1. Promote and manage your reviews in the right way 

Reviews are very powerful tools for businesses and can easily affect your reputation. Customers always want to hear from other customers about their experience, and especially when it comes to the hospitality sector.

The more positive reviews you can gain, the better for your reputation, so make sure to set up a way for customers to leave reviews (such as on your website). Display positive reviews proudly and share them through your marketing efforts.

It's also important to manage negative reviews professionally. Responding to negative reviews in a professional way is a good idea and can allow for damage control that can not only placate the customer in question but also allow others to see how you handled the situation.

2. Take out the right business insurance

The reputation of your restaurant isn't just about what customers think of you; it's about what your employees think of you, too. You'll want a staff team that can depend on you to be reliable and experts in what you do, and one way to make sure your place of work can be trusted is by ensuring you have food business insurance to protect your business and its employees. Without the right policies in place, employees can easily begin to feel less than protected in your place of work, which can damage your reputation — and they then may also begin speaking of it to others.

3. Think about location

If you're in the process of looking to open a restaurant, or maybe you're considering a relocation, where you choose to set up shop is going to have a significant impact on your reputation. While it's naturally possible to have an amazing restaurant in a less sought-after area — and, equally, a bad restaurant in a high-end area — where you choose to do business can still have an impact on what consumers may think of you based on location. Therefore, if possible, choose an area you know is popular and viewed highly.

4. Create something unique to you

There are many opportunities for restaurants to create signature dishes, deals, unique restaurant décor, and more, and you should take full advantage of that to hone your reputation. If you can create something unique that everyone will want to share, then positive marketing will do the work for you.