For restaurant owners · Marketing and reviews
Reply to this week's reviews, good and bad
Replies to this week's reviews: a specific thank-you for the kind ones and a calm answer for the hard ones, with nothing posted until you read it.
The prompt
Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Restaurant owners and whoever looks after reviews.
I run a restaurant. I want to answer every review, the kind ones and the hard ones, in my own voice. I read them once a week and want replies I can post after I read them. What I have: - This week's reviews, one per line, with the star rating: [REVIEWS] - What I know about the hard ones, such as what happened that night, if I looked into it: [WHAT I KNOW] - How I sign off and how I sound: [MY VOICE] What I want: 1. For each kind review, write two or three sentences of thanks that mention one real thing they said, not a stock line. 2. For each hard review, write a calm reply that thanks them, owns what my notes say we got wrong, does not argue about the rest, and asks them to reach me directly. 3. Keep every reply short, and do not open two replies the same way. 4. Use only names and details that appear in the review or my notes. 5. Flag any review I should answer in private first. Rules: - Write a draft for me to read. Do not send or post anything. - Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing. - Never offer a refund, a free meal or a gift card in a public reply. If I want to make it right, I will do it in private. - Never admit fault my notes do not admit, and never blame a guest or a staff member. - Leave out guests' card details and anything about their health. Give me back: - A reply for each review, in the order I gave them - The reviews to answer in private first, and why
When to use it
Once a week, when you sit down with the new reviews and want each one answered in your own voice.
When not to
Do not use it for a review that says someone got sick, names a staff member in a serious way or threatens anything. Those go to you, and a public reply waits until you have looked into it.
What to paste in
- [REVIEWS]: Each review copied as posted, with its star rating, one per line.
- [WHAT I KNOW]: What you found out about the hard reviews, or a line saying you could not tell.
- [MY VOICE]: How you sign your replies and three or four words for how you sound.
Never paste
- Guests' phone numbers, card details or anything from their reservation
- Staff members' last names or anything from their files
- Anything a reviewer said about getting sick or their health
A filled-in example
Sample. Fictional business, fictional client.
REVIEWS: 5 stars, "The walleye was perfect and Jess at the bar made our night." / 4 stars, "Great food, but we waited twenty minutes for a table we had booked." / 2 stars, "Burger came out cold and nobody checked on us." WHAT I KNOW: The wait was Friday; a big party sat late, the kitchen got slammed and the host stand fell behind. That is on us. The cold burger: I could not find the ticket, so I do not know what happened. MY VOICE: Sign as "Maria, owner." Warm, plain, no corporate words.
What you should get back
- A short, specific thank-you for each kind review
- A calm reply for each hard review that owns only what you said to own
- No refunds, comps or gift cards offered in public
- A list of reviews to answer in private first
What stays with you
The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a guest until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.
Related
- Answer a gift card or refund question. A clear, kind reply to a guest asking about a gift card that will not scan, a lost card or a charge they question, written around the decision you made.
- Write the weekly specials or event post. A post for this week's specials or a music night, written from your own notes for your social pages, your email list and the sign by the door.
More: every prompt for restaurants, marketing and reviews, and AI for restaurants.
Which three fit your restaurant?
The free quiz scores your restaurant on sixteen things and picks the three prompts aimed at your three lowest. It takes about three minutes.