Related: I've seen several local restaurants offering extremely good food come up and die simply because they could never get attention.

People only look at recommendations now, they don't look with their eyes anymore.

So now restaurants have to focus on growth hacking rather than food quality.

This really isn't a new problem.

That's why the mantra in running restaurants has been "location, location, location".

Location was a proxy for marketing and attention, based on foot traffic. So yes it does need to be updated to be the 2026 version for what gets peoples' attention on trying your new thing.

I think almost all good restaurateurs know that. The rest, who hyper focus on food quality, are tragically doomed.

source: my parents were in the restaurant business

To be fair, restaurants have always had very high failure rates (something like 75% close within the first year.)

Keeping a restaurant open is more about managing costs than having good food; many die because of not great inventory and supply chain handling, for example.

I've seen a lot of "Thai Food Near Me" as the name of restaurants.

This is why the long-term survivors tend to be pretty mid chains & franchises. They've got the marketing down and the food is an afterthought.