Negative keywords for restaurants
Restaurant ads attract job applicants, home cooks looking for a copycat recipe instead of a reservation, and adjacent food businesses — grocery stores, meal kits, food trucks — that aren't the dine-in or takeout experience you're selling. This list filters all three.
Why negative keywords matter for restaurants
Restaurants hire servers, cooks, and hosts constantly, and 'server jobs near me' or 'chef jobs' searches often look identical to dining searches happening in the same neighborhood.
A huge volume of food-related search traffic is recipe and recreation intent rather than dining-out intent, and several adjacent food categories — grocery, catering, food trucks — use similar language without representing a restaurant visit.
The full list
39 terms. Review each one before adding — remove anything you actually sell.
Jobs and careers
- restaurant jobs
- server jobs near me
- chef jobs
- line cook jobs
- restaurant manager careers
- bartender jobs
- host hiring
- kitchen staff jobs
- dishwasher jobs
- restaurant hiring near me
DIY and free
- diy recipe copycat
- free recipes online
- how to cook at home
- homemade recipe blog
- free meal prep ideas
- diy cocktail recipes
- free cooking tutorial
- homemade pizza recipe
- diy bbq recipe
- free grocery meal plan
Education and training
- culinary school
- how to become a chef
- bartending certification course
- food handler certification
- restaurant management degree
- culinary arts program
Wrong service
- grocery store
- food truck only
- catering only
- meal kit delivery
- liquor store
- food delivery app jobs
- vending machine company
- bakery wholesale
- nightclub only
- banquet hall rental
- farmers market
- coffee roaster wholesale
- restaurant equipment supplier
Competitors (add your own)
Add the names of local competitors you don't want to pay for. Review these case by case.
If your restaurant also offers catering, remove 'catering only' and keep catering keywords as part of the campaign.
How to add these in Google Ads
- Sign in to Google Ads and open the campaign you want to protect.
- Go to Keywords, then Negative keywords, and click the blue plus button.
- Choose whether to add them to this campaign, an ad group, or a negative keyword list you can share across campaigns.
- Paste the terms, one per line. Remove any you actually want to show for first.
- Click Save. Check the search terms report again after a week or two to see what's still getting through.
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Frequently asked questions
Why exclude copycat recipe searches?
Those searchers want to make the dish at home, not order it from your restaurant.
Should I exclude 'food truck only'?
Only if you're a fixed-location restaurant without a truck; remove it if you also operate one.
Is 'restaurant equipment supplier' really relevant?
Yes — those searches come from other businesses buying kitchen equipment, not diners.
Related guides and tools
- Negative keyword list generator — A ready-to-copy negative keyword list for your industry.
- How to add negative keywords in Google Ads — Step-by-step: how to add negative keywords in Google Ads at the ad group, campaign or list level, and how to avoid blocking good traffic by mistake.
- Which Google Ads search terms are wasting your money — How to find the search terms wasting your Google Ads budget, group them into patterns, and exclude them with negative keywords without blocking real customers..
- Google Ads audit for restaurants — Recipe searches, general menu browsing and job searches are the common leaks.
Sources
Last updated · Written by the Claritad team (Kyle Edward Gilligan LLC). Claritad is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.