Restaurant Mission Statement: Why You Absolutely Need One

A restaurant mission statement is something that should drive your hospitality business. A mission statement is a massive part of most business plans, so why should running a restaurant be any different? While business owners rush to create mission statements for retail stores and corporate businesses, they often need to pay more attention to restaurant mission statements. It is essential to get to grips with what your restaurant’s mission is. And your mission could be anything from serving quality food for vegetarians to providing organic dining experiences.

In this guide, we’ll cover exactly a restaurant’s mission statement and why they are so important. Whether you value exceptional service or delicious food, create a mission statement that resonates with your business plan. Getting on the same page (and ensuring customers know your mission and values) is a step toward surefire success.

What Is a Restaurant’s Mission Statement?

A restaurant mission statement is just a statement that summarizes your restaurant’s goals and primary values. This could be something as simple as wanting to preserve authentic Italian family recipes. Or you could provide an organic dining experience because you believe in the power of organic food. You may love co-working, cafe communities, and culture, so you offer a friendly space for coffee lovers.

A mission statement encompasses your underlying beliefs and driving motives behind your restaurant. It summarizes and sells your restaurant’s beliefs as something inspirational and unique. When creating a mission statement, make sure to dig deep. Your statement must resonate with you and your brand.

You can involve your customers with your mission statement. Many restaurants incorporate their mission statement into the form of a catchy tagline. Or add it to your restaurant, social media bio, or website in an ‘About Us’ section. By telling customers your mission statement, you are strengthening your sense of brand image and customer relationships. You don’t need to keep your restaurant mission statement to yourself and your staff, although this is also a crucial stage.

Having staff familiar with your mission statement helps to guarantee consistency in your dining experiences and excellent customer service. If your team is on the same page as you, you are more likely to get the results you desire. You should also consider your values and mission statement in your hiring process. After all, if you want to provide a family-friendly restaurant, staff need to be confident around children. Staff must be knowledgeable or undergo training if you wish to offer dining experiences with expert-led wine tasting. People aren’t mind readers; it pays to be specific and clear-cut in this scenario.

What Is a Good Mission Statement for a Restaurant?

What is a good mission statement for a restaurant? The best answer to this is a specific statement. A restaurant mission statement is only a couple of sentences at maximum in length. Yet it has to hold power to summarize the main things you and your business represent - a heavy pressure. A good mission statement says what it needs to communicate succinctly. You likely have a whole collection of values you uphold when running your restaurant. However, you must choose one - at most two - as your primary underpinning desires for your restaurant experience. This keeps your mission statement clear and specific. A good mission statement is always simple but effective.

Similarly, your restaurant’s mission statement must be genuine. If your business succeeds, you could live and breathe your mission statement until you retire. So you want to resonate with your restaurant’s mission statement. This has to be something so good that you are willing to dedicate your life’s work to upholding it.

Putting your business head back on and setting your philosophical head aside, your statement needs to fit your audience. There’s zero point in throwing out a mission statement that won’t even attract your desired target customers. And if you are unsure, ask an honest person or conduct some survey-style research. If the answer is no, you may reconsider your restaurant location or make another similar tweak.

In short, a good mission statement should be concise, genuine, and suited to your target audience. If you can tick off these three factors, you are almost guaranteed a solid business plan and an incredible mission statement.

How To Write a Mission Statement for a Restaurant: 7 Steps for the Perfect Mission Statement

Learning how to write a mission statement for a restaurant is an entirely different ball game. You know what a good restaurant mission statement is, so what are the steps to creating one? Creating a mission statement may be tricky. Especially with all the new restaurant marketing trends 2023 brought to the table. But actually, it is super simple when you break it down. Let’s run through the basics, step by step.

1. Do Your Research Before Starting Your Restaurant Mission Statement

Doing your research may sound obvious, but it is incredible how many people skip this step. You are in the strongest position if you haven’t opened your restaurant yet. You can take your time to research what areas best suit your mission statement and which communities it best fits. Think of this as a monopoly situation - you are taking your pre-existing goals to where it most suits them.

Finding a genuine statement is a little trickier if you have already opened your restaurant and are backtracking. Your research needs to focus on the target demographic already around you and how your statement benefits them. Balance that with a statement that resonates with you - only compromising or tweaking your values as necessary.

2. Draft Out Your Values

Now that you have done all that research draft your values. You should create a long list or mind map, adding everything you can think of. You’ll eliminate the non-primary ones later. So there’s no need to hold back. Stay as creative as possible.

3. Eliminate Restaurant Mission Statement Values That Aren’t Primary Values

A concise restaurant mission statement focuses on one to two primary values. Now is the time to be ruthless and eliminate all the values you feel are not primary. Anything that isn’t top three.

4. Eliminate Restaurant Mission Statement Values That Don’t Resonate With Your Target Demographic

This stage is more challenging and relies on your earlier research. You now eliminate values that don’t resonate with your target demographic. For instance, a family-friendly atmosphere won’t be as important if you are located in a CBD and target officer workers.

5. Draft a Restaurant Mission Statement

Get creative and draft your mission statement. Don’t overthink; editing comes later. Just concentrate on getting pen to paper. Aim for two to three lines. And if you like, write many variations of your mission statement to try different ideas and approaches. A good tactic is to avoid editing as you go by just writing 10 or so versions of the statement. When you get an idea, write a new statement to see if it fits. Then you can compare them all at the end.

6. Edit Your Restaurant Mission Statement

This is where to get critical. A good rule of thumb is to remove 10% of words from your work when editing. Really strip your mission statement down to a catchy skeleton. If in doubt, ask others to read and approve your mission statement before proceeding.

7. Incorporate Your Restaurant Mission Statement

Finally, the moment of truth. Incorporate your mission statement into restaurant practice - whether on menus, as a tagline, or in staff training. Your mission statement should be available to staff and customers, not just you. Remember that your restaurant mission statement is now part of your brand image and daily practice.

Using a Restaurant Mission Statement Generator

Using a restaurant mission statement generator is a hack. A total hack that can be incredible for making creating a mission statement easier. A statement generator is just an automated way of throwing new ideas out. And if you fancy throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks, it is a great way forward. Especially if you have writer’s block, you can get plenty of free mission statement generators.

There are many options online, too; let’s look at the top online mission statement generators.

• Honeybook

Honeybook is a free online tool to generate a mission statement. You enter your business name, brand personality, industry, audience, and service description. Then the tool sends you an email with your mission statement.

• Embroker

Embroker is another free gem when it comes to mission statement generation. It asks you a handful of questions about what service you provided and your target audience. We particularly like the section where it asks you to select up to 5 adjectives to describe your product and service. If you want direction and assistance, Embroker has many options and frameworks.

• Elevation

The elevation is a spectacular free mission statement generator that relies on AI to draft a statement. It’s more fundamental than Embroker (not asking for adjectives and only requiring 4 steps), and it’s simple and easy to use.

5 Brilliant Examples: Restaurant Mission Statement Examples

Ready for some restaurant mission statement examples? It helps to see samples, whether you want to prioritize absolute guest satisfaction or delicious food from Italy. You can get ideas about structure, phrasing, and tone by looking at examples. So take a look at these brilliant examples for your research stage.

• Nobu: “Our mission is to provide every guest with a Nobu-style experience, focused on quality ingredients, exceptional service and inspired cuisine, to go above and beyond our guests’ expectations and continually offer an element of the unexpected.”

• McDonald’s: “Our mission is to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone. This is how we uniquely feed and foster communities.”

• Minetta Tavern: “Since its renovation, Minetta Tavern has best been described as “Parisian steakhouse meets classic New York City tavern.” We hope that’s a somewhat accurate description of the place.

• KFC: “At KFC, we have a passion for food and pridefully serve it. We believe that you should come to work as the best version of yourself and treat every guest like a friend. And it’s our job to ensure that every guest leaves happy.”

• Betty’s: “Our third, fourth, and fifth generation family members work together to ensure that we stay true to Fredirck’s vision of quality, craftsmanship and attention to detail, as well as looking ahead to our next 100 years and the generations to come.”

When To Create a Restaurant Mission Statement

When asking yourself when you should create a restaurant mission statement, the answer is usually now. The best time to make a mission statement is before you open your business. This way, your mission statement can guide your location strategy, restaurant design, and staff hiring. If you are already set up, then creating a mission statement now means that you can catch up immediately.

Are you looking for some extra guidance? At Beambox, we are always happy to help. As experts in content marketing and making the most out of restaurants, we can help start your journey to success. Outsource to us, and let’s take the following steps together.

Let’s get the ball rolling today. Beambox offers the best all-in-one wifi marketing platform. We leverage a dynamic approach to connect, capture, and get more customers. Start your Beambox free trial today, and let us help you maximize your content marketing potential.

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