How many photos does a restaurant need?

There's no magic number. But if you add up everywhere your restaurant shows up online, it's usually more photos than people expect.

The easiest way to figure it out is to go through each place photos get used, one at a time.

Photos for your website

Most restaurant websites need a handful of strong images. One or two big photos for the home page. A few dishes that show what you're known for. The dining room and the bar, so people know what it feels like to sit there. Maybe the team.

If your menu is on your site, photos of the main dishes help too. You don't need a photo for every line on the menu. The ones people ask about are a good start.

Photos for Google

When people search for your restaurant, your Google Business Profile is often the first thing they see. It shows photos of the food, the inside, the outside and the menu. If you don't upload your own, it fills up with whatever customers post.

Put up your best food photos, a few of the room, and one of the front of the building so people can find you. Add new ones every so often.

Photos for delivery apps

This is where the count goes up. On delivery apps, every dish can have a photo, and the ones without photos tend to get skipped. So here the answer really is one photo per item, at least for everything you want people to order.

They also need to match each other, which is easier if they're shot in one session. I wrote more about that in why your delivery app photos matter.

Photos for the menu itself

Not every restaurant puts photos on the printed menu. If you do, or if you use a digital menu or a QR code menu with pictures, those photos need to be consistent and clean. Usually these are the same shots you use on the delivery apps.

How many photos do you need for Instagram?

Instagram eats photos. If you post a few times a week, you need a steady supply. You can reuse menu photos, but they get stale if they're all you post.

What works better is a mix. Menu shots now and then. New specials when they come out. Drinks. The room at night. People working. Your own phone photos cover a lot of the day-to-day. Professional photos cover the stuff that has to look good.

Photos for press

When a writer or blogger covers your restaurant, they'll ask for photos. It helps to have a folder ready: a few signature dishes, the room, the exterior, and a photo of the chef or owner. That way you're not scrambling when someone emails on a deadline.

A simple baseline

Here's the approach I'd suggest for most places:

1. Shoot the full menu once. Every dish, the room, the bar, the team. That covers your website, Google, delivery apps and press.
2. Update when things change. New dish, new season, new cocktail list. A short session for a few items keeps everything current.
3. Keep social fed. Either a monthly visit for fresh content, or fill in with your own phone photos between shoots.

My pricing is built around that. A half-day menu shoot is 20 finished photos. A full day is 45. A dish drop is one hour and 6 photos for new items. Monthly content is one visit a month and 10 photos. There's more detail on the restaurant photography page.

If you're not sure what you need, tell me about your place and we'll figure it out.