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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#401

Post by Cederfjard »

monkeynotes wrote: post #321
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #8

I gotta say, I disagree with this piece. I, for one, love QR code menus. I can pinch zoom rather than squint at a menu with small/unreadable fonts in dim lighting. I don't need to badger the already exhausted wait staff on a busy night when they forget to drop us a menu or two. When orders are taken online, rather than awkwardly force a friend to not go to the bathroom (or take their kid to the bathroom) until a serv…

Wait, restaurants are making you order from an app too?? So now you don't really need your 'exhausted wait staff' so much. Hire less wait staff as a portion are now are underutilized. Now some wait staff have no jobs, and the remainder work the same exhausting shifts. The reason these wait staff get tips is because they work so hard, with less service comes less tips. Now you have a whole industry of overworked AND u…

When I go out to eat with friends and family, the important part is spending time with friends and family (and sometimes strangers, but that’s usually other patrons). I don’t mind interacting with waitstaff, but it’s not adding any value to my experience, either - as long as I get my order I don’t really care about the tradition and ceremony, as you put it.

We went out recently to a place where we ordered with our phones and had a great time. It was simple and painless, orders were served quickly and it didn’t matter that the only thing I ever said to staff was ”thanks” - I focused on my people instead.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#402

Post by colinmhayes »

FractalParadigm wrote: post #177
topicseed wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With covid, many restaurants removed paper menus to avoid transmission. I hate QR codes so that was a move I was not in favour of.....

Most, if not all restaurants I've been to around my area, were already either using or switched to using laminated sheets, sometimes bound in a plastic or leather cover. Plastic-enclosed paper is trivial to sanitize and lasts a VERY long time, plus I would like to imagine a laminator is quite a bit cheaper in the long-term than maintaining separate menu websites for every individual location. It's amazing how some ca…

The idea of menu costs is an extremely important one in restaurant economics. Sure laminated menus may last a while but they're a pain in the ass to change. If the restaurant wants to add an item or change the prices they're pretty much out of luck. None of the 30 or so restaurants I've been to post pandemic have had physical menus which is definitely not ideal, but I don't see them going back to having non zero menu costs.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#403

Post by atatatat »

advanced-DnD wrote: post #313
vmception wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American that visits Germany, I absolutely hate how eating at a restaurant is seen by many as an event where you hang out forever, as opposed to a routine service I expect as a fairly quick and formulaic pitstop between other obligations. There seems to be no difference between classes of dining out, in this regard. I also suspect you are out of touch. QR code menus and payments were not a thing in the US befor…

> I absolutely hate how eating at a restaurant is seen by many as an event where you hang out forever, as opposed to a routine service I expect as a fairly quick and formulaic pitstop between other obligations. Cultural difference. If you don't want to spend time with your friends then don't accept invitations of going to a restaurant.

What if I want to socialize with people before, during, and after we eat...just for 20 minutes, though, not an hour plus?

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#404

Post by colinmhayes »

School-Cotton wrote: post #275
topicseed wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With covid, many restaurants removed paper menus to avoid transmission. I hate QR codes so that was a move I was not in favour of.....

That’s indeed why they did it, which is silly because there’s zero evidence that paper restaurant menus are a significant risk of covid transmission. It’s pure hygiene theater.

Nah, they did it because it makes it super easy to change the menu. Physical menus rarely change, online menus can change instantly for free.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#405

Post by syshum »

loonster wrote: post #393
syshum wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several of the large chains already have pay at table kiosk's I have always wondered why they just do not have order at table as well... I am waiting for the first restaurant that only has Cooks and Food Runners with no traditional waitstaff... This will likely coincide with the removal of tipping as a custom in the US. We will move to kiosk ordering, press a button to get drink refills, pay at the table, and leave.

I absolutely stopped going to restaurants that have those table tablets. It's just too distracting.

hmm, I prefer them. I never liked handing my card to wait staff where they take off somewhere..

I 100% prefer pay at table, and would 100% prefer order at table as well, less chance they get my order wrong

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#406

Post by colinmhayes »

malka wrote: post #391
hungryforcodes wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would dispute that -- except for iPhones -- almost all the smart phones I've seen sold in Asia are dual SIM.

> sold in Asia irrelevant.

If we're talking about tourists it definitely isn't. In fact, the phones that are sold in the US are the irrelevant ones.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#407

Post by draw_down »

basisword wrote: post #382

Really didn’t take us long to get back to our first world problems did it? As with most tech things the QR menus work well when they’re implemented well and poorly when they’re implanted poorly. Multi-language support (without having to print menus in lots of languages that might not get used) is something I’ve seen in a few places. There is also the opportunity to make them a more accessible option if done right. It…

First world problem is such a silly and birdbrained category to begin with, but the reasons for and against doing this can both be categorized that way, so it is entirely unhelpful here. (And God forbid people should want their world to be a certain way, why can’t they just shut up and take it)

It’s a first world problem to have to wipe off a menu after a customer used it, or to have to print out and recycle paper ones.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#408

Post by scrollaway »

wyager wrote: post #315
topicseed wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With covid, many restaurants removed paper menus to avoid transmission. I hate QR codes so that was a move I was not in favour of.....

> With covid, many restaurants removed paper menus to avoid transmission Any time a business claims to do something in the name of health or environmentalism, they are actually just using those as an excuse to cut corners.

Or, you know, the government is asking them to do it.

Here in Belgium the government asked a lot of mostly useless measures out of our bars and restaurants. You think they're happy paying hundreds, sometimes thousands of euros having Plexiglas screens installed all over the place, inconveniencing customers and staff alike?

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#409

Post by tdumitrescu »

a_imho wrote: post #237
FractalParadigm wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most, if not all restaurants I've been to around my area, were already either using or switched to using laminated sheets, sometimes bound in a plastic or leather cover. Plastic-enclosed paper is trivial to sanitize and lasts a VERY long time, plus I would like to imagine a laminator is quite a bit cheaper in the long-term than maintaining separate menu websites for every individual location. It's amazing how some ca…

It is not for tech sake, this is building a database. Never attribute to incompetence what can be adequately explained by bogus engagement KPIs

Most of the restaurants I've been to the QR code takes you to a PDF of the menu as found on the restaurant's website. There's no auth and no way to track anything beyond I guess how many times people opened the menu file. Restaurants aren't doing this for tracking, they're doing it to stay on the good side of public health regulations in a period where they've learned they can be forcibly closed with barely any warning.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#410

Post by atatatat »

teeray wrote: post #2

The worst aspect of QR codes as menu replacements is that they are a huge security risk. Who’s to say that QR code is legit? You can’t tell from looking at it. The trouble is compounded by the common practice of restaurants using some third-party service hosted off-site. The domain is no longer a trust signal either. It’s only a matter of time before someone starts snarfing information or credit card numbers this way…

Malicious Scan Here to Pay on the fuel dispenser/charger, etc
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