GBPly - Google Business Profile management software
    For restaurants & cafés

    Dine-in, takeaway or delivery: configure the profile for what you actually do

    Most restaurant profiles lose diners over three things: the wrong kind of hours showing, a menu that no longer matches what's on the pass, and confusion about whether a delivery-only kitchen even qualifies for a profile at its address. None of that gets fixed by posting more often.

    This guide starts with the configuration decision — dine-in, hybrid, or delivery-only — because almost everything else on the profile depends on getting that right first.

    The opening checklist

    Before specials posts, before review replies, confirm these. Each one shows up directly in what a hungry searcher sees on Search and Maps, and most of them are also the fields that go stale fastest.

    • Primary category matches how you actually serve food Google guideline

      Restaurant, café, bakery, pizza restaurant — the most specific single category that fits how customers experience the place.

    • Secondary categories describe the cuisine, not every dish you make GBPly recommendation

      Italian Restaurant, Seafood Restaurant, Vegan Restaurant — added as secondary categories where accurate, not stacked up to cover every keyword.

    • Dine-in, takeaway and delivery are each explicitly set Google guideline

      Not assumed. A profile with no dine-in but hours that imply table service misleads walk-ins.

    • Regular hours, plus special hours for known holidays Google guideline

      Confirmed even for holidays where hours don't change, per Google's own suggestion.

    • Menu is in the menu editor, not just a PDF link GBPly recommendation

      Items, sections and prices, so Google can match specific dish searches.

    • Reservation and ordering links point to your own systems where possible GBPly recommendation

      A live booking or ordering link does more for a hungry searcher than a phone number alone.

    • Attributes reflect reality: outdoor seating, high chairs, wheelchair access, dog-friendly Google guideline

      Only the ones that are actually true; some come from customer contributions and can't be fully controlled.

    • Photos are genuine shots of the food, room and team GBPly recommendation

      Not stock imagery. Diners use photos to decide whether a dish looks like what they'd want to order.

    Dine-in, takeaway or delivery: how should your profile be configured?

    This is the decision that shapes the rest of the profile, and it isn't always obvious. A kitchen that looks identical from the street can be configured three different ways depending on how customers are actually served.

    Storefront, hybrid, or delivery-only?

    Not every delivery kitchen qualifies for a storefront-style profile at its address — the test is whether a customer can actually be served there.

    1. Can a customer walk in and be served at the address — a counter, tables, or a till?

      Yes: go to the next question ↓
      No: A kitchen with no public-facing service at that address generally isn't eligible for a storefront-style profile there. It may be set up correctly as a delivery-focused listing, but check current Google guidance on virtual and delivery-only food brands before publishing an address — don't assume either way.

    2. Do you also offer takeaway or dine-in alongside delivery?

      Yes: Hybrid setup: storefront profile with dine-in or takeaway hours as the primary hours, and delivery added as a secondary 'More hours' entry if it runs on a different schedule.
      No: If the address is genuinely staffed and customer-facing but delivery is the only service offered, delivery hours become the primary hours — this is the last-resort case in Google's own ordering for restaurants.

    A planning aid based on Google's published guidelines, not a ruling. Google decides eligibility and verification.

    In practice, three shapes come up repeatedly:

    • Storefront: full dine-in restaurant or café GBPly recommendation

      Dine-in hours are the primary hours; takeaway and delivery (if offered) sit underneath as More hours.

    • Hybrid: a counter-service shop that also delivers GBPly recommendation

      Takeaway hours as primary if there's no table service; delivery as More hours if it runs later or on different days.

    • Delivery-only: a kitchen with no public access Not available to every business

      Needs a genuine answer to the eligibility question above before anything else is configured — this is the case most likely to be set up wrong.

    Regular hours, special hours, and More hours — not one field

    Restaurants have more hours fields available than most business types, and mixing them up is one of the most common setup mistakes.

    Google guideline
    Google's own guidance for restaurants says to use dine-in hours as the primary hours. If you don't offer dine-in, use takeaway hours; failing that, drive-through; delivery hours are the last resort if none of the others apply.
    Read Google's guidance
    Google guideline
    Special hours cover holidays, events, or a temporary closure of up to six days in a row — including the day you need to shut for a refurbishment or a one-off private event. Google specifically suggests confirming your holiday hours even when they're unchanged from normal.
    Read Google's guidance
    Google guideline
    "More hours" is a separate field for things like delivery, takeaway or happy hour that run on a different schedule to your main hours. It only becomes available once your regular hours are set, and it's generally meant to be a subset of them, not a replacement.
    Read Google's guidance

    In practice: set dine-in hours as your primary hours if you have them, add delivery or takeaway as "more hours" if those run differently, and use special hours every time something temporary changes — a bank holiday, a private function, a kitchen refit.

    Three practical walkthroughs

    1. Step 1

      A bank holiday

      Add a special hours entry for the date, even if you're staying open at the same times — Google suggests confirming unchanged holiday hours rather than leaving the date blank.

    2. Step 2

      A seasonal menu change

      Update items and prices in the menu editor ahead of the switch where possible, remove discontinued dishes rather than leaving them live, and keep the website menu in step so a diner doesn't see two different versions.

    3. Step 3

      A temporary closure

      A refit or a short family closure of up to six days fits special hours. Anything longer needs a more deliberate decision about whether to mark the business temporarily closed, which affects how it shows in Search.

    Two concepts in one building Illustrative example

    Illustrative structure — not a ruling on any specific business.

    • Building at 12 High Street

      Own profile

      • Daytime café (counter service, seating)

        Own profile

        Main category: Café

        Its own storefront profile with dine-in hours.

      • Evening delivery-only brand, same kitchen

        Only if it qualifies

        Main category: —

        Only a separate profile if it genuinely operates as a distinct, customer-facing entity at that address — check current rules before setting this up.

    Own profileOnly if it meets the rulesPart of the main profile

    How GBPly fits a restaurant's routine

    Three ways GBPly supports accurate information, reputation and local visibility without touching anything Google decides, like eligibility or verification.

    Accurate information, kept that way

    Profile Guard alerts you if hours, the menu link, or category change unexpectedly — useful after a busy weekend when something might have been edited in a hurry, or after a seasonal switch to confirm the change actually went live.

    Profile Guard →

    Reviews and reputation

    Collect reviews after service and get an AI-drafted reply for a person on your team to check and send, rather than it going out automatically.

    Review collection →

    Local visibility and content

    Queue up weekly specials and fresh food, interior and team photos in advance, so updates keep going out even on a busy service night — alongside, not instead of, accurate hours and menu data.

    Scheduled posts →AI-assisted content →

    GBPly works with profiles you already manage. It does not create, verify or decide eligibility for Business Profiles; Google does.

    Restaurant profile questions

    Should I list delivery hours as my main hours?
    Only if you offer no dine-in, takeaway or drive-through at all. Google's guidance for restaurants puts dine-in first, then takeaway, then drive-through, with delivery hours as the last resort.
    Can I add a different profile for my delivery-only brand?
    Only if it genuinely operates as a separate, verifiable entity, not simply a different name for food leaving the same kitchen. Check Google's current guidance for virtual and delivery-only food brands before setting one up.
    What should I do when my menu changes seasonally?
    Update items and prices in the menu editor as close to the change as you can, remove discontinued dishes rather than leaving them live, and make sure your website menu matches so diners don't see two conflicting versions.
    Will posting every day help my ranking?
    There's no basis for claiming that posting frequency affects ranking, and Google no longer reports per-post engagement. Posting is useful for keeping information current and giving customers a reason to visit, not as a ranking lever.
    Does GBPly create my menu for me?
    No. GBPly helps you schedule photos and posts and manage reviews; you or your team enter and own the menu content in the menu editor.

    Sources and guidance

    Statements tagged Google guideline paraphrase Google's own help pages below. Statements tagged GBPly recommendation are GBPly's editorial opinion, and Illustrative example scenarios describe hypothetical businesses. Google's guidelines change; check the live pages before acting.

    Guidance checked against Google's help pages on 12 October 2026.

    Get your restaurant's basics right, then keep them that way

    GBPly schedules your posts and photos, drafts review replies for you to approve, and alerts you when something on your profile changes.

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