Restaurant Chains Are All A-Twitter

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A tiny social-networking tool proves a powerful--and free--way for restaurant chains to reach avid fans.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2009

Los Angeles-based Tender Greens uses its Twitter page to advertise specials; it also kept San Diego followers up to date on its restaurant opening in that city.

It's small—8.9 million users compared to Facebook's 200 million. But Twitter has become the social-networking tool of choice for many restaurant chains wishing to court a young, hip clientele.

Twitter enables users to write 140-character microblogs as many times a day as they please, which in turns enables their friends to keep constant track of them. Like Facebook, the site is free. Unlike Facebook, Twitter users can connect with, or follow, whomever they want; no permission is necessary. Generally speaking, new users choose to follow current users in hopes that the favor will be returned.

Broadcasting Specials

Erik Oberholtzer, chef and co-owner of Tender Greens, a three-unit, fast-casual, health-skewed restaurant chain based in Los Angeles, began "tweeting" earlier this year after some prompting from his publicist.

"Honestly, the microblog culture was not something we understood right away," Oberholtzer says. "The perception was that it was a lot of people sharing a lot of useless information." He no longer feels that way. "The benefit is getting a message out there and building a community," he says.