A substantial part of your travel experience is of course local food. Some travelers are looking for the cheapest possible food costs, so here is my advice to restaurants that look for those travelers: keep your prices low and advertise in budget hostels. Likewise to those who focus on wealthy tourists looking for gourmet experiences: be sure to be listed in the Michelin guide!
My food experiences are from somewhere in between of those extremes. I utterly enjoy home-cooked meals with local touches, but I like to have them in restaurants instead of in someone’s home. What will you as a restaurant owner need to do? For example, if you are in Lisbon, be sure I find you when I Google “Portuguese food” and “Lisbon”. Have your menu available in English on your web site. You do not need to be close to the tourist venues as long as you are easy to reach by local transport.
For restaurants that want to attract passing tourists I have a few hints. Have your menu in English on your door or your window with prices clearly marked. If I walk by your restaurant and you do not have that information available, I believe that you have something to hide, like for example ridiculously high prices, and I will not even bother to have a look inside. When I stop by to investigate your menu, please do not hazzle and try to throw me in, when I am trying to find out interesting bits of your menu. If the menu raises interest, I am able to ask for details also without heavy marketing, if needed. It is quite annoying having a waiter reading out the menu loud when I can read it for myself.
As tourists we are usually advised to adapt to local dinner hours. Is that really in your interest? To have both locals and tourists dining at your limited table supply during those same few hours? I know that the whole south of Europe likes to eat after 8 pm, but if it would ever be possible, I would be happy to have a real local meal before that. My sleep is deteriorated when having a heavy meal late in the evening.
Finally, if you have a credit card sticker on your door, you need to have a working credit card machine in your restaurant. Having piles of local money in my wallet just in case, is just not modern way of doing business anymore. For me, the price of your local gourmet experience is not the most important issue. The total experience of service, taste, originality, environment, hazzle-free working concept is everything. And when it works, I am happy to round up the sum on the invoice, as long as there are no hidden prices added to the bill. America, please do something about your extra charges, such as obligatory tips for “good service” no matter how good the service actually is.
