I'm Shashikant Shah, a digital marketing expert in Kathmandu. I work with restaurants, cafes and food brands across Nepal on the things that decide where people eat: the Google Business Profile, the reviews, the photos, local search and Instagram. I've worked with Red Mud Coffee, FoodMario and Momo Sansar, my prices are published, and because I'm also a software engineer I build the menu pages, the ordering path and the tracking myself.

Short answer: digital marketing for a restaurant in Nepal is mostly local search and social discovery. You need a complete Google Business Profile with the current menu, prices and real photos, a steady flow of genuine reviews, pages that rank for your area and your dishes, and Instagram content that shows the food. Ads help for openings and events. Everything else comes after that.

How people choose a restaurant in Nepal

Nobody searches "digital marketing". They search "restaurant near me", "momo in Thamel" or "cafe in Jhamsikhel", and Google Maps shows three places. Photos, the rating, "open now" and how far it is decide which one gets the call. If your profile has an old menu, five photos and an unanswered one star review, you lose that moment to the place next door.

The second path is Instagram and TikTok. Someone sees a reel of the food, taps the location tag, saves it and comes on Saturday. That only works if the location tag points at a proper profile and the profile agrees with what they saw.

The third path is the delivery apps. Foodmandu, Pathao Food and Bhoj bring orders you'd otherwise miss, but the customer belongs to the app and the commission comes out of your margin. Most restaurants I speak to have no direct way to order at all, not even a WhatsApp number on the profile.

Then there are the seasons. Dashain and Tihar, the wedding months, and the tourist season for Thamel and Lakeside all start weeks before the first booking. A restaurant that plans its offers and ads in Bhadra is full in Ashwin. One that starts in Ashwin is competing with everyone else.

The problems I see most often:

  • A Google Business Profile with the wrong hours, no prices, an outdated menu photo and reviews nobody answers.
  • No page that ranks for the area. "Best cafe in Lazimpat" goes to a listing site, not to the cafe.
  • Instagram posts that get likes from friends and no visits, because there's no location tag, no menu link and no way to book.
  • Every order going through an app, with no direct option for regulars.
  • No idea which of these brings customers, because nothing is tracked. Not the calls, not the direction requests, not the WhatsApp messages.

What I do for restaurants

  • Google Business Profile management: categories, menu with prices, photos that look like your food, hours that match reality, and a reply to every review.
  • Local SEO: a page for your area and your best dishes, in the words people type, so "cafe in Jhamsikhel" finds you and not a directory.
  • Social media SEO: Instagram and TikTok set up for discovery, with location tags, a menu link and a plan for what to film each week.
  • A direct ordering path: a fast menu page, WhatsApp or Viber ordering and a Fonepay, eSewa or Khalti QR, so your regulars order from you. I build it myself, as part of web development.
  • Meta ads for openings, festival offers and events, targeted to the neighbourhoods that can actually reach you.
  • Tracking: calls, direction requests, WhatsApp clicks and orders counted in your own Google Business Profile and Analytics, so the monthly report says what changed and why.

The first 90 days

Days 1 to 30. I fix what's already there. The Business Profile gets the right categories, current hours, a menu with prices and thirty real photos. I set up the review request, a short message your staff can send with the bill, and answer the reviews that are waiting. Tracking goes in so we have a baseline.

Days 31 to 60. The area page and the dish pages go live, and the Instagram profile gets its location tag, menu link and a weekly filming plan your team can follow. If you're on the delivery apps, the direct ordering path goes up next to them.

Days 61 to 90. We look at the numbers together: calls, direction requests, orders and reviews against the baseline. Then we decide where the next quarter goes, and whether a small ad budget for the coming season is worth it. You get all of this as a written plan before we start, with what's not included.

Who I've worked with in food and drink

Red Mud Coffee, FoodMario and Momo Sansar are on my case studies page under the scope I delivered: profile setup, audience segmentation, offer campaigns and automated publishing. I don't publish a restaurant result with numbers yet, and I won't invent one. When I do, it will have a baseline, a timeframe and a date, like every other figure on that page.

The closest published result is a Kathmandu clinic whose map views went from about 2,100 to about 9,240 a month in six months, with calls up about 85%. That was local SEO and Business Profile work, the same mechanism a restaurant depends on. It came from an engagement I worked on as part of an agency team, so read it as the account's total.

What it costs for restaurants

My prices are published. An audit of your profile, your pages and your tracking with a 30 day action plan is USD 249, about NPR 34,000. A four week sprint is USD 899, about NPR 122,000. Ongoing work is USD 1,800 a month, about NPR 245,000. What each one leaves out is on the pricing page. The first thirty minute call is free, and if a single outlet only needs the audit, I'll say so.

Questions restaurants ask

Do you post on Instagram for us every day?

No. I set up the profile, the location tags, the content plan and the tracking, and I show your team what to film. Daily posting is your kitchen and your phone. If you want someone to run the account full time, I'll say so and point you to people who do that.

Can you get us off Foodmandu and Pathao Food?

Not completely, and I wouldn't try. The apps bring orders you'd otherwise miss. What I build is a direct path next to them: a menu page, WhatsApp or Viber ordering and a Fonepay, eSewa or Khalti QR, so your regulars order from you and you keep the margin on those orders.

How long until we see more customers?

A cleaned up Business Profile with new photos and a current menu usually shows more calls and direction requests within four to six weeks. Ranking for area searches like "cafe in Jhamsikhel" takes longer, usually three to six months. I'll give you a written 90 day plan with the numbers we watch.

We only have one outlet. Is this worth it for us?

Yes, if you rely on people who don't already know you: tourists, office lunches, weekend families. If your tables are full from regulars, spend on keeping them instead. I'll tell you which one you are after the first call.

Do you work with restaurants outside Kathmandu?

Yes. Most of the work is remote and done in your own accounts. I've worked with businesses across Nepal and in eight countries, and I travel for the first meeting when it helps, for example to Pokhara Lakeside or Chitwan.

Will you write fake reviews or buy followers?

No. Google removes fake reviews and can suspend the listing, and bought followers never order food. I set up a simple way to ask real customers, and I answer every review with you, including the bad ones.

All industries · Where I work · Google Business Profile management · Local SEO in Nepal · Local SEO in Kathmandu · How to set up a Google Business Profile in Nepal · All services.

Tell me about your restaurant

Send me the name and the area. I'll look at your Business Profile, your Instagram and how people can order, and tell you the one thing I'd fix first, whether or not you hire me.

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