The Best Food Marketing on Instagram

Photo courtesy of Jay Wennington via Unsplash.

Foodie Faves from the Sunshine State and Beyond

People like food. They like eating it, they like making it, they like taking pictures of it. Pasta, sandwiches, gourmet meals, desserts, comfort food, eclectic, experimental fusion, it’s like humans need it to survive (because, well, we do!). 

In the digital world, the number one place where people come together to show appreciation for food in all its forms is Instagram. So, if you’re a cafe or a restaurant you need to make sure you’re on the ‘Gram! It’s an important way to communicate who you are to potential customers and it’s maybe the best way to connect and show appreciation to existing customers. There are literally millions of foodie accounts on Instagram, so how do you stand out from the noise? Everyone has their own story and its important you find your own, but if you’re looking for some inspiration from restaurants and foodie accounts that are doing a great job already—keep on reading.

Timoti’s Seafood Shak

Timoti’s Seafood Shak in Fernandina Beach and Nocatee, Florida is a family-owned business that keeps things simple. If it’s wild caught and you can fry it—it’s on their menu. The freshness extends to their whole content library featuring professional food photography, reposts of guests’ pictures (known as user generated content or UGC), and selected highlights from their blog.

With a limited character count on Instagram, Timoti’s uses their website blog to simultaneously share more about their brand and improve their SEO. For Timoti’s and many other restaurants, their Instagram feed serves as an entry point to their restaurant where followers can learn about menu items, daily specials, local events and even order to go food from the link in their bio.

The Hyppo

The Hyppo with locations across Florida is re-inventing the dessert game. They specialize in all-natural artisan ice pops (popsicle is a trademarked word, doncha know) with fruity flavors, creamy textures and everything in between. 

Their feed is a mix of professional product shots, user generated content, and original graphic design, but it all follows a similar theme of bright colors and an emphasis on fresh fruit. Their graphic designer is busy creating special artwork for holidays and even hand drawn artwork that they use on merchandise like t-shirts and pennants.

Definitely worth a follow on a hot summer day!

Gideon’s Bakehouse

Just like the previous entry, Gideon’s Bakehouse is all about flipping what you expect from your desserts on its head. Unlike the bright colors of Hyppo, Gideon’s revels in the dark and mysterious—a Halloween all year round kind of vibe. 

Their loaded cookies are paying off in a major way online and in person. It’s not surprising to see a two hour wait at their flagship location in Disney Springs. And, if you polled someone in line, it’s more than likely they’re one of the 169,000 people who follow along on Instagram to get the first dibs on monthly flavors and special events.

GoJuice

If you want to see a perfectly curated feed, look no further than GoJuice. This smoothie and juice bar is mostly based in Florida with a location in Virginia Beach and Costa Rica. The beach and fitness lifestyle is evident in all of their photos which feature juices, the beach, fun activities (and often all of the above).

They also utilize single color backgrounds in their Stories, which makes them stand out from the crowd. Not every brand can get away with bright bold tones like GoJuice, but when it works it really works!

The Succulent Bite

Nico Norena, aka The Succulent Bite, is not a restaurant, but we couldn’t make this list without him. His fun and engaging reels featuring melty cheese, dripping sauces, and melting creams have propelled him to clout with over 1.2 million followers.

Alongside the occasional true restaurant review, Norena showcases original recipes that can be accomplished in a few simple steps in extreme closeup to show off incredible detail. There is plenty of #sponcon on his page, but since it often takes the form of a single ingredient it is hardly noticeable.

Yardbird Restaurants

Yardbird Restaurants is a restaurant group with locations in Miami, Las Vegas, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Singapore, Chicago and Denver. What’s noteworthy about this page is the balance between local foodie favorite and international chain restaurant. 

This is a good case study for restaurants with multiple locations, as while many of the restaurants share a similar menu, each location has daily specials which are occasionally promoted on the main feed. The restaurant group feels cohesive overall, while still making each location feel independent.

Ruby’s Cafe

A knack for turning Australian cuisine into Instagram ready plates has helped Ruby’s Cafe expand into three locations around New York City. Oversized portions of pasta, french fries and mouth watering chicken sandwiches are great fodder for the Explore page, but the real star is the mason jars and striped straws complete with logo.

Ruby’s thinks of their marketing from the inside out. What we mean by that is the design of their restaurant and food service almost demands you take a picture of it. Making sure to have Instagram-favorite menu items like main feed-worthy avocado toast and guilty pleasure drinks like “Frosé” is what sets them apart from any other restaurant. They are marketing to influencers who will essentially do even more marketing for them. Genius, really. 

Little Goat

Sometimes you don’t need anything more than good pictures and cute captions! This “globally-inspired” diner in Chicago is the brainchild of Stephanie Izard.

Through professional food photography, employee made reels and user generated content, Little Goat maintains a consistent color palette across its posts and feed. They highlight comfort food like burgers and pancakes as well as employee and guest spotlights to emphasize their community feel.

A fun twist on employee introductions and a great way to manufacture engagement is the way they play the classic game “2 Truths and a Lie” in their comment section.

Delilah

If you’re judging a restaurant purely on its “cool” factor, there’s nothing surpassing Delilah. This West Hollywood clubstaurant playfully says “Nothing to See Here” in their bio, but insiders know this is a favorite hangout of celebrities like Drake and Kanye West.

The owners run several other properties around Los Angeles and have built Delilah’s specific brand around exclusivity and privacy. Their feed plays into this with gorgeous food photography interspersed with black and white shots from Hollywood’s Golden Age. There is occasionally an interior shot of the decor, but Delilah knows, sometimes less is more.

The French Laundry

Possibly the world’s most famous restaurant, The French Laundry in northern California is a must-follow for all self-proclaimed foodies. Just like the restaurant they are advertising, the account is a firm believer in quality over quantity. Posts appear sporadically (about two or three times a month), highlighting special events or new menu items. Even with the lack of fresh content, The French Laundry has over 400,000 followers (the most of any restaurant account on this list).

Their absolutely breathtaking food photography and always impeccable plating is the stuff mood boards are made out of. Add this account to your list of go-to pages when you’re looking for foodie inspiration.

Ready to Make Your Restaurant Go Viral?

Meerkat Media Group has a vast range of experience with everything from daily content creation to complete brand marketing. If you’re looking for guidance on how to boost your restaurant’s profile on social media, we’re here to help. Contact us to learn how to take your digital marketing to the next level!