Hiring
How to choose social media software or a company for your restaurant
October 28, 2026 · 6 min read
Pick an option that uses real footage of your food, posts for you, shows you real restaurant work, has a clear monthly price, and lets you stop or change a video before it goes out. Stay away from long contracts, stock footage and fake food. The eight questions below will sort most tools and companies in one call or demo.
Eight questions to ask
- 1Who films, and how often do they come to my restaurant?
- 2How many videos do I get each month?
- 3Do you post them, or just send me files?
- 4Can I see videos you made for other restaurants?
- 5Can I stop or change a video before it posts?
- 6Who writes the captions?
- 7What is the full monthly price, with filming?
- 8How do I cancel, and what notice do you need?
Red flags
- They will not show you real restaurant videos they made.
- Stock photos or footage from other places in your posts.
- Food that was made on a computer instead of filmed.
- A 12 month contract before you have seen a single video.
- Filming is "extra" and they cannot tell you the price.
- No one can tell you who will actually come to film.
Compare quotes the same way
Turn every quote into the same three numbers: cost a month with filming, videos a month, and whether posting is included. Then divide cost by videos. That cost per video is the fairest way to compare a freelancer, an agency and posting software.
How Chef Social answers those questions
| Question | Chef Social |
|---|---|
| Who films? | You add photos and clips. In SoCal, add a pro shoot at your restaurant for $350 |
| Videos a month | 8, 16 or 30 |
| Posting | Posts on its own to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube Shorts |
| Stop or change a video | Yes, any time before it posts, with 2 free remakes per video |
| Real footage | Always your own food and room. Never stock, never fake food |
| Price | From $109 a month, billed monthly |
| Cancel | Cancel any time |
| Where | Anywhere in the US. Shoots are an add on in Southern California |
Questions owners ask
Should a restaurant use software, an agency or a freelancer?
A freelancer is good if you only need video and will post it yourself. An agency fits if you want paid ads and meetings too. Posting software is the lowest cost way to get videos made and posted on a steady schedule.
What does restaurant social media software do?
It plans your posts, makes the videos, writes the captions and posts them on a schedule. Some tools only schedule posts you make yourself. Others, like Chef Social, edit your own photos and clips into videos, so they show your real food. Ask which parts are included.
Is there social media software made for restaurants in Southern California?
Yes. Chef Social is the video editor for restaurant content. It works anywhere, with a shoot add on in Southern California. It makes short videos from your photos and clips and posts them on its own, from $109 a month.
The short version
Ask who films, how many videos you get, who posts, and how you cancel. Ask to see real restaurant work. Then compare cost per video, not just the monthly price.
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