Posting this on your website and sharing it on social media (tagging the client, if they agree) provides powerful proof to other potential clients in that industry.

Prepare Your Catering Business for AI Search

The way people find information is changing. Instead of just Googling, users are asking AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's Gemini for direct answers: "Find me a restaurant that can cater a 50-person office lunch next Tuesday with vegan options."

These AI tools don't "browse" your website like a human. They scan for clear, structured data. All the steps we've already covered are exactly what's needed to be visible in AI search:

• A Dedicated Catering Page: Gives the AI a specific source of truth.
• Structured Menus/Packages: Clear per-person pricing and package details are easy for an AI to parse and compare.
• Detailed Service Descriptions: Explicitly stating you handle "corporate catering" or "boxed lunches" helps the AI match you to a specific query.
• FAQ Section: Answering common questions on your page provides ready-made answers for AI assistants.

By making your information clear and organized for a human, you are simultaneously optimizing it for AI. This isn't a future trend; it's happening now. The restaurants that structure their digital presence correctly will be the ones recommended by these new gatekeepers.

Your Immediate Action Plan: Do This Today

Feeling overwhelmed? Don't be. Here's a short checklist you can act on this week to start getting more catering orders for your restaurant.

• [ ] Create a Google Doc for your catering landing page. Write out the headline, who you serve, and your packages. Don't worry about design yet, just get the content down.
• [ ] Go to your Google Business Profile. Add "Caterer" as a secondary category and add at least 5 specific catering services you offer.
• [ ] Take 10 photos on your phone. Even smartphone photos are better than nothing. Take pictures of your best-looking dishes arranged on a platter.
• [ ] Identify your 3 happiest past catering clients. Draft an email asking them for a testimonial.
• [ ] Set a calendar reminder for next week. The task: follow up on these items and choose one more step from this guide to tackle.

Taking small, consistent actions is how you build a powerful catering sales engine. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen if you follow the plan.

Building a predictable growth system for your catering business takes focus. By optimizing your digital presence and streamlining your operations, you move from waiting for the phone to ring to actively generating high-value leads. If you want a custom analysis of your restaurant's digital presence and a prioritized action plan, get your free Growth Plan from our team.