When traveling, finding a good place to eat is always a matter of word-of-mouth from locals, online reviews, ads or coupons you find and convenience to your location.
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| Photo by Daniel Lee Perea Fuel Pizza in Washington, DC |
I had found some pizzerias on Twitter and thought they would be fun to try. But with no car and no Metro stop near those places, I quickly learned that I had to find somewhere else.
Our first pizzeria we went to was our first stop because they were a sponsor of the DC Shorts Film Festival and filmmakers (that was us) received a discount. So, we took our coupon and walked to the pizzeria. It did not require word of mouth because the coupon sold us on trying it out. But it did require doing a search online to find exactly where it was and once we mapped it, we were able to make our way there because it was conveniently located close to the movie theater.
#1 Coupons and sponsoring local events
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| Photo by Daniel Lee Perea Garlic knots are a tasty specialty at Fuel Pizza. |
What type of special festivals or non-profit events bring tourists to your area? How can you get involved? Do you find coupons in local newspapers or online draw new business into your pizzeria? Are you providing discounts for people checking into FourSquare?
Another pizzeria that was a sponsor had vague hours and was closed every time we tried to go there. Their online hours didn't match what was happening at the door.
(Tip: Be careful to keep your hours updated on your social media with what is really happening at your restaurant!)
#2 Online/Word of Mouth
When visiting the Newseum, we asked an employee what her favorite pizzeria was. It did not take her long to mention "matchbox." We began taking an informal poll asking people we came across during the day what pizzeria we should try. While some others were mentioned, the almost universal answer was matchbox. So, despite having had other plans, we changed course and went online to learn more about the pizzeria before deciding.
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| Photo by Daniel Lee Perea matchbox "open" symbol is their flame at the entrance. |
We found matchbox on Yelp and did a quick Internet search which helped us determine that the pizzeria was not only close enough for us to use the Metro and get to it, but the menu, we easily found online, also looked delicious.
Owned by a larger corporation, matchbox food group, the pizzeria we ate at was the original location in Chinatown. The building was originally a Chinese grocery in a dilapidated area, until the pizzeria opened and helped lead changes making the area a trendy street full of good dining.
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| Photo by Daniel Lee Perea Local brews and the half-and-half margherita and fig pizza |
With recommendations by word-of-mouth to try the fig pizza, and a suggestion from the manager to try the margherita pizza, we did a half-and-half and went for both.
And it was definitely the right choice. Had there not been a menu online to see what options we had, we may still have gone just because word-of-mouth was so strong. But in many a case, not having that menu online would deter me from eating at a place. And apparently, I am not alone in this.
Locu recently did research that shows that 60% of people say the restaurant menu is the most important factor when deciding where to eat. But 68% of people will go elsewhere if the menu or restaurant information is not up to date online. But with so many food apps and websites out there as well as social media, how do busy pizzerias update their information?
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| Photo by Daniel Lee Perea matchbox indoor bar area |
You can see the differences here.
Is your pizzeria already using Locu? What about another service similar to it? If so, we want to hear how your experience has been.
