Guide
Knowing who you are actually up against.
Your competitors are not the restaurants you admire. They are the ones appearing beside you when somebody is hungry.
In short
Your real competitors are the businesses that appear alongside you in local search and in the marketplace apps for your cuisine and area. Compare them on rating and review count, delivery time and fee, menu breadth, price point and whether they take direct orders. Act on the gaps that affect the decision at the moment of choosing, and ignore the rest.
Updated 28 August 2026
Find the real list
Search the terms your customers use, from a location near your shop, on a phone. Whoever appears is your competitive set, and it usually differs from the list in your head. Do the same inside each marketplace app you are on, because the ranking there is different again and that is where the side-by-side comparison actually happens.
What to record
Keep it to what changes a customer's decision in the ten seconds they are choosing. Anything else is interesting rather than useful.
- Rating and number of reviews
- Quoted delivery time and fee
- Minimum order
- Price of two or three comparable dishes
- Whether they take direct orders, and how good that page is
- Photo quality on the listing
Read their reviews, not their menu
Their recent negative reviews are the most useful document available to you, because they tell you exactly where a competitor is weak and what their customers care about. If three people complain about cold food and long waits, that is your opening, and it is more actionable than anything on their website.
Decide what to copy and what to ignore
Copy operational things that plainly work: a clearer menu structure, a better collection offer, faster quoted times. Ignore brand and design envy, which is where most competitor research goes to die. The question is always whether it changes the decision at the moment of ordering.
The honest limitation
You cannot see their numbers, so anything about their profitability is speculation. A competitor doing huge volume on heavy discounting may be in trouble while looking successful. Compare what is visible, and resist the urge to match a price you cannot afford because you assume they can.
Questions, answered straight.
Not covered here? Just ask us.
How often should I do this?
Quarterly is plenty, plus whenever a new place opens nearby. It is a review exercise, not a weekly habit.
Should I order from competitors?
Once or twice a year, yes. It is the only way to see their packaging, timing and portioning, and it costs the price of a meal.
What if a competitor undercuts me badly?
Check whether they are sustainable before reacting. Matching a price funded by a promotion budget or by losing money is a race you lose. Compete on time, quality or the direct channel instead.
Are the big chains my competitors?
For share of appetite, yes. For customers who want what you make, less than you think. Chains mostly compete on speed and price, which is not usually where an independent should stand.
See it run your restaurant.
Twenty minutes on your menu and your numbers. We'll show you what actually changes in the first month and exactly what it costs. If it's not right for your restaurant, we'll tell you that instead.
- Live in days, not months
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