The Hopla! team
A restaurant has a huge advantage on TikTok: everything it does is worth watching. The flame under the pan, the sauce spooned over the plate, the dish heading out to the dining room. And the audience is there: 4 in 10 Belgian adults are on TikTok, according to DataReportal's Digital 2026 Belgium report (4.03 million people aged 18 and over). No need to dance or talk to camera: your phone and your everyday routines are enough. No account yet? Start with our article on TikTok for neighbourhood shops.
Three rules before you film
- Vertical, in the light. Phone upright, the window behind you and never behind the dish, lens wiped clean (in a kitchen, there's always a bit of grease on it).
- The best moment first. In its help centre for advertisers, TikTok recommends showing the key moment in the first three seconds. No shopfront filmed from a distance.
- Short text on screen, at the top or in the middle. At the bottom, the app's buttons cover it.
In the kitchen, during the rush
1. The dish leaving the pass
Film: the plate set down on the pass, the cloth wiping the rim, the waiter picking it up and heading for the dining room. Three short shots.
On screen: “What's going out to the tables this lunchtime”
Why it works: it's the most direct way to make people hungry. It answers the viewer's only question: what's there to eat at your place?
2. The chef's gesture in close-up
Film: a single gesture, very close up. The sauce being finished with butter, the shallot being finely chopped, the piece of beef sizzling. Phone propped against a container, sound as close as possible.
On screen: “The move you never see from the dining room”
Why it works: what you do without thinking fascinates people who've never seen it. The sound of the knife on the board does half the work.
3. Plating in fast motion
Film: phone fixed above the plate, you plate up as usual, then speed up the video in the app.
On screen: “From empty plate to dish of the day”
Why it works: people stay to see the result. If the last image echoes the first, the video loops with no visible cut and makes people want to watch it again.
In the dining room, with your customers
4. Today's menu in 7 seconds
Film: the starter, the main and the dessert, two seconds each, on the same table by the window. The plate makes people hungrier than the blackboard does.
On screen: “Today's lunch menu”, then the name of each dish on its own shot.
Why it works: useful information gets shared between colleagues (“shall we go there for lunch?”). Post it before service, at the same time every day: it becomes a regular appointment.
5. The first bite
Film: a customer tasting the dish, their real reaction, nothing staged. Ask them before filming, show them the video, and ask again before posting.
On screen: “His first bite of our homemade vol-au-vent”
Why it works: a real reaction is worth all the adjectives in the world. TikTok actually advises its advertisers to show people, staff or customers, rather than the product alone.
The trap
Filming a customer without asking. In Belgium, you can't share a person's image without their consent (Code of Economic Law, Article XI.174), and the Data Protection Authority makes clear that agreeing to be filmed and agreeing to publication are two separate consents. A verbal yes is valid, but something in writing (even a simple message) protects you better. For a child, you need the parents' consent.
6. The question you get asked all the time
Film: the answer, in action. For “Are your chips homemade?”: the sack of potatoes, the knife, the first fry.
On screen: the question, word for word: “Are your chips really homemade?”
Why it works: if your customers ask it in the dining room, others are wondering the same thing without daring to ask. The video answers it once and for all.
Before opening, after closing
7. Fresh from the market
Film: the crate of vegetables on the worktop, hands picking through it, the grower's stall if you go there (with their consent). Then the same produce on the plate.
On screen: “At the market this morning. On your plate this lunchtime.”
Why it works: the link between raw produce and the finished dish proves freshness. Anyone can write “homemade”; nobody can fake the crate.
8. Mise en place
Film: the containers lined up, the chopped herbs, the sauces in their squeeze bottles. Four very short shots, over a sound from the app.
On screen: “What we get ready before you arrive”
Why it works: order and cleanliness are reassuring. And this one can be filmed in peace.
9. Behind the scenes before service
Film: the dining room still empty, the chairs coming down off the tables, the cutlery being laid, the chef tasting the sauce, the door being unlocked.
On screen: “Just before we open the doors”
Why it works: you're showing what customers never see. People feel they know the team before they've even been.
10. Closing time
Film: the last plate going out, the kitchen being cleaned, the chairs going up on the tables, the lights going off. End on the door, as in the behind-the-scenes video.
On screen: “Service over. Back at it tomorrow lunchtime.”
Why it works: it's the real life of a restaurant, unfiltered. And the video tells people plainly when to come back.
Your Google rating counts too
A video makes people want to come, but before booking, they check the rating. According to BrightLocal's annual survey (February 2026, 1,002 consumers in the United States), 97% of respondents read reviews before choosing a local business. And 83% of those who were asked for a review left one. In a restaurant, the right moment to ask is when the bill arrives.
- Ask every table, in one sentence, as you bring the bill. All of them, not just the ones that look delighted: Google's rules forbid picking and choosing.
- Slip a QR code linking to your review form into the bill folder (Google provides it from your Business Profile), without pushing for it to be done on the spot.
- Reply to every review within the week, picking up on a detail: the vol-au-vent, the Sunday service. Again according to BrightLocal, 80% of respondents are likely to choose a business that replies to all its reviews.
- Never anything in return: a free coffee in exchange for a review is against Google's rules, even for a genuine review.
The full method is in our article on Google reviews.
Keeping up the pace
A video a day will wear out any team. Choose two formats a week, shoot all the clips in one go between services, and edit in the app that same evening. The caption starts with the useful information (what, where, until when), then three hashtags at most, including your town.
Example
A brasserie in Namur films on Monday after service: the dish leaving the pass and the menu of the day in three shots. On Tuesday at 10am, it posts the menu with this caption: “Lunch today: pumpkin velouté, Flemish beef stew in brown ale, chocolate mousse. Set menu €19, rue de Fer, while it lasts. #namur #brasserie #dishoftheday”
Also prepare the dates that matter for a restaurant (Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, the first days on the terrace) two weeks ahead: by the day before, your customers have already booked.
To do this week
- Film the plate leaving the pass ten times, three seconds each. Keep the best take.
- Post the menu of the day two days running, at the same time.
- Slip a review QR code into every bill folder.
For a fifteen-second video template and the calendar of Belgian dates, read our free survival guide for local shops in 2027 (in French).
