YouTube giveaway ideas for restaurants

1. Short: how we make the signature dish

   Show your most-ordered dish start to finish in 50 seconds. Pin a comment with the rules and ask viewers to comment the keyword plus where they'd sit. People search the dish name, not your restaurant, so title it after the dish.

2. Chef's tasting walkthrough

   Film all seven courses of a tasting menu with the chef explaining each one. Say the keyword at course four. The prize is that exact menu for two, and long-form viewers are the ones who'll book.

3. Recipe video with one secret held back

   Teach a home version of a popular dish but keep one ingredient a secret. Viewers comment their guess and the keyword. The winner gets the real thing at your restaurant.

4. Trying every item on our menu

   Two staff members try the whole menu in one sitting and rank it. Ask viewers to comment their own ranking with the keyword. Ranking videos invite long comments, which helps the video travel.

5. Opening night documentary

   If you're new, film the week before opening. Launch the giveaway in the final video for a seat at your soft-launch dinner. It turns early viewers into first customers.

Swap in your own name, prize and end time. Entry is simple: comment on the video with the keyword you name.

Want to taste the real thing? Comment your guess for the secret ingredient plus the keyword from 3:55. One random commenter wins our signature carnitas plate for two at Rosa's. Ends Monday 8pm PT, winner in the pinned comment. US 18+. YouTube isn't involved in this giveaway. Rules below.

Pick something that brings the winner back through your door, not just a gift card.

• Dinner for four, food only (about $120 at menu price, roughly a third at cost)
• A chef's tasting menu for two at the counter (about $150 retail)
• Free lunch every Friday for a month (about $70 at cost)
• A private cooking class with your chef for up to six people
• A catered office lunch for 12 (about $180 retail)
• Your dish on the specials board for a week, named after you

1. Hide a keyword in the video

   Say it halfway through. It rewards people who actually watched and gives you a clean filter at draw time.

2. Pin the rules

   Keyword, end date, eligibility and a rules link, pinned. Works on Shorts and long-form alike.

3. Put the end date up front

   First line of the description, so viewers who find the video next month know it's closed instead of commenting into the void.

4. Filter by keyword and draw

   Paste the comments into the YouTube comment picker, filter by the keyword, draw and reply to your pin with the results link.

• No alcohol. Say food only.
• Add blackout dates for your busiest nights.
• Cap the value and say tax and tip aren't included.
• Give catering prizes a delivery radius.

• YouTube's contest policies make you responsible for the giveaway, its rules and its prizes.
• Say that YouTube isn't a sponsor and isn't involved.
• Entry can't break YouTube's Community Guidelines or terms.

A collab doubles the audience for the same prize budget. For restaurants, good partners are a nearby movie theater or venue, the brewery or winery you pour, a local dessert shop. Each of you posts, and entries from both posts go into one draw.