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Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

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Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#41

Post by tomkarlo »

6ren wrote: post #8

Counterpoint: do restaurant customers (i.e. ordinary people) also think these websites are awful? When I see a website like that, I just think "it's not targeting me". Also, I've actually given up on all websites of non-internet companies, including big retailers. It's just too tedious to find information, too slow loading. Their mobile sites often load quicker. but have even less info. You're better off ringing them…

"Counterpoint: do restaurant customers (i.e. ordinary people) also think these websites are awful?"

I notice that regular customers mostly use Yelp, OpenTable or just plain Google to look up a restaurant's phone number or location. That suggests to me that they've learned that going to the actual web site is usually a bad bet.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#42

Post by prawn »

ZoFreX wrote: post #2

As someone who has built a fair few restaurant sites, there are lots of reasons. If a web design agency builds a site that doesn't work on the iPhone or iPad, which are both now considered critical to restaurant marketing, they get to charge extra for creating an iOS specific version, or an app, or whatever. If you create one site that works great on everything, you make less money. Restaurants are also sometimes run…

(Web designer here, but also someone who eats out a lot and looks at a fair few restaurant sites - including via iPad when on holiday.)

When I click a dinner menu link and it opens as HTML and not as a PDF document, I get a quick sense of relief and greatly appreciate it. Can't stand PDF menus, sorry.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#45

Post by chunkyslink »

>> Over the last few weeks I've spent countless hours, now lost forever, plumbing the depths of restaurant Web hell

I'm sorry but the author of this article has obviously missed the following sites built by the UK based company Engage Interactive. These guys have nailed the UK market and make awesome restaurant websites for some of the biggest chains / names.

www.strada.co.uk

www.bellaitalia.co.uk

www.caferouge.co.uk

www.giraffe.net

They feature exactly what you want, and they do it well. All of these sites make you want to eat in the Restuarants.

They also do www.pocketdiner.co.uk which redirects mobile traffic to a mobile version of the sites.

The culture at these restaurants is nothing like what is being described in the article. So all together I'm not sure where the author is coming from.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#46

Post by artursapek »

MaxGabriel wrote: post #30
lytfyre wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

professional (especially wedding) photographers are also common culprits.

Yes there seem to be fields where this problem is just rampant. Liquor websites are the worst of any I've seen (milagro, 1800, avion, grey goose, appleton, smirnoff, etc). Some are pretty good: Bacardi offers an HTML version, St. Germain is largely non-flash, Jose Cuervo (while really slow for whatever the reason) is non-flash. With liquor I always thought that it was that 1) some brands have trouble differentiating…

Liquor companies' ads and websites are like those of car companies. I think it's because there's so little to say about such obvious products. Vodka is pretty much legally required to all be the same.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#47

Post by elithrar »

ZoFreX wrote: post #2

As someone who has built a fair few restaurant sites, there are lots of reasons. If a web design agency builds a site that doesn't work on the iPhone or iPad, which are both now considered critical to restaurant marketing, they get to charge extra for creating an iOS specific version, or an app, or whatever. If you create one site that works great on everything, you make less money. Restaurants are also sometimes run…

> Is a PDF download really so bad?

I think a key attraction to the PDF menu download is that it allows them replicate their menu layout and style on their website. A menu change or update would require a website update otherwise (i.e. if the design changes) and that's real dollars.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#48

Post by InclinedPlane »

The problem is that restaurant websites aren't seen as revenue makers, so they are merely vanity products and thus dominated by the whims of the restaurant owner, who (at the present time) likely has very little familiarity with web technologies, let alone web design.

When websites become more appreciated as a source of revenue then they will be taken seriously enough to actually improve. The big problem today is that whereas it's easy to show someone a competing restaurant and see how popular it is, it's a lot more difficult to see the effectiveness of other restaurants' websites since all of that data is more or less invisible to anyone but the owner.

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#49

Post by mashmac2 »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #48

The problem is that restaurant websites aren't seen as revenue makers, so they are merely vanity products and thus dominated by the whims of the restaurant owner, who (at the present time) likely has very little familiarity with web technologies, let alone web design. When websites become more appreciated as a source of revenue then they will be taken seriously enough to actually improve. The big problem today is tha…

So, the question is, how do we show the restaurant owners that having a better website will increase their revenue?

Re: Why are restaurant websites so awful? Because of restaurant culture.

#50

Post by irrumator »

mashmac2 wrote: post #49
InclinedPlane wrote: post #48

The problem is that restaurant websites aren't seen as revenue makers, so they are merely vanity products and thus dominated by the whims of the restaurant owner, who (at the present time) likely has very little familiarity with web technologies, let alone web design. When websites become more appreciated as a source of revenue then they will be taken seriously enough to actually improve. The big problem today is tha…

So, the question is, how do we show the restaurant owners that having a better website will increase their revenue?

Why are you so sure it will? Can you give me use cases or examples where a restaurant owner stands to make money from his site anywhere other than booking reservations possibly?
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