38 Restaurant Survey Questions to Help You Gain Valuable Insight in Saudi Arabia

Recent research and the data acquired from them demonstrate that the restaurant business in Saudi Arabia is booming.

According to data, Saudi Arabia’s foodservice business is expected to rise to over $13.7 billion by 2025, up from an impressive $11.6 billion in 2019.

In 2015, surveys counted over 11,000 full-service restaurants and a little over 8,000 cafes. 

The food business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is impressive. When you examine how the industry appears, becoming a part of it guarantees a significant payout.

But with so many restaurants to compete against, you must stay ahead of the game and ensure your business is offering the best service, food, atmosphere, etc., to your customers. 

One way to know what you need to work on is to ask your customers what they think through a restaurant survey. 

But what should you ask to get the most critical information?

Here are some sample restaurant survey questions to help you create the perfect survey. 

Types of Restaurant Survey Questions 

It’s critical to ask the correct questions on your restaurant survey while collecting guest feedback.

Consider what elements of your restaurant may use some improvement, and base your survey on that. Don’t just ask the same questions you’ve seen on other restaurant surveys; there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach.

Below are some questions that address essential components of your restaurant that may require improvement. Meal quality, service, cleanliness, atmosphere, and food ordering and delivery are all considered factors.

However, 38 questions is a bit much for a single survey, so think about what you want to get out of it before choosing your restaurant survey questions. 

It would be best to keep the number of questions you ask to a minimum since most guests will not want to spend 20 minutes filling out a restaurant survey.

Consider combining open-ended and multiple-choice questions in your survey. Multi-part questions should be avoided since visitors will most likely only answer the first portion and ignore the remainder.

Restaurant Survey Questions to Consider Asking 

We have listed some sample restaurant survey questions that you can use to gain valuable insights for your restaurant in Saudi Arabia. 

General Customer Information Questions 

Before diving into specific themes, it’s a good idea to get some background information about your customers who are answering your survey. 

Information such as if customers are frequent visitors or just come once in a while is essential to know. This information might help you decide what to do with the survey replies since you may take ideas from regulars more seriously than those from someone unlikely to return.

How did you hear about our restaurant?

The information you get from this question will assist you in determining whether or not your marketing techniques are effective.

Take advantage of your most popular answer to build your customer base further. If you wish to assess the impact of a campaign, you may also provide distinct answer possibilities.

How often do you visit our restaurant?

This question will allow you to divide customers into three groups: first-time diners, occasional dinners, and loyal diners. 

This information allows you to understand customer feedback and behavior better.

How likely are you to recommend us to others?

If you ask your customers if they would suggest your restaurant to others, you will better grasp your restaurant’s overall appeal.

People are reluctant to promote a business where they did not have a good time with others, so if you’re getting much lousy feedback, you should know that your consumers aren’t satisfied and that it’s time to change.

A question like this is known as a “Net Promoter Score” or NPS inquiry. Monitoring the responses to this question might help you determine whether or not your business is ready to expand. 

Customers are asked to rank their chances of referring you on a scale of one to ten. Then, based on their responses, they are classified as Promoters, Passives, or Detractors.

Other fundamental questions to gain general knowledge include:

1. How likely are you to return to our restaurant? 
2. How far did you travel to visit our location?
3. Do you think our restaurant timings are convenient?
4. What was your favorite part about your experience with us?
5. What was the minor favorite part of your experience?
6. Do you have any feedback for us?

Questions Related to the Food and Drinks You Offer 

Your restaurant’s food and beverages are usually the key reasons people choose to eat at your establishment.

Use your restaurant survey questions to gain valuable feedback about this critical element of your business. 

Although you should not solely use consumer feedback to determine what is on your menu, it is helpful to learn what customers think of your food and beverages to improve them and better suit their demands.

How did you find your food?

Food is the most crucial part of your restaurant’s operation. You won’t keep patrons if your cuisine isn’t up to par, regardless of how fantastic your service or ambiance is.

Knowing what customers think of your cuisine may help you fine-tune and improve your menu to suit their tastes and preferences.

Did you feel anything was missing from our menu?

This is a terrific method to discover more about what your customers seek while also ensuring they know their opinions are valued. 

Plus, asking your customers their opinions on dishes they feel you are missing will allow you to come up with new menu items to try in the future.

Did our menu accommodate any allergies or dietary restrictions you may have?

Such a question lets you see whether your menu selection includes different dietary requirements that your customers may have. 

With the information this question gathers, you can also determine which allergens of dietary requirements are most common amongst your customer base and ensure that you increase the number of dishes that cater to these individuals. 

Other questions you can ask regarding the food and beverages you offer include:

1. How was the presentation of your food?
2. How would you rate the value of your meal?
3. How would you rate the portion size of your dish?
4. How was the beverage selection on our menu?
5. Was the food description adequate to describe the dish you had?
6. What did you like best about our menu?

Facility Questions 

Below are questions that you should include in your survey to determine whether there are any issues with the facilities you offer at your establishment. 

Your restaurant may have taken a lot of time and effort to set up. However, suppose your guests believe it’s too noisy, challenging to see the menu, or just inaccessible. In that case, chances are they will not choose to come back.

The facilities you offer and the environment or ambiance of your restaurant have quite a bit of effect on whether people will visit your restaurant and whether they will become repeat guests. 

How would you rate the restaurant’s environment?

You may have an ideal image of your restaurant in mind; for example, you may market your restaurant as a kid-friendly place perfect for family gatherings, but does it come across as such? 

This inquiry in your survey might help you figure out if your customers are seeing your restaurant the way you want them to. 

If the answers don’t match your image, you may want to improve your restaurant’s environment to meet your goals. 

Did you find our restaurant to be both clean and hygienic?

Customers have made cleanliness and hygiene a significant concern, so it’s essential to get their feedback on how clean your restaurant is to verify that you satisfy their expectations.

How would you rate the accessibility of our restaurant?

This is a valuable question to ensure that you are catering to the needs of any disabilities your customers may have. 

You want to ensure that your restaurant is accessible for all, including considering things such as bathroom access, table hights, etc. 

Other questions you can ask include:

1. How comfortable were our seats?
2. How would you rate our restaurant’s ambiance? 
3. How was the music at our restaurant?
4. How did you find the lighting at our restaurant? 

Customer Service Questions 

Asking questions about your customer service may help you figure out how your team is impacting your customers and how well your employees are portraying your restaurant’s brand.

Even if you serve the most sumptuous cuisine and drinks in town, your customers will be disappointed if your service isn’t up to par. 

These questions might assist you in determining if there are any service issues so that you can fix them.

How was our service today?

You can phrase this question differently according to how you want to gather information about your customer service. You can keep the question open-ended or put a scale for customers to rate the service on. 

Considering service is a vital aspect of a dining experience, it’s critical to know if your employees meet the restaurant’s standards.

Based on this question, you may make critical personnel decisions, such as expanding your staff’s training or employing more workers to improve the customer experience.

Did you feel welcomed at our restaurant? 

This is an easy technique to determine whether or not your customers are satisfied with the service and feel welcome at your establishment. 

It also assists you in determining whether or not your staff has the appropriate attitude.

You could easily adjust this question and phrase it to learn more about your staff, such as was your staff friendly and accommodating? 

Who served you today?

This question is beneficial for determining which servers are working the best and who may require more training.

This question also helps create further clarity regarding the other customer service questions you ask. 

Other questions you can ask concerning the customer service include:

1. How was the speed of service?
2. Did your server address any issues during your visit adequately if you faced any issues during your visit?
3. How was your server’s knowledge of the menu?

Online Ordering Platform Questions 

Suppose you’ve just launched a new online ordering system. In that case, you should ask your customers how they feel about the user experience.

You want to ensure that the food comes swiftly and in satisfactory quality.

According to projections, the market for food delivery in Saudi Arabia is forecast to rise by 9.8 percent by 2024. 

According to studies, the number of users in the online food delivery industry in Saudi Arabia is predicted to reach over 14.2 million by 2025.

It is evident that online delivery is getting more popular; therefore, it’s critical to obtain feedback on your customers’ ordering experiences.

Which platform did you use to order your food?

This is a crucial question if you offer online delivery from multiple platforms. It would help to calculate which of your platforms are the most popular and worth extra attention. 

Your website and any third-party platforms where your restaurant is featured should be listed. Ask the following inquiry when a customer chooses a third-party: “Is there any special reason why you didn’t purchase straight from our website?” 

This follow-up inquiry will tell you what you need to change to increase the number of individuals that purchase from your website. 

Blink can help you create the perfect online ordering experience for your customers with their branded website and mobile application. To find out more about what Blink offers, check out the website. 

Was your order accurately delivered? 

Although errors are less frequent with online orders than phone transactions, they can occur. 

Determine whether they do so for you, and then determine what’s causing them.

How long did your food take to arrive?

One of the most crucial restaurant survey questions for online order customers is if they arrived on time.

You can provide options with time intervals for customers to choose from. By doing so, you will make collecting and using the data more efficient. 

The response will inform you whether you need to change your expected wait time and optimize your business from meal production to delivery so consumers don’t have to wait as long.

Other questions you can ask about your customer’s experience with online ordering include:

1. How easy was it to order from our website online?
2. Did you use any discounts or offers?
3. Were you offered your payment method of choice?
4. How would you rate the way your food was packed?

Using the Answers from the Restaurant Survey Questions 

Now that you’ve gotten feedback from your questions, it’s time to put some of the adjustments your consumers have requested into action.

You don’t have to solve every issue highlighted by each customer’s feedback. However, it would help if you focused on any serious problems and frequently cited issues.

When it comes to responses that involve personal preferences, it’s best to wait and see whether there’s a pattern before making significant changes in your business.

It would help to track visitor feedback and frequently examine to know what your customers are after and make sure your restaurant is performing at its best.