Even if you have the best food in the world, it is basically pointless if people don't know how good your food taste. You should put an effort into advertising for you to attract customers to your restaurant, it's not that tiring as some people think. The food culture has never been as popular as it is right now. People love to find out the trendiest, coolest, and instagrammable restaurants around. Once they found out about how good your restaurant is they'll keep coming back over and over again.
Start Locally
Gain the trust of the locals around you, give them the awareness of what your restaurant provides. You can talk to local bloggers/food critics to let them help you promote your business. Also, try asking this to yourself, do people in your area understand what your restaurant is about, do they know what you are serving, do they know that your restaurant even exists. You can also go to the local tv or radio stations and invite them to eat at your restaurant, anything to get them in your restaurant door and put your name out to the public.
Special Days
This is another technique in targeting customers, people will always like something that is different and that's a way of luring them to come and dine in your restaurant. Set a day, most probably off-peak days (Monday - Thursday) to give discounts like 50% off on selected dishes and while you're at it you can also give them promo cards that entitle them to accumulate a certain number of stickers to redeem a free meal or any product from your restaurant.
The Internet
This is probably the cheapest way to get the information out there. Nowadays, a lot of people are using the internet and customers are using technology to look up where to dine, generating an online presence and engaging can be helpful and less time to consume. The internet is not anymore a matter of choice but a necessity.
Moves such as web pages with directions and menus and a social media presence will attract new diners into your restaurant. With regard to social media, prior to doing anything, a solid platform is needed for you to start with. When creating an account you should have the know-how on how to manage it. It's also better to have a prominent brand presence on one network than poor visibility on many of them.
Facebook is the best and fastest way to promote your business. With over 2.27 billion subscribers and many active daily users, this is the forefront for your restaurant to connect with customers.
Keep the Customers Flowing
Persevere on keeping the customers coming back as often as possible. This can be done by engaging with them while they are in your restaurant. Ask them how was the food, respond to customer feedback and address their concerns, and thank them as they leave after their meal. Proper customer service will let them know that you care about them and understand what their wants and needs are.
Also, stay up to date with your kitchen equipment. Commercial kitchens in Saudi Arabia has state-of-the-art foodservice equipment. A more modern version of your equipment means an improvement in the quality and faster production of food. Thus, improving the flow of customers.
You always want your restaurant to stay ahead of the competition and by doing all of these steps will attract more customers to your restaurant.