If you found this blog, then you're probably already a foodie using social media, so I want to hear your nominations in the comments section below. As a foodie and social media strategist, I am frequently searching for and tagging restaurants in my tweets and Facebook posts, so let me get the nominations going with my best, worst, and most missed Dallas restaurants in social media…
The Best Dallas Restaurants in Social Media
These restaurants have accounts in multiple social media sites (min. Facebook and Twitter), post regularly (several times a week), respond to customer comments in less than 2 days, and post content you actually want to know, assuming you like their restaurant.
- Il Cane Rosso: Facebook, Twitter @CaneRosso.
- This is the only restaurant owner I've ever met who was monitoring his Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Yelp in real time, such that he noticed a sudden influx of posts from me and my foodie friends. He sought out our table, introduced himself, thanked us for all the posts, and gave us a free pizza. Social media customer service doesn't get any better than this!
- Frankie's Sports Bar & Grill: Facebook, Twitter @FrankieSportsBar.
- I tweeted/Facebooked about a bad experience and the next day they responded to get details and take action. That's how you turn a social media negative into a positive!
- The Pearl Cup: Facebook, Twitter @The_Pearl_Cup
- Lockhart Smokehouse: Facebook, Twitter @DallasLockhart
- Bread Winners Cafe: Facebook, Twitter @Bread_Winners
- La Duni: Facebook, Twitter @LaDuniLove
- I'm sure there are many more!
The Worst Dallas Restaurants in Social Media
These restaurants have used social media to make a bad situation even worse.
- Lee Harvey's: They have a few fans on their Facebook Page (and Yelp) who jump on the chance to incessantly berate other fans like junior high school bullies, while the Lee Harvey's Facebook admins sit back and seem to enjoy it. I was a victim of this last August and absolutely could not believe the way L.H. handled it, so I have not been back since and I tell everyone else not to go (there are plenty of better burgers in Dallas anyway). About 10 months later, someone who follows me on Twitter told me of a very similar experience they had. I looked into it and saw the same bullies were still at it. Unbelievable! Read my story in my 1-star Yelp review.
- Maple & Motor: The owner apparently personally attacked negative Yelpers so badly (ex. "go to hell") that Yelp removed him from their site. See this article about it in D Side Dish.
- Dimples Cupcakes: After lots of bad press, this cupcakery is trying to make a comeback, apparently under new owners. The first time I heard about the new owners was when I noticed their Facebook announcement and this subsequent comment thread:
Now THAT'S how you win back customers!
There are a few popular, well-known restaurants that shockingly don't have an account on Facebook and/or Twitter, or they have one that no official rep has posted to in months. As Dallas Foodie and the owner of a Dallas social media marketing agency, DGdesign, I specialize in helping restaurants, bars and food businesses with their social media strategies, so I don't want to call out the restaurants that I am in the process of working with. Instead, I think people would rather hear which Dallas restaurants you think are most obviously missing in social media.
Bijoux and the Second Floor restaurant do a great job on twitter - they have weekly trivia contests for gift certificates and always respond when I mention them. Plus the food is consistently amazing, so that's a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI think Veritas also does a good job with email newsletters/twitter/facebook to provide info on specials or events, check in discounts, etc.
I actually didn't see what the big fuss was about for Il Cane Rosso way back when they first opened at Chocolate Angel, but I'm now a (slightly obsessive) fangirl because of how involved Jay is on Facebook and all the mouthwatering photos and updates posted. He also brings a great sense of humor that makes his restaurant that much more approachable and exciting.
One that bugs me on twitter is Dough Pizzeria. They are currently in San Antonio but will be opening (where Chocolate Angel was ironically) in Dallas soon, so I'm following them. They typiclly post way more news stories than info about their restaurant. Yes, maybe it's useful, but I can get that elsewhere and I want to hear about the FOOD!
I would sorta add Good 2 Go Taco to the most missed - not because they don't have a Facebook account, but because since they moved from the Green Spot and business model changed a bit. There was a streak of almost 6 months in the height of their popularity at the Green Spot where they updated their menu daily and posted a pic on Facebook. I remember checking every day and holding my breath until they updated the menu for the day to see what I had to look forward to. Such a great marketing tool! I still love them, but miss those days!
ReplyDeleteTricia: I found @bijoux_dallas and let them know you nominated them. I can't find a restaurant called Second Floor on Twitter in Dallas. What is their Twitter name?
ReplyDeleteVeritas is another I considered, but I am tired of hearing about the same special every Tues. night.
Good to know about Dough because I have been awaiting their Dallas arrival. Since someone mentioned them in my article about missing foods in Dallas a few months ago. Restaurants should not be posting like a news service.
Jamey: I didn't know how Good 2 Go used to post, but what you describe would have been great use. I agree they are not as active as they should be, which is the equivalent of what the The Pearl Cup does. Any place where people hang out on laptops is a place that needs to have an A-game in social media!
ReplyDeleteFollow-up: Il Cane Rosso further proved their first spot on the best list by posting this article on Facebook no more than 10 seconds after I posted it, and by being the first restaurant to retweet it. Owner Jay Jerrier is ON THE BALL like none other!
ReplyDelete@UrbanTaco is great! praise, complaints, and plain ole general inquiries. They do $1 "twitteritas" sometimes and have DMed me coupons and free drink messages for mentions.
ReplyDeletePomodoro does as well. Twitter handle varies by location (Plano, Lakewood, etc)
@greenzsalads always responds to customers and does fun little contests sometimes. Freebies with foursquare check ins - drink or cookie for all and 50% off for mayor (unless that has changed).
Honorable mentions (don't want to close out to check names so please correct if wrong handles!):
@knoxpub
@deelincolns
@quesadyas
Jay at Cane really is the best!! Scott Gottlich uses Bread & Butter PR out of Austin, so they do his social media sites and contests for both Bijoux and The Second Floor (@2ndFloorbistro) They are ok, but not as perfect as they could be when they just post the same things over and over, especially since you can schedule those contests (and they still aren't on time a lot). So Jay gets extra points for always being on top of things and for always remembering you!
ReplyDeleteCourtney: Thanks for the great list! I need to go back to @UrbanTaco soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteBobby Walters at Komali is really figuring out their Facebook too and doing a great job with yummy specials!
ReplyDeleteSO RIGHT about Good2Go!! Those pictures were sometimes the highlight of my day :)
ReplyDeleteThe Second Floor is the Westin Galleria restaurant, started by the same chef (Scott Gottlich) as at Bijoux. They are @2ndfloorbistro on twitter.
I would love to see more from Jinbeh Restaurant or Zaguan.
ReplyDeleteAck! And how did I forget Hypnotic Donuts on Facebook!! They even had those cool videos for awhile. Ok seriously, I'll be quiet now :)
ReplyDeleteI love that I'm learning from your comments about some new restaurants and some I wasn't following yet! I don't mind additional comments from the same person. :-)
ReplyDelete@Courtney, why are you calling out @quesadyas? What have they not done in your opinion?
ReplyDelete@Annon: I think you may have misread "honorable" as "horrible"? Courtney is saying @QuesaDyas is doing good.
ReplyDeleteI tend to disagree with Courtney on QuesaDyas. I had a horrible ordering experience with them and it took them almost a week to get back with me on Twitter. I had to e-mail the owner directly to get any sort of resolution, but that's not huge.
ReplyDeleteThis week, though, they have started sending me e-mails every. freaking. day. with their daily specials - bad idea. When I tweeted something about it, the manager told me that they could take me off the list, but they planned to continue doing just that....eesh! bad marketing!
We are honored to be on this list, thank you so much for participating with us online and at our restaurants! It is always a pleasure to have you join us at any La Duni :D
ReplyDeleteStephanie
Stephanie@LaDuni.com
Director of Social Media at La Duni
@Amy. Hope your doing well. It's Paul from Quesa-D-Ya's. Again, our apologies for the bad experience you encountered when ordering. Also, we do our best to attend as quickly as possible to every situation. If I remember correctly, you received a full refund and a public apology via Social Media.
ReplyDeleteAs far as marketing goes, we are a small company doing what we can to survive in this economy. Emailing our specials to people that have signed up to recieve them at no cost to the company seems like a win-win. I apologize for bothering you with our cost effective solutions to keep our business growing. We stopped emailing for about 2 months to give everyone a break from
D-Ya's mail and we just started back Monday.
@Amy. Hope your doing well. It's Paul from Quesa-D-Ya's. Again, our apologies for the bad experience you encountered when ordering. Also, we do our best to attend as quickly as possible to every situation. If I remember correctly, you receiveed a full refund and a publ;ic apology via Social Media.
ReplyDeleteAs far as marketing goes, we are a small company doing what we can to survive in this economy. Emailing our specials to people that have signed up to recieve them at no cost to the company seems like a win-win. I apologize for bothering you with our cost effective solutions to keep our business growing. We stopped emailing for about 2 months to give everyone a break from
D-Ya's mail and we just started back Monday.
Paul, I think Amy's complaint is that your frequency of emails is too much for a restaurant. Consumers have come to expect/tolerate once daily specials in social media and monthly email updates from restaurants. CNN can get away with more than that because their content fits a need that people have for realtime news. Restaurant specials just don't fall into that category. Too frequent messaging can be viewed as spam, causes people to remove themselves from your list and talk about it with others in places like this. Please email me for another tip about your message here. :-)
ReplyDelete@Dallas Foodie...Thanks for the post and the comments. We appreciate anyone who looks to help others with their Social Media. We are still learning this ever changing medium, so your input is most appreciated!
ReplyDelete@Dallas Foodie,
ReplyDeleteLove the "real" experience that you shared at Il Cane Rosso. What a beautiful example of how social media is not just about selling in our business but about building relationships with our guests! Great stuff!
(On a side related note): While I was attending the SW Food Expo in Dallas, I observed that Yelp's booth was not being visited when others in the same area were. No fault to Yelp's booth design or people but I believe that many industry folks still find it difficult to embrace social media for several reasons.
Great Post!!!
Jim @hospitalityfan
Replied anonymous as something was not synching up.
Jim @hospitalityfan: Thanks for sharing your observation about the Yelp booth. It is silly how many business owners don't realize the power of Yelp. A Google search for most business names will turn up their Yelp page in the top 5 results- and you can bet people are looking at it before they try out that business. I think the biggest misconception is that business owners don't realize that negative reviews can be the best part of their entire business existence, but only if handled the right way. You'll have to hire me for that secret though!
ReplyDeleteI had to stop following DallasLockhart because of the frequency and silliness of their tweets.
ReplyDeleteYea kind of silly...I was one of the silly ones before...so thanks,lol...Maybe still silly I dunno!...I will have to admit I really did not understand the advantages of utilizing social media until someone spoke in a language of business vs technology (book titled: Crush It! by an author rang social media bell because he is a former retailer that spoke in a language I understood). I am pretty sure you would agree the good restaurants know the results of negative reviews and they are intimately trained on how to handle complaints even if they don't utilize social media? I believe the issue lies in that the language that is utilized by some of the biggest proponents of social media is foreign and intimidating to many in business. I find when I ask someone in the business: "if someone was to walk up to you and say something nice about your restaurant what would you do? They answer "thank them." So the next question would be: Why would you ignore an appreciative guest online?" Their mind starts working from there...I really believe for those that never cared about the customer...this will be there demise and they will probably end up working for you...for the good/great hospitality businesses...they are smart and it just takes some time until someone speaks in their language and they will be on-board! Find most are working their bu_ts off and care so much..just a matter of time!
ReplyDeleteGot to run...have a good one! Jim
Jim
Jim, thanks for the business owner insight!
ReplyDeleteI feel the need to mention that the way to turn a negative online review into a positive is not the same method that most restaurants use in person (ex. free food or discount on the bill).
You are right on many levels. I am also 100% sure that the method you reference encompasses several areas that I have no knowledge about.
ReplyDeleteLove the above article and with your permission, I would like to input some of your experiences from the post into a future presentation?
Have a nice weekend!
Jim
Jim, thanks for asking. Please email me some details about what you have in mind: Dallas_Foodie@DGdesign.biz.
ReplyDelete