Get Paid For Restaurant Reviews With These EXACT Steps [2024]

Did you know that you can get paid for restaurant reviews? You absolutely can!

Before heading to a fancy restaurant, I always read their reviews before spending my hard-earned cash. I want to avoid paying $100 for a tiny piece of wilted lettuce.

So if you can describe how delicious a medium rare cheeseburger is and have a flair for conveying the ambiance and service of a restaurant, then you should use this skill to help your audience and, at the same time, get paid to review restaurants.

And if you are that friend who always knows the best places to eat and which dish to order, why not share this passion for food and get paid simultaneously?

In this article, I will share the steps and tips on getting paid for restaurant reviews, including a list of companies that will pay for food reviews and the best way to monetize them.

So get your pen and forks ready and start earning from your restaurant reviews.

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Some of the links here are affiliate links, and I may earn if you click on them, AT NO EXTRA cost to you. I hope you find the information here useful! Thanks!

Get Paid For Restaurant Reviews: A Step-By-Step Guide

Suppose you are trying to work out how to get paid to rate restaurants in such a competitive niche. To stand out, you need to know your craft.

Be an expert on all things food and work on improving your writing skills. Promote yourself where you can to increase your presence in this industry.

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Maybe you’re struggling to pay rent or want to make some extra cash to buy a gift for your loved ones. I know how difficult it is when the funds are tight.

Here are steps you can take to get paid for writing reviews of restaurants.

1. Learn About Food

Critics get paid to review food and offer more than just their opinion. Having a good understanding of gastronomy will help you write about the ingredients, the cooking techniques, the flavors, and even the culture of the cuisine.

You can join local cooking classes near you to gain knowledge on food or book a cooking vacation in Italy and learn from the master artisans there.

2. Work On Your Writing

Polishing your writing skills is crucial when it comes to writing any review. You must know your audience and the content should serve the readers.

For example, if you are writing a review of a vegan cafe, your content should be geared toward the vegan menu there and not toward the owner’s fancy motorcycle parked outside the cafe.

You can develop your writing skills by:

Taking online writing courses – Learn how to write with my writing courses, where I will teach you steps to become a paid freelance writer in 60 days, write excellent content, secure recurring work, and bonus pitching templates.

Learn from the experts – Take a page from published cooking magazines like Food & Wine or Gastronomica and read how the top food writers write reviews like The Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema.

Get a coach – Working with a writing coach is a great way to take action toward achieving your writing goals. They can help with areas you need help with and give you a plan and strategies to keep you on track.

3. Niche down

It is good to specialize in one area initially. Here are some great food niches from which you can start reviewing restaurants or a food blog.

A specialty will show you have authority on that topic, making you distinguishable from the thousands of food and restaurant reviewers.

You can specialize by type of food and cuisine, diet, restaurant aesthetic and concept, and price point.

4. Start A Blog

A blog is a great way to get started and have your content available for readers. Many restaurant reviewers got started by blogging.

You can slowly build your audience here and use your blog as your work reference to publishers. Learn how easy it is to start a blog here.

5. Know How To Pitch Your Work

Getting your work published in magazines, newspapers, or food websites requires a good pitch. Here are some tips you can follow when pitching.

Have an online portfolio – You can use platforms like Contently, Linkedin, Journoportfolio, Clipping me, Medium, or your own blog to display your work; this will allow publishers to see examples of your work, especially for cold pitches.

Meet the publisher’s requirements – When applying for work from publication websites, make sure you have a look a the FAQ section to have a checklist of their requirements before pitching your work.

Pitch, pitch, and pitch – Getting your work published is a numbers game. Don’t be discouraged if you have not pitched to 100 clients and publishers. Look out for new writers’ job postings from publishers’ job boards.

Tips To Get Paid For Restaurant Reviews

If you want to review restaurants for money, it is essential to connect with your readers. Your review should give your readers a complete picture of your restaurant experience.

Here are some tips for getting paid for restaurant reviews.

1. Do Research

Research background information on the restaurant, like the restaurant’s history, whether it is family-owned, or how they prepare the food, and some readers would appreciate having details on how the restaurant sources its ingredients.

2. Chronological Structure

Narrate your experience and review of the restaurant in a chronological structure. This way, readers will have an easier time following the restaurant experience.

3. Information Of The Restaurant

Having all the information in your restaurant review can be very helpful to your readers. Here is a list of information that you should include in your reviews.

Type of cuisine.
Price range.
Location and contact information.
Operating hours.
Do you need a reservation, and how long is the wait for a table.
The size of the restaurant, is it suitable for families, large groups, or just couples.
The restaurant’s setting (live music, smoking or non-smoking, indoors or outdoors, is a private room or section available).
Other things to include are the restaurant (vegan-friendly, Muslim-friendly, serving alcohol, and able to cater to allergies).

4. Ditch The Star Rating System

Many publications no longer use star ratings to review restaurants as it does not reflect all the qualities of the place. Instead, use an evaluation criteria that looks at the food quality, aesthetics and ambiance, service, money value, and cleanliness.

5. Don’t Come In As A Reviewer

For a genuine experience, it is best not to reveal yourself as a restaurant reviewer, and this is also to build credibility with your readers as they are counting on you for an honest and non-biased restaurant experience.

6. Write About The Good And Bad

No place is perfect, so write both pros and cons of the restaurant. It is perfectly fine to note that the plates were impractical and heavy or that the restaurant’s outdoor seating needs heat lamps.

Your readers will appreciate this information, giving them a complete picture of the restaurant.

7. Don’t List The Entire Menu

Limit your review to the food and drinks that you have ordered. You can highlight some of the restaurant’s recommended or specialty menus but don’t just list things from the menu. Just listing items won’t give your readers additional context about the food.

8. Honesty Is Key

You need to be fair and honest about your review. Remember that your review can have an impact on the restaurant’s business.

Maintain a level of professionalism even if you had a negative experience, and avoid ranting, as this can put a dent in your credibility.

9. End With A Recommendation

At the end of your review, briefly write a recommendation for the restaurant. State if you would come again, what items you would order next time, and which menu was your favorite.

10. More Tips

To get paid to eat food and do restaurant reviews, it’s good not to have any food allergies. You will be sampling all types of food for a living, so having allergies, especially allergies with severe reactions, will limit you and be a danger to your health.

Having a good palate for taste and textures will certainly help as you can distinguish the different notes in the taste of the food and define the components and texture of the dish to your readers.

21 Companies That Will Pay You For Food Reviews

If you want to find restaurant reviewer jobs, here is a list of publications that accept and pay for articles from freelance writers related to food, including restaurant reviews, meal membership, food deliveries, recipes, and more.

1. Bon Appetit

Bon Appetit is a food magazine that publishes monthly about food lifestyle, which includes recipes, restaurant recommendations, and food culture.

They welcome pitches from writers with a standard rate beginning at $250 for a 400-word range story.

For restaurant-related stories, you can pitch them at restaurants@bonappetit.com and read the instructions and guidelines on their website on how to pitch.

2. Catalyst

Catalyst is a creative living newsprint magazine resource based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They focus on healthy and organic food, sustainability, arts, gardening, food security, and more.

3. Clean Eating

Clean Eating is a lifestyle magazine that discusses real food for a healthy, happy life. You will need to contact their editorial team directly for writing and pitching queries.

4. Disney Food Blog (DFB)

If you are a fan of everything Disney, like their parks, resorts, and cruises, writing for DFB might be for you. DFB is a blog that features in-depth information about anything food-related in Disney’s parks, resorts, cruise ships, and even food from Disney’s movies.

DFB allows for guest posts in their blog. You will find their approved topics, policies, and submission process in their submission guidelines.

5. Down East

Down East Magazine is a monthly published magazine based in Rockport, Maine, dedicated to delivering the best of what Maine has to offer.

The magazine has a section that covers dining reviews. Although their regular writers mainly cover it, they are open to receiving pitches.

The magazine has a three-month lead time, so stories with strong ties to November, for example, must be sent in July. Do have a read of their writer’s guidelines before you submit your pitch to Down East.

6. Eater

Eater is a publication under Vox Media that focuses on food news, dining guides, and how food intersects with culture, like the food delivery boom that is happening right now.

Their take on food is broad, and they are open to receiving pitches from writers. Writing assignments will be paid competitively based on the type and scope of work.

Learn more on how to pitch your stories to Eater here.

7. Edible Communities

Edible Communities consist of 75 independently owned regional magazines across US and Canada. They publish editorially rich, local foods and community-based publications in each region.

If you are interested in pitching, note that different regions have different rates and requirements. For example, Edible Manhattan is looking for stories highlighting the dining culture in Manhattan, and their rates will be based on experience.

8. Epicure & Culture

This online magazine publishes all things food, wine, and culture for travelers, focusing on sustainability and ethics. They welcome writing pieces from freelance food, culture, and travel writers.

You can pitch them for a paid contribution, where you will receive $10 upon publication and a backlink to your website and social media promotion. More detail on their writer’s guidelines can be found here.

9. Extra Crispy

Extra Crispy is a digital editorial site that is all about morning culture. The site features food news, best breakfast recipes, cooking hacks, travel ideas, and more.

If you have a pitch that revolves around breakfast, there is a complete pitch guide to Extra Crispy here.

10. Feast

Feast magazine is based in St. Louis, where they explore the rich and diverse culinary scene that St. Louis has to offer, from their craft breweries, distilleries, restaurants, and more.

To pitch to Feast, you will need to write to their managing editor Mary Andino at editor@feastmagazine.com with three to five writing samples.

11. Food52

Food52 is an all-rounded site that centers around the kitchen being the heart of the home. They are the leading innovator in the food, cooking, and home space.

If you have an article idea that fits Food52’s profile, you can email your pitch to pitches@food52.com. The full guide on how to pitch Food52 can be found here.

12. Gastronomica

Gastronomica is a magazine published by the University of California Press.

The magazine explores the culture and history of food and posts meaningful conversations about food, like the social and economic dimensions, the creative side, and the role of food in our everyday life.

Gastronomica welcomes submissions from writers that share the same appreciation and understanding of food topic issues. You can find Gastronomica’s submission procedures here.

13. Healthyish

Healthyish is a site under the Bon Appetit brand that publishes healthy, delicious food recipes and articles exploring the wellness culture around food.

Healthyish published general pitch guidelines that you can read if you are interested in pitching for their site.

14. Radish Magazine

Radish Magazine is a lifestyle publication that focuses on natural foods, products, and services that improve the health of its readers. Their magazines are distributed in western Illinois and eastern Iowa, so their publication is more specific to that region.

If you have a story that could provide their readers with information about living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle through food, then you can email Radish’s editor at editor@radishmagazine.com.

Visit their site here to learn more about the writer’s guidelines for Radish magazine.

15. San Antonio Current

The San Antonio Current is a media company that publishes weekly about all the current events, news, dining, arts, and culture in San Antonio, Texas.

The company is always seeking talented and passionate writers to freelance for them. If you have a food story that you would like published in the San Antonio Current, then you can email it to Nina Rangel, their Food + Nightlife Editor.

More information on the submission process can be found here on their freelance guidelines page.

16. Saveur

This online magazine publishes about various world cuisines, wine, and travel. Their magazine is about cooking, entertaining, and food travel.

If you have a story about food and travel, you can send your pitch to editorial@saveur.com. Include a summary of the proposed article and indicate how you plan to execute it when pitching.

17. Taproot

Taproot magazine publishes content on food, farm, family, and crafts. They welcome writers to submit stories within the magazine’s theme to their publication.

You can email them at ideas@taprootmag.com, be sure to include your article as a Word document and use the issue or theme of your article as the subject line.

You can refer to their FAQ section article submission for further details.

18. Travel + Leisure

Like the name of the magazine, this publication covers all things fun. Their article talks about everything from food, wine, hotels, cruises, beaches, hiking, skiing, and everything in between.

If you are interested in contributing to Travel + Leisure, they have a complete guide on pitching for their different magazine categories.

19. Well + Good

Well + Good is a digital publication dedicated to educating, empowering, and informing communities and individuals to live well through various means.

A large percentage of their content is from freelancers. They cover health and mental health, food, lifestyle, travel, beauty, fitness, and others.

Their rates are between $150 to $500, depending on the article and its sources. Head to their site for a complete guide on pitching your story.

20. Whole Life Times

Whole Life Times is one of the country’s oldest holistic health and metaphysics magazine.

This bimonthly magazine relies almost entirely on freelancers for content. Their rates range from $75–$150, depending on the topic.

So if you have a story that deals with a progressive and healthy lifestyle that can also include food-related pieces, then you can send your query to editor@wholelifemagazine.com.

For more details, you can read up on their writer’s guidelines.

21. Wine Enthusiast

Wine Enthusiast is a magazine and website that delivers unique wine lifestyle products and content. Aside from that, they also feature review pieces and buying guides for their readers.

The magazine is open to pitches from freelancers that can make a compelling case for an assignment. Their digital rate begins at $0.50/word. You can visit their site for more information on pitching for Wine Enthusiast Digital.

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

Best Ways To Monetize Your Restaurant Reviews

If you want to know how to earn money writing reviews as a blog or publisher, then you need to learn the strategies that the top publishers in the business use to monetize their restaurant reviews.

Here are five strategies that you can use to monetize your restaurant reviews.

1. Advertising

One way you can review restaurants for money is to sell display advertising alongside your content. You can do this by working with an ad server like Google Ad Manager or selling your own advertising.

Most publishers will opt for an ad server as it facilitates and manages ads for them, and you can set predefined criteria for the ads that are being displayed.

Although utilizing ad servers can be the easiest and fastest way to monetize your restaurant reviews, you can make money by directly selling display advertising of local businesses and restaurants near you.

2. Sponsorships

Sponsored review is another way to monetize your restaurant reviews. Although ad servers are an easy way to display ads, you only get a few cents per click. Sponsored reviews can get more money in a single post.

You can charge a blanket fee to the restaurant to publish a review for them. You must write the article under a “Sponsored Content” heading and post disclaimers before your article.

Start by contacting local restaurants and businesses near you and see if they would be interested in running display advertising on your website.

3. Online Directories

By building an online restaurant directory alongside your restaurant reviews, you can generate revenue by offering paid premium directory listings to your readers.

To get traction toward your directory, you must ensure that your content brings more value to your readers than what is currently ranking.

Include a thorough description of the restaurant with pictures of the establishment. Other things to include are phone numbers, website links, social media links, and a custom field for any offers the restaurant has.

4. Digital Product

Digital products are another great way to monetize your restaurant reviews. You can publish your reviews as e-books or city guides for tourists or even restaurant enthusiasts in your city or other locations worldwide.

Set up your guides to make it easy for your readers to grab the information they need and provide value on the experiences they can expect from a place like hidden gems to look out for or special items not on the menu that your readers should try.

If you are not sure where to start, I got just the thing for you! Here is a great way to learn how to create and sell digital products.

Don’t worry if you do not have any experience, as this comprehensive online class will teach you the exact steps I use to create and sell digital products.

5. Membership And Subscription

If you have already established a website for your restaurant review, a membership subscription can be a way to monetize it.

You can set up paywalls for some parts of your content. This way, readers would need to subscribe before having full access to your reviews.

A successful paid subscription blog requires valuable and quality content. Readers need to be willing to pay for a subscription to work.

One strategy you can follow is offering high-quality free content to grow your audience. With a solid following, you can start to offer premium content in a subscribers-only area of your site for a monthly fee.

Do Food Reviewers Get Paid?

If you are wondering if food reviewers get paid, then yes. They can make an average salary of $80,000–$90,000 per year, depending on their experience and where they live. So yes, they do get paid to eat out.

Why Do A Restaurant Review?

Why do a restaurant review for your business? One reason to do so is to help customers choose your business over other restaurants.

With so many options, reviews will help customers decide where to eat, as positive reviews indicate that the food is good and the restaurant is worth visiting.

What Is The Best Restaurant Review Platform?

If you are looking for what is the best restaurant review platform, then Yelp is one of the well-known apps for restaurant reviews.

The app is known for its application to evaluate restaurants where users can post and read reviews. You can also get in-depth information about the business with Yelp.

How To Become A Food Critic And Get Paid?

Food critics get paid to go to dinner and write about their experiences. But How to become a food critic and get paid? Is it by restaurant reviewer jobs? Here is how you can do it.

Get educated.
Do research on the skills needed to be a food critic.
Get experience and write independently.
Pitch to publications.

How Do I Become A Food Review Blogger?

If you are searching for how do I become a food review blogger and how can you get paid for restaurant reviews near me, then you can start your food blog by following these steps.

1. Find a niche for your blog.

2. Think about your brand identity.

3. Purchase a domain.

4. Choose a host for your domain.

5. Set up your blog.

6. Post content.

Do Bloggers Get Paid To Write Food Reviews?

Yes! Bloggers do get paid to write food reviews. You can get paid for your reviews from various revenues, like website ads, paid reviews, or affiliate links.

You need to build your traffic before you start earning money from your blog. You can do this by creating content to serve a loyal community of readers.

Conclusion

I hope you have found this article helpful and has answered your question on how to get paid for restaurant reviews.

If you enjoy eating food and talking about it, you should put your passion and skill into writing reviews and start to get paid to go to dinner. Start building your online presence one review at a time and apply the different ways that you can monetize your restaurant reviews.

You will always have an audience that is curious to know how good the food and service at a restaurant are, and with more traction to your reviews, the more ways you can get paid for restaurant reviews.

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