Best Time to Post on Social Media for Restaurant
Jake’s texting me at almost 3 AM. “Dude, I’m going crazy. Can you swing by?”
His dinner looks like a tornado hit it when I get there. Coffee cups everywhere, napkins all over, and Jake’s hunched over his phone like some kind of cave troll.
“Look at this shit,” he says without even looking up. “Posted our bacon cheeseburger last night at 8. Twelve fucking likes. But last week? Same burger, posted during lunch prep – went nuts. Like 200 likes, comments, people actually showed up.”
Restaurant owners think Instagram’s like playing the lottery. Sometimes you win, mostly you don’t.
It’s totally wrong
Jake Finally Gets His Head Out of His Ass
“When’d you post a good one?”
He’s scrolling forever, squinting at his phone. “I dunno… 11:30 maybe? I rushed around for lunch, snapped a quick pic.”
There it is. Jake stumbled into the sweet spot by accident.
11:30 AM is perfect for food pics. People sitting at work getting hungry, bored shitless, scrolling to avoid doing actual work. Then BAM – amazing burger photo right when their stomach growls. Brain says “Holy crap I NEED that.”
8 PM? Everyone’s full from dinner, crashed on the couch binge-watching something. Burger photo’s just pretty wallpaper then.
Sarah's Breakfast Revelation
Sarah runs this place down the street. Her croissants are ridiculous – people drive like 30 minutes just for them. She was posting around 10 AM when morning rush finally died.
Getting okay likes, nothing crazy.
I tell her “Post at 6:45 AM instead.”
She looks at me like I’m high. “Nobody’s awake then.”
“Trust me.”
So she starts posting when people are stumbling around half-dead, checking phones while coffee brews, deciding whether to make breakfast or just grab something.
Engagement went through the roof in two weeks. But the real win? Customers coming in like “Saw your story about chocolate croissants – got any left?”
That’s when Sarah figured it out. Don’t post when YOU have time. Post when THEY’RE deciding what to eat.
Times That Actually Matter
6:30-8:00 AM – The Coffee Zombie Hours Breakfast spots, coffee shops – this is money. People getting dressed, scrolling phones, making morning decisions. A good latte pic can totally change their commute.
10:30-11:30 AM – The Lunch Panic Jake’s magic time. Morning hunger hits, people get antsy at work, start scrolling. Your lunch post solves their problem before they know they have it.
2:30-4:00 PM – Afternoon Brain Death Sounds random but works. 3 PM crash hits everyone, they scroll mindlessly. Dessert pic or happy hour post wakes them up.
4:30-6:00 PM – The Dinner Scramble Gold for dinner places. Work’s ending, people making evening plans. Your special might save them from ordering pizza AGAIN.
Marcus's Epic Fail
Marcus has this pizza place, big with college kids and night shift workers. Total late crowd. But he posted amazing pizza pics at normal times – 11 AM, 2 PM, 5 PM.
His people don’t want pizza at 2 PM Tuesday. They want it at 9 PM while watching Netflix for the millionth time.
Took him forever to figure this out. Once he switched to 7:30-9:30 PM, orders exploded. Same pics, just different time.
Platform Bullshit
Jake posted the same stuff at the same time on Instagram and Facebook. Instagram worked, Facebook sucked.
Facebook people were families not scrolling at 11:30 AM – they’re working, dealing with kids. They check Facebook at night, so dinner posts kill it there.
Stop Following Generic Advice
I told Jake to quit reading those “best times” articles and check his own data.
POS showed everything – busiest takeout Tuesday-Thursday 12:15-1:00 PM, Friday nights 6:30-8:00 PM.
Started posting Tuesday-Thursday 11:45 AM, Friday 5:45 PM. Engagement doubled instantly. Customers started saying “That special is still available? Saw it on Instagram.”
Bingo.
What You Need to Do
Check your numbers. When do you get busy? When do orders spike?
Post 30-45 minutes before.
Your customers aren’t everyone else’s.
Try it for two weeks.
Jake’s lunch is packed now. He thinks his food got better but really he just posts when people are hungry instead of when he remembers his phone exists.
It’s timing – show up when they’re choosing food, not when it’s convenient for you.
