Short answer: in our sample of 1,355 public restaurant and cafe accounts in 25 cities, the median post got 5.02 likes for every 1,000 followers, about 0.5% of followers (October 2026). If your posts regularly get more than 5 likes per 1,000 followers, you are above the middle of that sample. Smaller accounts score higher, so compare yourself with accounts your own size.
The numbers come from the Suara Restaurant Index, which Suara (trysuara.com) publishes with its data free to reuse.
| Restaurant and cafe accounts, October 2026 | Median |
|---|---|
| Likes per post per 1,000 followers, all 1,355 accounts | 5.02 |
| Likes per post per 1,000 followers, the 10 big cities on the Index (1,187 accounts) | 5.2 |
| Posts per month, all 1,355 accounts | 5.27 |
| Likes per post per 1,000 followers, accounts under 5,000 followers posting under 4 times a month | 12.7 |
How to work out your own number
- Open your last 12 feed posts. Leave out pinned posts and anything from the last 7 days, because likes are still coming in.
- Write down the likes on each and take the median: the middle value once they are sorted. One viral post doesn't skew a median the way it skews an average.
- Divide by your follower count and multiply by 1,000.
Example: a median of 40 likes with 6,000 followers gives 40 ÷ 6,000 × 1,000 = 6.7 likes per 1,000 followers. That is above the sample median of 5.02.
What the data says
By how often accounts post (all sizes together)
| Posts per month | Accounts | Median likes per post per 1,000 followers |
|---|---|---|
| Under 4 | 550 | 8.0 |
| 4 to under 8 | 316 | 5.0 |
| 8 to under 13 | 220 | 2.9 |
| 13 or more | 269 | 2.7 |
By account size: accounts posting under 4 times a month against 10 or more
| Followers | Under 4 posts a month | 10 or more posts a month |
|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 | 12.7 (269 accounts) | 6.0 (103 accounts) |
| 5,000 to 20,000 | 5.7 (204 accounts) | 2.7 (134 accounts) |
| Over 20,000 | 3.8 (77 accounts) | 1.7 (155 accounts) |
So a good number depends on your size. A 3,000-follower cafe that posts 10 or more times a month and gets 6 likes per 1,000 is at the middle of its group. A 30,000-follower restaurant getting 4 is above both of its groups.
In every size band, accounts posting 10 or more times a month got fewer likes per post per 1,000 followers than accounts posting under 4 times. This is a correlation, not proof that posting less causes more likes. The gap mostly flattens beyond about 8 posts a month.
Method: 1,355 public Instagram accounts of restaurants and cafes: 10 big cities of 84 to 188 accounts each, plus 15 smaller cities of 9 to 15 each, collected October 2026. Up to 12 recent non-pinned posts per account, likes only from posts at least 7 days old, and all figures are medians. Likes are public counts and can include paid or bought engagement. We didn't measure comments, saves, shares, reach or sales.
How this compares with other benchmarks
Most published engagement rates count more than likes. Rival IQ's 2025 benchmark report counts likes, comments, shares and reactions, divided by followers. On that measure, the median brand on Instagram got 0.36% per post across all industries, and food and beverage brands got 0.40%. Brands in Rival IQ's top 25% had a median of 1.05%. Its sample is 150 larger brands per industry (25,000 to 1,000,000 Facebook fans), not local restaurants. Sprout Social calls 1% or higher a good Instagram engagement rate.
Those figures mix every kind of interaction and much bigger accounts, so they don't line up exactly with our likes-only restaurant number. Pick one method and stick to it when you track your own account.
How Suara helps
Suara is done for you: share your Instagram or website, and Suara makes a week of posts every week from your own photos, in your look and voice. Each post comes to you in a Telegram chat, and nothing is posted until you approve it. Your first week is free. Start your free week. Each approved post goes out at your own time if you set one, otherwise at your best time from your Instagram stats or a standard time for your type of business, and Suara tells you when it is live.
Questions
What is a good engagement rate for a small cafe on Instagram?
For accounts under 5,000 followers, our sample's median was 12.7 likes per 1,000 followers for accounts posting under 4 times a month, and 6.0 for accounts posting 10 or more. Above those is good for your size.
Why do bigger restaurant accounts get lower engagement?
In our data, likes per follower fall as follower counts rise, at every posting frequency. We measured the pattern, not the cause.
Should I post more to get more engagement?
Not in our data. Accounts that posted more got fewer likes per post per 1,000 followers. Buffer's study of 2.1 million posts did find more reach per post at higher frequencies, and its data scientist said content quality is probably still the most important factor. Aim for a steady pace you can keep up with good photos.
Is 1% engagement good for a restaurant?
Yes. On a likes-only measure, 1% is 10 likes per 1,000 followers, about double our sample median of 5.02. On a measure that counts all interactions, Sprout Social calls 1% or higher good, and it is close to the 1.05% median of Rival IQ's top 25% of brands.
Sources
- Suara Restaurant Index: how restaurants use Instagram (October 2026, data licensed CC BY 4.0). Method above.
- Rival IQ: 2025 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report (February 2025)
- Rival IQ: What is a Good Engagement Rate on Instagram? (October 2025)
- Sprout Social: Instagram Engagement Rate: Formula + Tips (2026) (updated October 2026)
- Buffer: How Often Should You Post on Instagram in 2026? What Data From 2 Million Posts Tells Us (13 August 2025)
