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Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

juliansanchez.com

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Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#51

Post by mgkimsal »

ronnier wrote: post #39
blhack wrote: post #33

Huh. I just realized that I have a strange association between restaurants and their websites. My expectation of quality is inversely correlated to the quality of their website. When I see a restaurant website that is "good", it makes me thing "chain. corporate. bland. boring."

Am I the only person who doesn't mind chain and corporate eateries?

No you're not. I enjoy restaurants, regardless of whether they're chain or indie. If it's good it's good, if not, not. Bonus of chains is that if it's good one place, it's probably good in most places.

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#53

Post by davidmurphy »

Volscio wrote: post #16
trafficlight wrote: post #10

All I want to see are the menu and the hours of operation.

Word. I want the hours, location, phone number, and menu. All in a format I can copy & paste into my email to convince my friends to go. I rarely get any of that at a restaurant's web site. No wonder that it's easier to google/yelp it and use their listings.

And I want the PRICES to be in that menu. Drives me nuts when there are generic menus with no clue of prices.

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#54

Post by erreon »

spitfire wrote: post #27
bdclimber14 wrote: post #11

Because restaurant owners are barely figuring out what email is. How often do you go to restaurant websites vs. actual restaurants (not including Yelp or Google maps)? Truth is, they just don't matter. The cost of creating a website, even a $500 design over a CMS doesn't justify the cost. Also, a small business restaurant owner won't know how to operate a CMS. They just figured out email, remember? Worse, is that web…

Someone needs to make tumblr for front page/business card websites.

Something like about.me for businesses would be great. Maybe a second editable page with REALLY easy to lists. That way businesses can easily list services or menu items.

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#55

Post by antrix »

ronnier wrote: post #37
dasil003 wrote: post #20

One reason for menus in PDF is because the menus may change frequently, and a PDF is easy to create from their actual print menus. It doesn't seem like a big deal to update both an InDesign layout and a website, but if different people do those two things, then it's quite likely a mistake will be made, so it's smart just to use the already proofed version.

I also deal with this while keeping my resume updated and tweaked. I have an HTML, PDF, and MS Word format. I use a print CSS sytle sheet on my homepage ( http://ronnie.me ) so that I can print it to PDF for the PDF version and manually create the Word version. Very tedious.

I do something similar for my resume (http://antrix.net/resume/). Started with a template by timbray [1] which I 'imported' into Google Docs by directly editing the document CSS & HTML. Finally, export from Google Docs as doc, pdf, etc.

The HTML version on my site has additional print specific CSS to switch fonts, background colour, etc. making the print output more pleasing.

[1]: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2005/11/12/Template.h...

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#56

Post by tucker1213 »

jasonlbaptiste wrote: post #28

I think there are a few things here that cause this: a) You're going against the worst kind of incumbent- the 15 year old nephew or kid next door. He's cheaper, good enough, and "trusted". He is competition that exists a million times over. b) Even if your system is better, they just can't be bothered to even get a good demo. You definitely need to build something so usable and good it's frightening, but good luck ge…

So true. The restaurant market is a tough nut to crack but if you manage to do it you will be very glad you stuck it out. I only disagree with e. Our churn (tripleseat.com) is less then 1%. If you provide value and have a good relationship restaurant people are very loyal and will stick with you in good times and bad. If your churn is bad try annual pricing at a discount. Restaurateurs love to negotiate and annual pricing at a discount is a win/win

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#58

Post by lowglow »

lowglow wrote: post #32

http://www.onebigmenu.com I'm working on this site right now, and I understand your concerns because I feel them myself. I'm hoping I can bridge the gap between dining and diner. :) (Please excuse the design, since I'm the only developer :P)

One last thing, If any developers want to join forces, that would be cool too :)

Re: Why are restaurant web sites so bad?

#59

Post by cubicle67 »

Volscio wrote: post #16
trafficlight wrote: post #10

All I want to see are the menu and the hours of operation.

Word. I want the hours, location, phone number, and menu. All in a format I can copy & paste into my email to convince my friends to go. I rarely get any of that at a restaurant's web site. No wonder that it's easier to google/yelp it and use their listings.

See, that's where it gets hard. Menus, and especially prices, change. People get upset if they're charged differently to what they saw on the website, and keeping the two in sync requires a conscious effort on behalf of the restaurant that it's not likely going to receive.

There's two way around this problem (keeping the website up to date) that I can see: integrate with existing POS system (expensive and hard) or offer a service to update the site for them.

There's an idea for someone - buy yourself a fax machine (yes, really), and offer a service whereby clients fax you a copy of their menu when it changes and you update their website.

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