Scarborough has one of the densest concentrations of Vietnamese restaurants in the GTA — Kennedy Road, Sheppard, Lawrence, Markham Road. If you own a pho shop here, the competition isn't just the spot two blocks away. It's every restaurant within a five-kilometre radius that Google considers a match for "pho near me."
The single most important thing you can do to fix that — before your website, before your Instagram, before anything else — is to set up and optimize your Google Business Profile properly. Most restaurants in Scarborough have one, but barely use it. The ones that take it seriously end up at the top of Google Maps and dominate dinner-rush search traffic.
Here's how to do it correctly, step by step.
Claim or create your profile, and verify it
Go to google.com/business and sign in with the Google account you want to use long-term (don't use a personal Gmail you might lose access to). Search for your restaurant. If it's already listed — which it likely is, because Google auto-creates listings from public data — claim it. If not, create one.
Verification usually happens by postcard mailed to your Scarborough address, by phone, or by video. The video option is increasingly common: Google will ask you to record a short walkthrough showing your storefront, signage, and equipment to prove you're really operating. Have your sign visible, your bowls of pho on the counter, and your menu in shot.
Until you're verified, you can't edit anything that matters. Don't skip this.
Get your category and attributes exactly right
Your primary category should be "Vietnamese restaurant" or "Pho restaurant" — both exist in Google's system. Choose whichever describes the majority of your menu. Then add secondary categories like "Asian restaurant," "Soup restaurant," or "Takeout restaurant" if they apply.
The category you pick determines which searches you show up for. A spot listed only as "Asian restaurant" will not rank for "pho Scarborough" nearly as well as one listed as "Pho restaurant" even if the menus are identical.
Then go through every attribute Google offers: dine-in, takeout, delivery, accepts reservations, good for kids, wheelchair accessible, has parking, accepts credit cards, accepts Apple Pay. Fill in everything that's true. Each attribute is a tiny ranking signal and a filter customers use.
Hours: be obsessive about accuracy
Nothing kills a Google profile faster than wrong hours. If a customer drives from Markham to your Sheppard location at 9:30 p.m. because Google says you're open until 10, and you closed at 9, you've earned a one-star review and a permanently lost regular.
Set your regular hours. Then update holiday hours every time — Lunar New Year, Canadian holidays, days you close early. Google sends you reminders before major holidays. Use them.
If you do a different lunch and dinner schedule, use Google's split-hours feature. If your kitchen closes thirty minutes before your dining room, list the kitchen close time, not the dining room close time. Customers care about when they can order, not when you sweep up.
Photos do most of the heavy lifting
Google's own data shows that businesses with more than 100 photos get 520% more calls than the average. Pho restaurants have an enormous advantage here: the food is beautiful and easy to photograph.
Upload high-resolution photos of: your dining room (well-lit, no people if possible), your storefront and signage, your menu, individual dishes (especially your signature pho, fresh rolls, vermicelli bowls, banh mi), your kitchen if it's clean, and your team. Refresh photos every month. Google rewards profiles with active uploads more than profiles that were perfect once and never updated.
If you're competing with other pho shops in Scarborough or nearby North York, photos are often the deciding factor. People scroll through, see steam rising off a bowl, and click yours.
Use Google Posts every week
Most restaurant owners don't know Google Posts exist. They're short updates that show up directly on your profile — like a mini Instagram inside Google Maps. You can post specials, new menu items, holiday hours, events.
Posts expire after seven days, which is why you need to post weekly. A consistent rhythm signals to Google that you're active. It also gives customers a reason to check your profile instead of jumping to a competitor's.
Easy weekly post ideas for a pho shop: a new seasonal item, a discount on takeout orders, a behind-the-scenes shot of broth being made, a customer review you're proud of. Twenty minutes of work per week.
Set up the messaging and Q&A features
Turn on messaging so customers can text you directly through Google Maps. Most don't — and the ones who answer messages within an hour show up higher in local search.
Then go into the Q&A section and seed it yourself. Ask questions you know customers wonder about: "Do you do gluten-free pho?" "Is the broth made fresh daily?" "Do you have parking?" Then answer them from your business account. This is allowed and encouraged. Customers see clear, useful info instead of empty space or random user questions.
Reviews: ask, respond, repeat
Reviews don't just affect your rating — they affect your ranking. A pho shop in Scarborough with 200 reviews at 4.6 stars will outrank one with 30 reviews at 4.9 stars almost every time.
Print a small QR code card and place it next to the bill at every table. "Loved your meal? Scan to leave us a Google review." That's it. No discounts, no incentives — those violate Google's rules. Just an easy ask at the moment customers feel best about you.
Reply to every review within 48 hours. Thank the good ones. Address the bad ones calmly and professionally. Mention dishes by name if you can — it shows you're paying attention and it sneaks more keywords into your profile.
Running a pho restaurant in Scarborough is hard enough without becoming a part-time digital marketer. If you'd rather have your Google Business Profile, photos, posts, and review responses managed by people who do this every day, that's exactly what Curbli is built for. We get your profile dialed in, build you a clean website in 48 hours, and keep everything updated month after month — $397 to launch and $97/month ongoing.