Restaurant questions that show why diners book again
Ask diners about the food, the service, the wait and the check while the meal is still on their mind. Each question below comes with when to ask it and what the answer tells you.
What restaurant survey questions tell you
Restaurant survey questions ask diners what the meal was like from their side of the table: how the food and the service rated, how long they waited, whether the check felt fair and what they would order again. Unhappy diners rarely complain to the server. They simply don't book again, so a short survey is where you hear about a cold plate or a slow kitchen.
Ask at the end of the meal or the same evening. A QR code on the check or the table card opens the survey on the diner's phone, and a tag for the table or the location on the link is kept with each answer for workflows, Google Sheets and the API. Pick three to five questions for the table, and send the rest by email to diners who booked.
Each written answer is read as it arrives and given a category, a theme, a sentiment and an urgency, so a complaint about a missed allergy note reaches the manager before a wish for a new dessert does.
- Questions
- 14
- Best asked
- At the end of the meal or that evening
- Industry
- Hospitality
- Where to find them
- From library in the Usertick survey editor, on every plan
The 14 restaurant and dining questions, with when to ask each
Grouped by what they tell you. Use them as they are or change the wording.
The meal at a glance
Start with a quick read of the meal and the two ratings that explain it, then ask whether the diner would come back.
- 01Emoji
How was your meal?
A quick first read of the meal on a row of faces. It takes a second to answer at the table, and Results shows each face with its share, compared with the period before.
- 02Stars
How would you rate the food?
A star rating for the food alone. Read it beside the service rating to separate a kitchen problem from a floor problem; Results shows the average and the share who rated 4 or higher.
- 03Stars
How would you rate the service?
A star rating for service, kept apart from the food so a slow night on the floor doesn't hide behind a good plate. Compare lunch and dinner if you survey both.
- 12Yes / No
Would you come back?
A plain yes or no on returning. Select No in Results to filter the page to those diners and see where their food and service ratings fell.
Waiting and the pace of service
Two rulers for the minutes diners waited, which show whether a low service rating comes from the door or the kitchen.
- 04Ruler
How many minutes did you wait for a table?
Minutes waited for a table, on a ruler from 0 to 60. Results shows the median and the middle half, which tells you more than an average when one busy Saturday skews the numbers.
- 05Ruler
How long did your food take to arrive?
Minutes from ordering to the food arriving. Read it with the service rating: a long wait with a good rating means the team kept diners informed, and a long wait with a poor rating means they didn't.
The menu, the value and what stood out
Ask what diners noticed, whether the menu made sense and whether the check felt fair before you change dishes or prices.
- 06Multiple choice
What stood out most?
One pick for what stood out most. Results shows a donut with each share; a rising share for the atmosphere or the drinks shows what diners come for beyond the food.
- 07Yes / No
Was the menu easy to understand?
A yes or no on the menu. Select No in Results to read those diners' other answers, where unclear dish names and missing prices tend to show up.
- 11Big scale
How fair was the check for what you had?
How fair the check felt for what was served, from 1 to 10. A falling average while food ratings hold steady points to prices or portions; Results shows a column per step.
- 10Text
Which dish should we never take off the menu?
Asks for the dish diners would miss most. These answers protect your best sellers when you trim the menu, and the theme on each answer shows when the same dish is named again and again.
- 09This or that
When you eat out, which do you prefer?
Two pairs: how diners like to order, and a set menu or a la carte. Results shows a split bar per pair. Change the first pair to two ways your diners actually order, such as at the table or from a QR menu.
Dietary needs and the next booking
Use these before or after a visit to check that the kitchen met each diner's needs and to learn when they plan to return.
- 08Multiple choice
Which dietary needs did we handle?
Which dietary needs the kitchen handled on this visit, with several picks allowed. Pair it with the food rating to check that diners with needs rate the meal as well as everyone else.
- 14Multiple choice
Do you have any dietary needs?
Asks about dietary needs ahead of a visit, including dairy free and nut allergy. Use it in a booking or pre-visit survey, and ask the question about needs the kitchen handled after the meal, so diners don't answer twice.
- 13Date
When would you like to book a table?
Lets the diner pick a date for the next visit on a calendar. Results shows the picked dates, which helps you plan staff; follow up from the inbox if you take bookings by hand.
Tips for asking about restaurant and dining
Small choices that get honest, useful answers.
- 01
Put the QR code on the check
Diners already have a phone in hand to pay. A QR code on the check or the table card gets answers while the meal is still fresh.
- 02
Keep three questions at the table
Ask the meal face, the food or service rating and one open question. Send the longer set by email to diners who booked.
- 03
Tag each table or location
Add a tag for the location or the table to the survey link. The tag is kept with each answer for workflows, Google Sheets and the API, so you can see where problems cluster.
- 04
Answer complaints the next morning
Give every low rating an owner in the inbox. A call from the manager the next morning gives the diner a reason to try again.
Add these questions to a survey
From the library to the first answers.
- 1
Open the library
In the Usertick survey editor, choose From library, filter by industry and topic, and add several questions at once.
- 2
Or paste your own list
Paste questions reads up to 10 questions from any text on Free, 100 on Starter and 200 on Pro and above, keeps your wording and picks an answer type for each.
- 3
Choose where it runs
Show the survey on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.
- 4
Read the answers
Results counts every score and choice, and Usertick reads each written answer and files it by topic, on every plan.
Templates and more questions about restaurant and dining
Full surveys that ask about the same things, and neighboring topics in the library.
Templates
Browse all templatesFrequently asked questions
At the end of the meal, with a QR code on the check or the table, or the same evening by email to diners who booked. Usertick sends email to a contact list now or on a date you schedule.
Three to five at the table and a few more by email. Start with the meal face or the food rating, add service and the wait, and end with an open question.
Yes. Run one survey per location, or put a tag for the location on the survey link. The tag is kept with each answer for workflows, Google Sheets and the API.
Yes, for the faces, the star ratings, the yes or no questions and the multiple choice questions. The rulers, the date and the open questions open on the survey's own page.
Yes. The question library comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.
Yes. Once a question is in your survey, reword it, change its options or its answer type, and add logic to skip it for some answers.
Yes. The library is translated into Usertick's built-in languages, and in any other language it shows in English for you to translate.
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