Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

I've been loading the menus on my phone before I get to the restaurant. Works great. Never have to concern myself with a signal or wifi or anything. And sometimes I even know what I want before I show up.

Also, because of the QR code trend, more restaurants now have updated menus on their websites.

When I invite friends to dinner, I text them all links to the menu so they don't have to deal with the on-site awkwardness.

I have nothing against printed menus, but I think there's some real potential with dynamic menus that are immediately accessible to everyone even before they arrive.

Multiple language support, immediately-adjustable specials menu, filtering for food preference and allergy requirements, maybe even an ordering history allowing you to re-order, or explicitly not order the same thing twice, even ordering (or server hailing).

It's clear the UX isn't there yet, but it was all thrown together by non-technical small-business owners on short notice, who have been trying to make things work at a very strange time. I'm actually kind of impressed at how well it's generally worked in my experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

To each their own, but to me this ceremony provides zero value. Waiters take the order and may comment on the weather, it's not like we're developing a deep friendship here.

The "tradition" is to sit, wait for a waiter to appear. Ask for purpose (lunch? big meal? just a drink?). Then you wait again for the correct menu to appear. Then you get asked for a drink. And wait for the drink. And then comes the longer wait where the waiter tries to detect when you are ready to order, if they see it at all.

Combined, that's some 20-30 mins in and the prepping of your meal hasn't even started yet.

Now if you're the kind of person that's going to be in there 3-4 hours anyway, the ritual doesn't harm, but it doesn't add much value either. It's needlessly slow and inefficient.

Your future dystopian nightmare is already here, and it's fine. In the Netherlands, some sushi restaurants work as follow. You are seated. There's an iPad for everyone, and people just tap what they want. Some minutes later, your food arrives. This supposed cold-hearted efficiency means I get to spend more time engaging with my friends, the very point of the visit.

By the way, you're not doing restaurants any favors with a slow and long visit. It means they can't use your table twice. So finish your meal in 1.5-2 hours and if still not bored with your friends, go to a damn bar.

Main downside: I don't always take my phone with me. I don't hate QR code, but adding a "backup" menu that is accessible without phones is a must I believe.

What does that even mean? Paper menus don't need to change, they work perfectly fine as they are.

I love QR code menus because I'm not forced to touch a menu that 100 people before me have touched.