Customer Feedback for Restaurants

A guest who didn't enjoy their meal almost never says so at the table. They say "everything's fine", they pay, they even tip, and then they quietly pick somewhere else next Friday. AskHedgy gives you an anonymous QR code guests scan when the meal ends. You find out what actually happened while the shift is still fresh, and the guest who was unhappy gets a private place to say so instead of TripAdvisor.

Think of it as an early-warning system for restaurants. Anonymous QR feedback catches the cold plate or the long wait for the bill, and it reaches you the same evening rather than later from a review.

How it works

Set up once. Works continuously. No integrations, no technical setup.

Why unhappy guests don't tell you

"How is everything?" gets asked mid-bite, by the person who just carried the plate over, in front of the guest's date or their clients. Almost nobody answers that honestly. Complaining out loud means making a scene at your own table and souring the evening you came out for.

So the lukewarm risotto goes unmentioned. So does the appetiser that landed after the mains.

Nobody is hiding anything from you. It simply isn't visible from the floor: the shift runs smoothly, the plates go out, the tables turn. The kitchen has no way of knowing that the 8:40 ticket on Saturday went out wrong. The verdict arrives days later on Google, from a name you don't recognise, about a night you can no longer reconstruct.

In a survey of 1,000 U.S. diners by Lightspeed Commerce, 40% said rude service alone would stop them coming back, ahead of cold food (34%) and long waits (27%).

A happy guest is a repeat guest, and in restaurants the regulars are the business. They are the Friday booking you can count on, and the reason a slow Tuesday still covers itself. Winning a new guest costs far more than keeping one who has already walked through your door.

A 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25–95% — Bain & Company research, published in Harvard Business Review.

AskHedgy won't put the plate back on the pass. But it will tell you the same evening that something went wrong, early enough to fix the cause before it reaches the next table.

Restaurant survey questions your guests answer

A star rating collapses the whole evening into one number. The question library breaks it apart: the food, the pacing, the room, the bill. You see what the guest actually liked and what they didn't.

Pick the questions that matter to your restaurant right now. Around five works best in a live survey, because the shorter it is, the more guests reach the end.

Loyalty

• How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? (0 = not at all, 10 = definitely)
• Would you visit us again?

Service Quality

• How friendly and attentive was our staff?
• Was it easy to get your server's attention when you needed something?
• What could we do better?

Quality

• How would you rate the taste and quality of the food?
• Was the food served at the right temperature?
• Was your order taken and served without any mistakes?

Speed

• Did your food arrive within a reasonable time after you ordered?
• Was it easy to find a table or get a spot without a long wait?
• Was it quick and easy to get the bill and pay?

Value for Money

• How well does the price reflect the quality you received?

Atmosphere

• How would you rate the atmosphere and ambiance?

Cleanliness

• How clean and tidy was the dining area and your table?
• How clean were the restrooms?

This is only part of the library. There are more questions to draw on: the choice on your menu, the quality of the drinks, new and seasonal dishes, how a guest heard about you, the first minutes after they walked in. Build the set you want to test right now, and swap it out when a new question comes up.

What makes AskHedgy different

You hear about a bad table the same evening, not from a review site. The moment a low rating comes in, an email alert reaches you. You still remember which section was short-staffed that night and what came off the pass. And because the feedback is anonymous and private, the guest who would never say "this is cold" to a server's face finally has somewhere to put it. The frustration reaches you instead of your listing.

See whether a change in the kitchen or on the floor actually landed. Mark the day you changed something: "New head chef", "Cut the menu from 40 dishes to 22", "New fish supplier". Then watch how ratings move from that point on. Whether the shorter menu improved the food scores or simply made service faster is now something you can read off your own data.

Hear what a star rating never captures. Every survey automatically includes one insight question, designed to surface what a generic "rate us" form misses: whether the table felt rushed to free it up for the next booking, whether the wait for the bill spoiled an otherwise good night. Four stars tells you the evening was fine. It doesn't tell you why they haven't been back.

Get the quiet tables to answer, not just the furious ones. Offer a small reward for finishing the survey: a free espresso, a scoop of dessert, a discount on the next visit. The guest claims it by showing the final screen to a server. More people complete the survey, so you also hear from the ones who would otherwise say nothing and simply not rebook.

What your guests see

This isn't a single star rating like the one on Google. It's a short survey of a few different questions: a rating on the food, a yes/no on whether the order came out right, an optional line about the evening. Guests answer anonymously, at the table while they wait for the card machine or at home an hour later. No app to install, no account to create, around 30 seconds.

Where to put your QR code in a restaurant

• Inside the bill folder. A printed card lands in front of the guest at the exact moment the meal is over and the verdict is formed.
• On a small table tent brought out with the bill rather than set out at the start, so guests answer about a meal they've actually had.
• Beside the card terminal at the counter, for counter-service and fast-casual spots where guests pay on the way out.
• A printed slip in the bag for takeaway and delivery orders. The guest answers at home or at their desk, unhurried, and unhurried answers tend to be the fullest.
• At the bar, in the same holder the menu stands in, where someone waiting for a table has an idle minute anyway.

Questions restaurant owners ask

Common questions

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