Restaurant branding done right: What we can learn from Prezzo Italian’s rebrand

We all know restaurant branding isn’t just a logo, and it’s definitely not just a pretty menu. It’s the reason someone chooses your place over the one down the street.

Prezzo Italian recently went through a rebrand that served up a masterclass in what restaurant branding can really do. On the latest episode of What’s Cooking? Mark McCulloch, Founder of Hospitality Marketing Guru and CMO of Prezzo Italian, breaks down exactly how they made it happen.

Below, we walk through what worked, what to watch out for, and how you can build a strong restaurant brand that lasts.

What is restaurant branding, really?

Most people still think of branding as a visual exercise, such as colours, fonts, maybe an impressive logo. But as Mark points out, “Brand is a promise delivered.” 

That promise is what guests experience every time they interact with your restaurant, from the tone of your Instagram posts to the taste and presentation of a dish. Your brand lives in consistency, not just in appearance.

That’s the key difference between brand and branding. Branding is the toolkit — the visuals, the messaging, the process. Your brand, on the other hand, is the promise you make to your customers and how consistently you deliver it.

Mark breaks a brand down into three moving parts:

• Culture — how your team acts and feels.
• Products and services — what guests actually experience.
• Reputation — what people say about you when you’re not in the room.

“The culture, the products and services, and the reputation are all overlapping, zipping through the air as fast as you would like,” Mark explains. “And that's because they've got a North Star. They've got a brand DNA of something [...] that everyone believes in.”

For restaurants, that North Star is the glue that connects all three elements. Great restaurant branding is about defining your promise and delivering it consistently across every shift, every plate, and every guest interaction. When you get it right, your brand becomes the reason guests choose your restaurant, again and again.

Alignment is vital

Defining your brand is just the first step. The real challenge? Making sure every part of the business moves together toward that North Star.

Mark explains, “The problem with most brands out there is that they are all flying separately from each other. So imagine the three circles flying through the air, terribly aerodynamic, so you're losing pounds, shillings and pence between those circles. [...]  What you want to do and every great brand out there is about alignment. So the brands that you love, you love them for a reason. You get what you expect from them.”

In other words, every department needs to buy into the same story and work together. The chefs in the kitchen, the marketing staff, and the servers on the floor all play a part in bringing the brand to life.

That’s the kind of thinking we love at Nory. Because the moment your operations and your brand start speaking the same language, magic happens. The team knows what they stand for, so they deliver an experience. And that consistency is where profitability starts to grow.

Think long term

Rebrands are exciting. The energy’s high, the ideas are fresh, and the team’s buzzing. But Mark’s advice is to keep your head in the game.

“That's the mentality. This is all great right now, and don't get me wrong, we're gassed about the whole thing. But for us to be high-fiving, confetti cannons, all that, let's see even more at the finish line, let's see how it's going. [...] I think you have to be glad and celebrate and all that stuff. But don't get cocky, don't get carried away because you're only as good as the last goal you scored.”

It’s a crucial reminder for any operator. Restaurant branding isn’t a single-day launch. It’s about the everyday work that follows. The truth is, and we see this in practice every day, long-term success comes from the small, consistent actions that keep your brand promise alive.

Measure, but trust your gut

Data is powerful. Prezzo Italian built feedback loops into every stage of their rebrand to understand what was landing. But data alone is not enough. As Mark reminds us, “Sometimes, your gut does tell you this is the right thing.”

And he’s right. Numbers show patterns, but they don’t always capture the emotion behind the brand.

That’s why the best restaurant leaders use both sides of the brain. They track metrics, listen to guests, and watch performance. But they also trust their instincts when it comes to creativity, design, and storytelling.

Gut feel is your ally. Pair it with the right data, and you’ll be able to make bold, confident moves that others are too cautious to try.

Use technology wisely

You know we’d get here eventually. Because when it comes to alignment and restaurant branding, technology is the glue that keeps everything together.

If your systems aren’t talking to each other, your people won’t either.

That’s why tools like Nory exist, to give operators visibility across the entire business. From forecasting to scheduling to food prep, it’s about giving every team member the information they need to make better decisions faster.

When your operations are streamlined, your people aren’t stuck firefighting. They have time to focus on what matters: delivering the brand experience guests come for.

Key to success? Aligned restaurant branding

Prezzo Italian’s rebrand proves a simple truth: you don’t just build a strong brand for guests but for the people inside too. And it all comes together beautifully.

When your team understands exactly what the brand stands for, they deliver it naturally.

When your systems support that delivery, operations can run smoothly. 

And when culture, product, and reputation reinforce one another, customers feel it the moment they walk in.

Mark sums it up nicely, “If you only have that transactional relationship with your customers, you're not building anything for the future. [...] You've got to build that emotional connection. And the only way to do that is through your brand.”

That’s what great restaurant branding does. It connects your purpose to your operations, your people to your profits, and your brand story to every plate served.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of What’s Cooking? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to hear Mark McCulloch and Conor Sheridan break down how Prezzo Italian rebuilt its brand from the inside out and what every operator can learn from it.