Should I Offer Free Food Samples in My Taproom?

There’s something we all can agree on. As guests in a business, we all love free samples.

Now before I go on, I want to set the record straight, I’m not talking about when that new customer begs you for a billion samples before deciding upon the first taster your offered.

For today’s conversation, we’re going to talk about food samples.

Recently, I visited a bowling alley and our gracious host had a ton of snacks waiting for us. However, the lane next door was too focused on their game to think about eating. That’s when the staff stepped in and brought a cute little plate with 4 samples, 2 fancy little pretzels with a toothpick pressed in and 2 other equally as quaint, and almost as equally brown bites of a snack I didn’t recognize.

Those samples sat on their table for a few minutes untouched.

“Hello there, just wanted to make sure you saw the samples we dropped off.” Yes, the staff stopped by to remind the bowlers to try the free food. And they did.

I then looked down at the rest of the bowling alley, and nearly every lane that hadn’t yet ordered food also had the plate of samples.

First, let’s take a minute to congratulate the bowling alley staff. Sure, they could’ve just dropped off the samples, but it’s the follow up that matters. Whether you’re trying to get a strike or strike up conversation with someone on the closest barstool, it’s easy to lose focus. The gentle reminder from the bowling alley staff is an excellent behavior to train staff on.

The argument for free food samples?

• The guest may not know, or remember, that you have food.

• The guest may not know you recently added a kitchen or expanded your menu.

• The guest may not know that they’re hungry.

• Once you pop, the fun don't stop (i.e. once you have a bite, you want more).

While I wish I had Secret Hopper data on the likelihood of a guest ordering food after having a sample, I don’t. However, a 2021 Harris Poll found that 86% of shoppers admitted to being more likely to buy something after taking the free sample.

So the sample gets them to order, and once food's on the check, here's the impact our data shows. We see that breweries with an in-house kitchen (no food trucks or snack only options mixed in), the average total check was 95% higher when the guest ordered food ($77.49) versus when they didn't ($39.68). Per person spend was 52% higher ($39.12 vs $25.73).

Ordering food adds about 11 minutes versus not ordering food at breweries that have in-house kitchens, 10% longer. Ordering food adds about 17 minutes versus visiting a taproom that offers no food at all, 18% longer.

I repeat, guests who order food stay longer and spend more overall.

A free sample creates a moment of unexpected bliss for a guest. Sure, it may cost you a few bucks, but the data backs up the case for giving it a shot.

And that party of 2 that had previously seemed too caught up in their game of bowling? When I left they each had full plate in front of them.

The data was collected from a set of 809 unique taproom visits from September 2024 to July 2026. Each tab represents 2 guests and includes tax and tip.

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