20 Restaurant Survey Questions for Food, Service, and the Dining Room

Three questions that make a useful starting point

An everyday survey can follow three steps: an overall impression, the topic that stood out, and an optional comment. This keeps the form manageable for guests and the responses useful to the restaurant.

1. ‘How was your meal today?’ Offer neutral choices such as Excellent, Good, Neutral, or There was an issue. Keep this first question simple.

2. ‘What stood out during your visit?’ Let guests choose from food, service, wait time, cleanliness, atmosphere, and value. This adds context that an overall rating cannot provide.

3. ‘Is there anything you would like to tell us?’ Keep the comment optional so guests can add detail in their own words without making everyone type. Misekoe follows a similar three-step flow and does not ask guests for a name or email address.

Ready-to-use question sets by purpose

Choose a short set that matches the reason you are asking. A set for everyday improvement can stay available, while a temporary topic can be added only for a limited period.

• Everyday improvement: How was your meal today? / What stood out? / Is there anything you would like to tell us?
• New menu item: How was the taste? / How was the portion? / How did the price feel for this dish? / Would you order it again? Add the menu item name and ask only guests who tried it.
• Service improvement: Was the ordering guidance clear? / Was it easy to get a staff member’s attention? / How was the service overall? / Is there anything we could improve? Ask about the process, not an individual employee.

For a small restaurant, a three-question everyday set plus a short-term set for a specific topic can be easier to maintain than a long form that is always on.

Food: questions 4–7

Use these when the restaurant wants to learn about food or a particular menu item.

• 4. How was the taste of the food? Use choices such as Satisfied, Neutral, or There was an issue. Add the item name when asking about a new dish.
• 5. How was the portion size? Choices can be Too large, About right, or Too small. This separates portion feedback from taste.
• 6. How did you find the menu selection? Useful when reviewing the menu itself, such as before or after a menu update; it may not need to appear in every daily survey.
• 7. Was there a dish you would like to have again? Use a short comment or list the menu items when you are asking about a particular menu.

Service: questions 8–10

Ask about the guest’s experience with the service rather than inviting a personal score for a named employee.

• 8. How was the service from our team? A broad question about the service experience.
• 9. Was the ordering guidance easy to understand? Useful after changing an ordering flow, such as a kiosk or mobile order.
• 10. Was it easy to get a staff member’s attention when you needed help? This can point to a restaurant-level process the team can review.

Wait time: question 11

11. How did you find the time it took for your food to arrive? Choices might be Faster than expected, About right, A little longer than expected, or Much longer than expected. Asking about perceived wait can be easier than asking guests to recall an exact number of minutes.

When a guest needs help with an order that has not arrived, a response reviewed after closing may be too late for that visit. Misekoe can notify the team only after a guest indicates there is an issue, confirms they are still at the restaurant, and asks to tell staff now.

Cleanliness: questions 12–13

12. How was the cleanliness of the restaurant? This checks the overall impression; if the response does not identify an area, ask a more specific follow-up during a focused survey.

13. Was your table area comfortable and clean? Narrow the question to a place guests have used. You can ask separately about the restroom when that is the area you want to review.

Atmosphere: questions 14–15

14. Did you feel comfortable during your visit? This broad question can reflect several parts of the experience, including noise, temperature, and seating.

15. How would you describe the atmosphere? If the restaurant needs to act on the answer, follow up about a specific factor such as music, brightness, or space between tables.

Price and return visits: questions 16–18

16. How did the prices feel to you? Choices could be Lower than expected, Reasonable, or Higher than expected.

17. How did the food and the price feel together? This asks about value in relation to the experience, not price in isolation. It can help review a change in price or menu contents.

18. Would you like to visit us again? Ask this when return intent matters to a decision. If the goal is to improve today’s operation, a question about food or service may give the team a clearer next step.

Free-text questions: questions 19–20

19. Is there anything you would like us to improve? This invites a specific suggestion. Use a neutral prompt instead when you want guests to mention positive as well as negative experiences.

20. Is there anything else you would like to tell us? This can capture a point the choices did not anticipate, but typing takes more effort. Keep it optional for an everyday survey. Repeated comments can suggest a new choice for a later version of the form.

You do not need to ask all 20 questions

The examples are a menu of options, not a 20-question form to display at once. Start with the three everyday questions and add only the topics tied to a decision. For a two-week new-menu check, for example, add taste, portion, price balance, and whether guests would order it again, then return to the shorter set when the period ends.

Keep the wording neutral

‘How was your meal today?’ does not imply that the guest should be satisfied. ‘Did you enjoy our delicious food?’ points toward a positive answer. Ask about the experience in neutral language so guests can choose what they actually felt.

Likewise, ‘How was the service?’ leaves room for a range of answers, while ‘Was the service polite?’ narrows attention to one favorable quality. Write the question to learn, not to collect praise.

Ask about age, gender, or visit frequency only when needed

Demographic and visit-purpose questions are common in some surveys, but they are not automatically needed in an everyday feedback form. Add one only if the restaurant has a clear plan for how the answer will change a decision.

If you do not plan to use the attribute, leave it out. A short question about the guest’s experience is often more useful than adding fields that increase the effort to respond.