Metro Restaurant Marketing

What Metro Restaurant Marketing does

Metro Restaurant Marketing is a New York City-based B2B marketing agency focused exclusively on the hospitality and restaurant industry. Founded in fall 2012 as a spin-off from WordHampton Public Relations (originally founded in 1992), the firm is led by founder Steve Haweeli and President Nicole Castillo, a 26-year PR veteran, and operates as a privately held, founder-owned boutique practice under the WordHampton umbrella.

The firm delivers an integrated marketing stack spanning public relations, social media management, email marketing, strategic counsel, photography, website design, and graphic design. It manages approximately 60 social media accounts and runs more than 30 advertising campaigns on behalf of its restaurant clients, with an operating model built around on-site quarterly face-time visits and a Basic Package plus add-on pricing structure. Service quality has been recognized across industry awards including MarCom (including Gold for the BacoBurger social media campaign), PRSA Big Apple Awards, PRSA Bronze Anvil, and Fair Media Council Folio Awards.

Metro Restaurant Marketing's geographic footprint spans New York City's five boroughs, the Hamptons, the North Fork, and Long Island. The client base is concentrated in independent and chef-driven restaurants, anchored by a 22-year relationship with restaurateur Mark Smith across his six concepts (Nick & Toni's, Rowdy Hall, La Fondita, Townline BBQ, Nick & Toni's Café, and Coche Comedor). The firm has cultivated editorial relationships with outlets including the New York Times, Eater, Grub Street, and Forbes, and maintains an influencer network spanning creators such as Matt Bruck and Soha Eats.

Name

Metro Restaurant Marketing

Legal name

Metro Restaurant Marketing

Website

https://metrorestaurantmarketing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Metro Restaurant Marketing is a New York City-based boutique marketing agency serving independent and chef-driven restaurants with PR, social media management, email marketing, photography, and web/graphic design services across NYC, the Hamptons, and Long Island.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Relations Services: Core service including marketing news (promotions, events, menu changes, holiday offerings) to metropolitan media outlets including New York Times, Daily News, New York Magazine, TimeOut, New York Post, Infatuation, Grub Street, Eater, and influencer partnerships.
2. Social Media Management: Management of business Facebook accounts, Instagram profiles, and running approximately 30+ ad campaigns for clients. Service includes creating dynamic pages with exclusive content.
3. E-Marketing / Email Campaigns: E-newsletter campaigns written with function and purpose, along with content for website SEO improvement on search engines like Google.
4. Additional Services: Professional photography for high-res restaurant images, website design (front-end and back-end programming), and graphic design for collateral marketing materials and advertising.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Metro Restaurant Marketing is a New York-based B2B agency that provides public relations, social media management, strategic counsel, email marketing (E-Blast), professional photography, website design, and graphic design services specifically to restaurants. Its core product is an annual "Basic Package" that bundles PR, social media, strategic counsel, in-person Face Time visits, and monthly status reports, with optional add-on services available on a quote basis.

Product overview

Metro Restaurant Marketing operates as a specialized restaurant marketing firm (founded 2012, spin-off from WordHampton Public Relations launched 1992) offering a Basic Package of integrated marketing services centered on public relations, social media management, strategic counsel, client visits, and monthly reporting. The core offering is supplemented by à la carte add-on services including e-blast email marketing campaigns, professional photography coordination, website design and programming, and graphic design for collateral materials. The company focuses exclusively on the restaurant industry, serving clients across New York City's five boroughs, the Hamptons, and Long Island.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Basic Package (Annual Marketing & PR Package)

Quantifiable outcome

• Featured on NY1 News within first week of engagement (case study: A2Z Restaurant Consulting)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• WordHampton Public RelationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWordHampton Public Relations is the parent company of Metro Restaurant Marketing, having launched the PR firm in 1992. Metro Restaurant Marketing was founded in fall 2012 as a natural outgrowth of WordHampton PR. This parent company relationship provides Metro with extensive industry experience and resources dating back over three decades.
• WordHamptoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe company behind Metro Restaurant Marketing is WordHampton.com. This is the parent/holding company that owns Metro Restaurant Marketing and provides operational support and branding.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• 5W Public Relations: Large full-service NYC PR agency with dedicated consumer and food & beverage practice. Competes for restaurant and hospitality clients at larger scale and broader service scope than Metro Restaurant Marketing.
• MKG: Experiential marketing and brand communications agency with significant hospitality and restaurant client work. Competes for shared clients in the NYC restaurant marketing services space but at a broader, more diversified agency model.
• BerlinRosen: Large, NYC-based PR and communications firm with a substantial hospitality, food, and beverage practice serving restaurant and consumer brands. Operates at materially larger scale than Metro Restaurant Marketing but competes for the same NYC restaurant-marketing budget and media-outlet relationships.

Direct peers

• ID PR: Boutique lifestyle and food public-relations agency with a strong NYC presence serving restaurants, chefs, and food brands. Directly comparable in service offering (PR, social, events) and target customer (NYC restaurant operators).
• Hot Paper Lantern: Boutique consumer and lifestyle marketing agency with food, beverage, and hospitality clients. Comparable in size and service mix (PR, social media, influencer marketing) targeting similar restaurant and lifestyle brands.
• TURNER (Turner PR): Consumer PR and marketing agency with food, beverage, and lifestyle clients in the NYC market. Comparable in service offering and target vertical, with broader geographic reach.
• Brandbuzz: Lifestyle-focused PR and social media agency with restaurant, hospitality, and food & beverage clients. Directly comparable in terms of service mix, client profile, and NYC market presence.
• Bullfrog & Baum: Boutique PR agency focused specifically on hospitality, restaurants, food, and lifestyle brands in NYC. Closest direct comparable to Metro Restaurant Marketing in terms of vertical specialization, client profile (NYC restaurants), and service mix (PR, social media, influencer).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MetroRestaurantMarketing
• Instagraminstagram.com/metrorestaurantmarketing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/metro-restaurant-marketing

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Metro Restaurant Marketing