28 Restaurant Survey Questions to Improve Customer Experience

Takeout & Delivery Experience Survey

Your takeout and delivery feedback is the secret sauce your guests never mention at the counter.

Why & When to Use

If you're not measuring your off‑premise game, you're guessing.

For takeout and delivery, you’ll see the best results when you send a restaurant feedback survey by SMS or email about 30,60 minutes after fulfillment.

This is your chance to tackle issues unique to food on the move, like packaging fails, food temperature tanking, or delivery blunders.

Your restaurant survey form should ask about what matters most once your food leaves your kitchen.

• Targets critical moments outside your Four Walls

• Flags recurring annoyances, from soggy french fries to missing utensils

• Makes third-party delivery feedback part of your restaurant feedback questions

• Easy to automate through delivery partners or POS software

• Provides a blueprint for perfecting your takeout and delivery operation

Here’s the thing: Great takeout can multiply word-of-mouth, but even one cold sandwich can spark a bad review.

Swift surveys help you hear about these moments early, before they become viral horror stories.

5 Sample Questions

1. Was your order ready/delivered at the promised time?

2. How satisfied were you with the food temperature and freshness upon arrival?

3. Did the packaging prevent spills and keep items intact?

4. How courteous was the delivery driver or pickup staff?

5. What would encourage you to order takeout or delivery from us again?

A 2025 National Restaurant Association study found that 90% of off‑premises customers would order a wider variety and 60% would pay more if packaging maintained food quality like in‑restaurant experience (restaurant.org).

Menu Feedback & Innovation Survey

Menu feedback helps you create dishes that keep guests (and your chef) smiling.

Why & When to Use

Trying new dishes can be risky unless you get input from your biggest fans, so you can use a great restaurant survey template to take the guesswork out of menu changes.

Deploy your menu feedback survey quarterly or whenever you test limited-time offers, so you can skip expensive flops and refine recipes before a full launch.

• Validates new menu ideas with real diners

• Informs ingredient swaps and pricing based on what guests value

• Collects dietary preferences to widen your reach

• Gives everyone from vegans to keto fans a voice

• Uncovers which trends could be your next big thing

Plus, when you give guests a say in the menu, you make them feel like insiders, and who does not love bragging that they helped shape what ends up on their plate?

5 Sample Questions

1. Which menu item did you enjoy the most during your visit?

2. How would you rate the value for money of our entrée options?

3. Are there dietary options (vegan, gluten-free, keto) you’d like to see added?

4. If one item could be removed from the menu, what would it be and why?

5. What cuisine or flavor trend would excite you to try us again?

Service Quality & Staff Interaction Survey

A quick dive into staff feedback gives you more five-star reviews (and maybe some employee of the month bragging rights).

Why & When to Use

Even with the tastiest dishes, a single poor staff interaction can stick in a guest’s mind longer than the main course.

Here’s the thing, that is where focused guest satisfaction survey questions on service can save the day for you.

Run these after special occasions, or build them into your main restaurant customer satisfaction survey template.

They are perfect for performance reviews and spotting training needs when you want real insight instead of guesswork.

• Highlights the unsung heroes on your team

• Reveals knowledge gaps or outstanding service

• Sheds light on “little things” that guests celebrate (or complain about)

• Identifies front-of-house procedures in need of a shakeup

• Gives you data to reward and coach your staff

It is surprising what guests will share when you simply ask them.

On top of that, a cheeky joke or a thoughtful gesture from staff often earns you more fans than the fanciest dessert.

5 Sample Questions

1. How friendly and welcoming was the host or hostess?

2. Did your server explain specials and answer menu questions confidently?

3. Was your table cleared and reset in a timely manner between courses?

4. Did staff accommodate special requests or dietary needs effectively?

5. Please rate the professionalism of our team on a 1,5 scale.

Personal aspects of restaurant staff behavior, such as friendliness, empathy, and rapport, contribute significantly more to customer satisfaction than purely functional behaviors (sciencedirect.com)

Ambience, Cleanliness & Safety Survey

First impressions and safety checks make your restaurant feel like a second home, for all the right reasons.

Why & When to Use

After the pandemic, you care about clean spaces more than ever. A strong ambience and safety section in your restaurant feedback survey helps you cover all the bases.

You can include these restaurant survey questions in your general survey or send them after a visit. You’ll soon spot trends in décor buzz, music critiques, and cleanliness comments.

Here’s the thing: small details in comfort and safety can quietly make or break the guest experience.

• Assures guests that hygiene matters as much as taste

• Directs investment into improvements diners truly want

• Gives instant feedback on recent upgrades or changes

• Tracks staff compliance with food-safety standards

• Surfaces “little annoyances” like noisy tables or drafts

On top of that, guests love sharing quirky tips, especially if it leads to comfier chairs or a better playlist that does not sound like it is stuck on repeat.

5 Sample Questions

You can use these questions as a plug-and-play checklist for every visit.

1. How would you rate the overall cleanliness of the dining area and restrooms?

2. Did the music volume and playlist enhance or detract from your experience?

3. How comfortable was the seating and table spacing?

4. Did you observe staff following food-safety and hygiene protocols?

5. What single improvement in ambience would most elevate your next visit?

Loyalty, Net Promoter & Repeat-Visit Survey

Repeat guests are the heart of your restaurant, and tracking loyalty is your best move for repeat business.

Why & When to Use

If you’re hoping for more regulars, you should ask about loyalty so you can see what keeps people coming back.

Here’s the thing, you’ll blend classic restaurant NPS survey questions with specifics about why guests return.

These restaurant feedback questions work beautifully as a monthly pulse to loyalty program members, or about one month after a first visit.

This timing gives you your best cue to strengthen your bond with guests.

• Pinpoints what truly drives repeat visits

• Helps spot which specials, perks, or programs guests adore

• Uncovers “at-risk” fans before they ghost

• Benchmarks you against competitors to identify what’s missing

• Monitors satisfaction with loyalty rewards and staff engagement

Plus, when you understand your competition, you can up your game and maybe offer a cheeky perk they just cannot resist.

5 Sample Questions

1. On a scale of 0,10, how likely are you to recommend us to friends or family?

2. How many times have you visited in the past three months?

3. What would motivate you to dine with us more often (e.g., specials, loyalty perks)?

4. How satisfied are you with our rewards program’s ease of use?

5. Which competitor do you visit most often, and why?

Event & Catering Feedback Survey

Every event is a chance to wow guests (and book even more catering gigs).

Your private events and catering orders are a goldmine for feedback.

You can send a targeted restaurant feedback survey within a day or two so the details stay fresh in your guests’ minds.

Plus, this timing makes it easy for you to connect their answers to specific parts of the experience.

These restaurant survey questions feed your sales pipeline, streamline communication, and make your next event even better.

On top of that, they help you turn “pretty good event” into “please host all our parties forever.”

• Gauges guest satisfaction with the full journey, from booking to goodbye

• Reveals blind spots in communication and service

• Measures food quality at scale, not just for one plate

• Informs decor and seating improvements for events

• Fuels testimonials to use in future catering pitches

Planning, food, and décor are all up for review here.

Here’s the thing, the results you collect could practically wallpaper your testimonial wall.

5 Sample Questions

1. How satisfied were you with the event planning and communication process?

2. Did the food quality and presentation meet your expectations?

3. How effective was our staff in accommodating last-minute changes?

4. Was the event space setup (seating, AV, décor) satisfactory?

5. Would you book another event or recommend our catering services?

Best Practices & Dos and Don’ts for Restaurant Feedback Surveys

Survey design can make or break your restaurant feedback, and the best questions are as inviting as your favorite dish.

Best Practices

• Keep every restaurant survey form under 10 questions so you get more responses and fewer abandons.

• Use a mix of scales (like 1,5 or NPS), yes/no, and open-ended questions so you capture both quick scores and real stories.

• Always personalize and reference the guest’s last visit, order, or event so they feel like more than a ticket number.

• Send your restaurant feedback survey within 24 hours, since fresh memories lead to more honest answers and fewer “I forget” replies.

• Close the loop with a simple “thank you” or a small incentive so guests feel heard and not just harvested for data.

• Optimize your restaurant survey template for mobile, because most guests will reply on their phones while their fries are still hot.

• Review responses together with your team, not just managers, so your front line actually helps shape what changes happen.

Common Mistakes

• Avoid leading or biased questions because guests can tell when you are fishing for praise instead of real answers.

• Skip mandatory long-text responses unless you truly need them, or you will watch your completion rate vanish faster than a free dessert.

• Do not ignore mobile-friendliness, since a clunky survey on a phone can slash your response rates in seconds.

• Never launch feedback surveys if you do not plan to act on what you hear, or you train guests to stop bothering with your questions.

Here’s the thing: The right restaurant customer feedback survey captures real insights without eating up your guests’ entire lunch break. With these best practices in your toolkit, every restaurant survey template turns into a quiet little secret ingredient for success.

No matter where you start, collecting honest, actionable feedback keeps your restaurant thriving. On top of that, with the right questions to ask in a restaurant survey, you uncover what guests love, what they wish you would fix, and why they will be back again, so every answer on your restaurant feedback survey becomes an invitation to level up your game one meal and one survey at a time.

Best Practices: Dos & Don’ts for High-Performing Restaurant Survey Forms

The Art of the Perfect Restaurant Feedback Survey

Every great survey gets more responses with smart design.

You only get great results from a restaurant customer survey when you put real thought into it.

You want clear answers, fast completion, and data that actually drives improvements.

Stick to these best practices:

• Do keep survey time under three minutes to stave off boredom

• Do mix rating scales with open-ended questions to get the full picture

• Do personalize invitations, because guest names and visit dates win hearts

• Don’t use double-barreled questions that confuse more than they clarify

• Don’t ignore making surveys easy to take on a phone or tablet

• Do A/B test your subject lines, since more opens mean more feedback and more wins

• Don’t forget to share improvements, so guests know you’re listening

Follow these rules and your restaurant customer satisfaction survey template will not just gather data, it will quietly build trust with every response.

Restaurant surveys are not extra credit.

They are your best tool to keep guests delighted and keep your tables full.

Here’s the thing, every answer is a blueprint for your next success story.

Don’t just serve food, serve up a better experience again and again, because the best restaurants listen and act before anyone has to ask twice.