Digital marketing for Turkish restaurants and döner shops in Spain

For a Turkish restaurant, döner shop, bakery or grocery store in Spain, Google Maps sits at the center of digital marketing: people search "kebab cerca de mí" or "panadería turca", look at the ratings and photos of the top three or four businesses, and pick one. Around that you add three layers: a clear, multilingual menu, delivery platforms and short video content. In this post I explain how to set up these layers depending on who you're selling to.

First, get clear on this: who are you selling to?

Turkish food businesses in Spain have three main customer groups, and each one is reached through a different channel:

• Locals: Spaniards who live in the neighborhood, come in at lunch or in the evening, or order delivery. Google Maps, delivery apps and Spanish-language reviews are decisive.
• Tourists: Especially in coastal cities and big-city centers. Google Maps, an English menu, booking platforms like TheFork and photos all matter. Summer, and August in particular, is when this group peaks.
• The Turkish community: People looking for home-style cooking, Turkish products, and orders for holidays and special occasions. WhatsApp, Instagram and community groups work here.

A döner shop will most likely sell more to the first two groups, while a Turkish grocery sells more to the third. Split your budget and effort accordingly.

Google Maps and reviews

For restaurants, the highest-return task is a well-managed Google Business Profile. I cover the setup steps in detail in How to set up a Google Business Profile in Spain. For restaurants specifically, these are the points I focus on:

1. The right primary category: one that describes your business exactly, like "Restaurante turco", "Restaurante de kebab" or "Panadería".
2. A menu section and menu photos. People want to see prices and what's in the dishes.
3. Real photos of your food, shot in good light. Dark, greasy plate photos lower clicks even if your rating is good.
4. Attributes like takeout, delivery, halal and vegetarian options should be checked on your profile.
5. Opening hours always up to date. A customer who shows up when you're closed won't come back, and they'll say so in a review.

A small QR card at the register or on the tables works wonders for reviews. Reply to every review in the language it was written in. A calm, solution-focused reply to a negative review that starts with "Lo sentimos, gracias por avisarnos" wins far more customers than an angry defense.

One more thing: write down recurring complaints in your reviews. If three different customers say "porción pequeña" or "tardaron mucho" about the same thing, the problem isn't marketing, it's operations. Digital marketing grows a good business; with an operational problem, it just lets more people know about it.

Menu: Spanish, Catalan, English

Spanish customers don't always know words like "lahmacun", "pide", "mantı" or "künefe". Keep the dish name in Turkish on the menu, but add a short Spanish description underneath, such as "Pide: pan turco al horno con carne picada, queso o espinacas". That way you keep your authenticity and the customer knows what they're ordering.

If you're in Catalonia, a Catalan menu shows local customers that you care. In tourist areas, English is a must. The practical solution is a web menu that opens via QR with a language selector, instead of crowding the table with menus in several languages. Always have the menu translation checked by a native Spanish speaker; funny machine-translation mistakes will show up in your reviews. Display allergen information clearly on the menu too; EU rules require food businesses to provide allergen information, so ask your own advisor for the details.

Glovo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and TheFork

The leading food delivery platforms in Spain are Glovo, Uber Eats and Just Eat. They all work in a similar way: the restaurant lists on the platform, pays a commission per order, and the platform delivers with its own riders or yours. Since commission rates vary by city, contract and who does the delivery, I'm not giving numbers here; get written offers and compare them.

What to watch out for on the platforms:

• Photos are the biggest factor on the platforms too. Put a good photo on every item.
• Keep product descriptions short and in Spanish.
• Set platform prices with the commission in mind; if you don't protect your margin, lots of orders can mean losing money.
• Packaging directly affects reviews. Cold döner and squashed pide mean bad reviews.

If you're a sit-down restaurant, TheFork (formerly known in Spain as ElTenedor) is an important channel for bookings; tourists and locals looking for new places in particular search there.

Instagram and TikTok: what food content should look like

Turkish cuisine's biggest advantage is how visual it is: döner being carved, pide coming out of the oven, the stretchy cheese in künefe, simit getting its sesame. That's ready-made content for short videos. Here's the routine I recommend:

• A few short videos a week: the prep process, the oven moment, a customer's plate.
• Put the most appealing shot in the first second of the video. Nobody wants to watch a logo animation.
• Any on-screen text in Spanish, and in English if needed.
• A location tag on every post.
• Collaborations with local food creators: paid or in exchange for a free meal, but with the post clearly marked as an ad.

Regular shooting with a phone is usually enough. For a more professional promo film or menu photo shoot, see my video production in Spain service, and for regular posting and community management, my social media management in Spain service. I cover the advertising side separately in Instagram and TikTok ads in Spain.

WhatsApp orders and direct customers

Delivery platforms bring in customers, but the customer data stays with the platform. For the Turkish community and regulars especially, taking direct orders through WhatsApp Business both lowers commissions and builds a relationship. In WhatsApp Business you can set up a catalog, an automatic greeting and your opening hours. If you want to send bulk messages, make sure customers have agreed to it; in Spain, data protection rules don't allow unsolicited commercial messages.

A simple website and order page serve the same purpose. If the "Order" link on your Google profile goes to your own site, you can take orders commission-free.

What's different for bakeries and Turkish grocery stores

Bakeries and grocery stores have different customer behavior from restaurants. People come often and regularly; a satisfied customer may drop by several times a week. So while Google Maps brings the first visit, what keeps customers is product variety and communication.

• Product news: Share announcements like newly arrived Turkish products, fresh simit and pide times, and pre-holiday baklava orders in Instagram stories and WhatsApp status updates.
• Introducing products to Spanish customers: Short Spanish videos explaining what products like Ezine cheese, sucuk and pekmez are and how to use them bring in new customers.
• Products on your Google profile: Add your featured products with photos to the products section.
• Wholesale and restaurant customers: If you supply bread or products to restaurants in your area, mention it separately on your website and profile.

For a grocery store, halal certification, origin information and price transparency are the foundation of trust; make them visible.

Local SEO and reading the season right

If you have a website, mention the city and neighborhood naturally on every page, like "Restaurante turco en Gràcia, Barcelona". Your address, phone and hours should be written the same way on your site, your Google profile and the platforms. I cover organic search in SEO in Spain: Spanish and Catalan.

Spain has its own seasonal rhythm. In August many locals go on vacation, some neighborhoods in big cities go quiet, and coastal areas fill up. If you're in a tourist area, refresh your English content and photos before summer. If you're in a residential neighborhood, think of August as a maintenance and prep period and plan a back-to-the-neighborhood campaign for September. Ramadan and the Eid holidays are a separate ordering season for the Turkish community.

Five steps you can start this week

1. Check the hours, category and menu on your Google profile.
2. Take good photos of your five best-selling items and upload them everywhere.
3. Add short Spanish descriptions to your menu.
4. Put a review QR card at the register.
5. Try shooting two short videos a week.

If you'd like a broader plan, you'll find what I do for Turkish-owned businesses in Spain on my digital marketing in Spain page, and the Google profile side in my Google Business Profile in Spain service.