Keep opening hours up to date: Why guests stand in front of a closed door

Wherever opening hours are listed

The opening hours of your restaurant are listed in more places than you might realize. If something changes, all of them would need to be updated:

• Google Business Profile, Google Maps and other mapping services
• Your website and the Facebook page
• Instagram profile, reservation and delivery platforms
• Notice on the door, flyers, business cards, menu
• Industry directories and tourism pages in your region

At some of these locations, you entered the information once and then forgot about it. Exactly there, outdated times appear after a year.

A source for all

It is helpful to have a single source that is always correct and to which all others refer. Printed materials no longer list times but instead show a QR code: Current opening hours. If something changes, you only update this one source.

Same-QR provides a dedicated template for this: opening hours by day of the week, including lunch breaks, along with address and phone number. The code on the door, flyer, and business card always displays the current status. You still manage the Google Profile directly on Google, since most guests search there first.

Special times and holidays

Most errors occur on holidays, during vacations, and during short-term closures. Google offers its own special opening hours for this purpose, which you can enter in advance without changing the regular hours.

• Enter holidays for the entire year in advance.
• Announce operational leave at least several weeks in advance at all locations.
• In case of a spontaneous closure, first change Google and the sign on the door.

Specify kitchen closing time

For guests it matters not only when you open, but until when hot food is served. “Open until 23:00” with the kitchen closing at 21:00 leads to disappointed guests. So state your kitchen hours explicitly – on the website, on the notice and on the menu.

Checklist

• Create a list of all locations where your times are recorded.
• Set a primary source and only refer to it on printed materials.
• Enter holidays and vacations in Google once a year.
• Specify kitchen closing times separately from opening hours.
• Check the times at all locations once every three months.

Formulations that avoid misunderstandings

• “Kitchen until 21:30” instead of just “open until 23:00”.
• Monday and Tuesday closed" instead of a blank in the table.
• State “Lunch break 14:00 to 17:00” explicitly.
• In seasonal operation, specify the date of the season.
• On holidays, specify the exact date, not just "closed on holidays.

The more precise the information, the fewer calls and disappointed guests. Maintaining consistent times across all channels also makes a business appear reliable.

Frequently asked questions