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How to Research Competitors for a Restaurant or Café

Published 2026-10-01 · Pročitajte na bosanskom

Restaurants and cafés live or die on a few streets around them. Your guests compare you with the places they can reach in ten minutes, on the occasion they're planning: a quick lunch, a coffee before work, dinner with friends. This is a practical routine for finding out how those places stack up against you, in an afternoon.

1. Map the places you actually compete with

Open Google Maps, search the way a guest would ("lunch near me", "coffee [your street]") and note everything within walking distance. Then split the list by occasion. A fast lunch spot and a sit-down dinner restaurant on the same street don't compete much, while a bakery with good coffee might be your biggest rival at 8am. What to look for in each trade is covered on the restaurant and café pages.

2. Compare menus and prices

Pick the five or six items guests compare without thinking: an espresso, a cappuccino and a pastry for a café; a main course, a lunch menu and a drink for a restaurant. Write down each competitor's price, and also note whether their menu is online at all. Places that hide prices often lose people who are deciding from their phone. How to use the numbers is in how to price against competitors.

3. Read the most recent reviews

Sort reviews by newest, not by rating. What people said last month matters more than three years ago. Look for repeated themes: slow service at lunch, small portions, noise, rude staff, cold food on delivery. A complaint that shows up across several competitors is the easiest opening you'll find. More on this in what your competitors' reviews can tell you.

4. Check delivery and opening hours

Look at which competitors are on the delivery apps in your area, how long their delivery takes and how their dishes look in photos. Then compare opening hours. Early breakfast, late evenings and Sundays are often uncovered, and being open when others are closed is one of the simplest advantages a small place can have.

5. Visit as a guest

Go to your two closest competitors at the time you'd want their guests. Order what your regulars order. Notice how long you wait, how you're greeted, what the place sounds like and what you'd tell a friend afterwards. Half an hour as a guest teaches you more than any amount of online research.

6. Look at how they bring people in

Check their Instagram and Facebook: how often they post, whether they show real dishes and real guests, and which posts get people commenting. Look for local deals, like lunch offers for nearby offices or loyalty cards. That's a list of tactics already working in your area.

7. Choose one change

Don't try to fix everything. Pick the single gap that matters most to the guests you want, such as a faster lunch, earlier opening, clearer prices online or a quiet corner for laptops, and do that first. Then check again in a month or two, because menus, prices and staff change fast in hospitality. See how often to redo a competitor analysis.

The shortcut

Describe your restaurant or café and its street or neighbourhood, and ScoutBrief finds the places around you, compares their prices and reviews, and suggests what to do first. See your 3 closest competitors free with the no-signup snapshot.

Keep reading

Looking for advice for your trade? Competitor analysis by industry →

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