6 ms·

First: I am from germany, so, my perspective may differ from other parts of the world... and due to the pandemic, my last meal eaten in an restaurant was in the

First: I am from germany, so, my perspective may differ from other parts of the world... and due to the pandemic, my last meal eaten in an restaurant was in the early beginnig of 2020. But i really never, never encountered a menu via QR Code... why would anyone want this?! If you are going to eat out, then it is (at least with the people i know) considered ab-so-lu-tely rude to even get your phone out (unless you are an doctor on call), using it would be a totally no-go. So... this is something i am really glad that it has not washed at our shores... at least not yet.

zimpenfish 5y ago
> it is (at least with the people i know) considered ab-so-lu-tely rude to even get your phone out Whereas with people I know, it's not because / people have kids|partners they check in with / people sometimes just don't have the energy for constant peopling and the phone is a brief respite / people are sysadmins|on-call and get occasional blip warnings / people are checking on something to answer a question / etc.
bigiain 5y ago
I totally agree with you and your friends, but we're losing this fight. Which I find sad...
- RalfWausE 5y ago
  The good thing is: Even IF this trend carries on, there will always be the niche of the restaurants / cafes with big "no mobile phones allowed" stickers on the door (i know at least a couple of these even now...).
sofixa 5y ago
> First: I am from germany, so, my perspective may differ from other parts of the world... and due to the pandemic, my last meal eaten in an restaurant was in the early beginnig of 2020 > So... this is something i am really glad that it has not washed at our shores... at least not yet How can you know if you haven't eaten in a restaurant since early 2020? Here in France, i had absolutely never seen it before the pandemic, but now it's ubiquitous even if roughly half the places also have a paper menu they can give/give anyways.
- tarsinge 5y ago
  I'm from France and I have never seen that, but well there are "restaurants" and restaurants I guess.
  - sofixa 5y ago
    Where do you live? In the Paris area it's hard to find a restaurant without a QR code on their tables. Trips in the last year to various cities left me with the impression that QR codes are pretty ubiquitous in most restaurants fancier than your corner kebab shop but below La Tour d'Argent and co.
    - tarsinge 5y ago
      I live near Paris, but I admit did not go in many restaurants since they have reopened. I was under the impression that QR code only existed in restaurant chains, not in the regular restaurants. I have a hard time to see how the huge range of good restaurants where the menu is on a slate that change everyday and the waiter explain each item to you would use QR code, but I may be wrong.
      - sofixa 5y ago
        Those that only do a daily menu on a slate still do so; some of those that used to do a ~daily menu with a printed sheet of paper either continue to do so or have a QR code to a regularly updated site. Those that did a mix ( fixed menu with daily options) often have the slate with daily options and a QR code for the basics.
        tarsinge 5y ago
        I see, it's surprising and I stand corrected then.
Thomaschaaf 5y ago
Here in Braunschweig (a smaller city) a lot of restaurants are using QR Code based menus. So I would assume you simply haven't been eating out.
- RalfWausE 5y ago
  Sigh and there my hopes are going out the window... So... now i have to select even more where i go when i am (finally) vaccinated next month...
meheleventyone 5y ago
Here in Iceland they've popped up primarily for outdoor seated areas. Presumably so the wait staff don't have to keep an eye outside and inside particularly as the outside seating tends to be more densely packed. There seems to be a pretty standardized web app as well which lets you order and pay in the app and then your food and drinks just magically appear. That said the last time we used it was a bit of a fiasco as the web app was out of date with the actual menu. So we ordered and paid then the waiter had to come out and swap a bunch of stuff around. I have no idea why they didn't just take the QR codes down until they fixed things but there you go.
vmception 5y ago
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 before the beginning of 2020 either. It was a very quick adaptation because the infrastructure was already there.
- RalfWausE 5y ago
  As i mentioned: No dining out after March 2020... but this will change next month (finally). Your observation is correct: Many germans like to stay in an restaurant es an event, not just to eat something quick ... for this purpose there are tons of Pommesbuden, bakerys or Dönerläden.
  - vmception 5y ago
    Although I do hate it when aspects of Germany become more like America, I do wish that sit down nice restaurants had wait staff that checked on us a little more frequently with the expectation that maybe we want to leave!
    - ThePadawan 5y ago
      I've had an OK experience with just demanding the bill when your table's last plates are being taken away.
    - ubercore 5y ago
      As an American sitting in Germany right now, I think that wait staff here aren't bothered if you try to actively get their attention like they might be in the USA. Making eye contact or a polite wave, etc. Feels rude based on US service, but I see people doing that more often here.
      - RalfWausE 5y ago
foxpurple 5y ago
It’s either because of Covid to reduce handling of shared menus or it’s because the place has a full ordering system and is streamlined to be as efficient and with minimal staff interaction as possible.
pjmlp 5y ago
I can tell you there are plenty of those in NRW now, but they usually bring a paper version if you ask them.
keymone 5y ago
where in germany are you? in HH it's about 50/50 these days on paper vs QR menus.
umanwizard 5y ago
I had never seen it in the US either before the pandemic.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

zimpenfish 5y ago

> it is (at least with the people i know) considered ab-so-lu-tely rude to even get your phone out Whereas with people I know, it's not because / people have kids|partners they check in with / people sometimes just don't have the energy for constant peopling and the phone is a brief respite / people are sysadmins|on-call and get occasional blip warnings / people are checking on something to answer a question / etc.

bigiain 5y ago

I totally agree with you and your friends, but we're losing this fight. Which I find sad...

RalfWausE 5y ago
The good thing is: Even IF this trend carries on, there will always be the niche of the restaurants / cafes with big "no mobile phones allowed" stickers on the door (i know at least a couple of these even now...).

sofixa 5y ago

> First: I am from germany, so, my perspective may differ from other parts of the world... and due to the pandemic, my last meal eaten in an restaurant was in the early beginnig of 2020 > So... this is something i am really glad that it has not washed at our shores... at least not yet How can you know if you haven't eaten in a restaurant since early 2020? Here in France, i had absolutely never seen it before the pandemic, but now it's ubiquitous even if roughly half the places also have a paper menu they can give/give anyways.

tarsinge 5y ago
I'm from France and I have never seen that, but well there are "restaurants" and restaurants I guess.
- sofixa 5y ago
  Where do you live? In the Paris area it's hard to find a restaurant without a QR code on their tables. Trips in the last year to various cities left me with the impression that QR codes are pretty ubiquitous in most restaurants fancier than your corner kebab shop but below La Tour d'Argent and co.
  - tarsinge 5y ago
    I live near Paris, but I admit did not go in many restaurants since they have reopened. I was under the impression that QR code only existed in restaurant chains, not in the regular restaurants. I have a hard time to see how the huge range of good restaurants where the menu is on a slate that change everyday and the waiter explain each item to you would use QR code, but I may be wrong.
    - sofixa 5y ago
      Those that only do a daily menu on a slate still do so; some of those that used to do a ~daily menu with a printed sheet of paper either continue to do so or have a QR code to a regularly updated site. Those that did a mix ( fixed menu with daily options) often have the slate with daily options and a QR code for the basics.
      - tarsinge 5y ago
        I see, it's surprising and I stand corrected then.

Thomaschaaf 5y ago

Here in Braunschweig (a smaller city) a lot of restaurants are using QR Code based menus. So I would assume you simply haven't been eating out.

RalfWausE 5y ago
Sigh and there my hopes are going out the window... So... now i have to select even more where i go when i am (finally) vaccinated next month...

meheleventyone 5y ago

Here in Iceland they've popped up primarily for outdoor seated areas. Presumably so the wait staff don't have to keep an eye outside and inside particularly as the outside seating tends to be more densely packed. There seems to be a pretty standardized web app as well which lets you order and pay in the app and then your food and drinks just magically appear. That said the last time we used it was a bit of a fiasco as the web app was out of date with the actual menu. So we ordered and paid then the waiter had to come out and swap a bunch of stuff around. I have no idea why they didn't just take the QR codes down until they fixed things but there you go.

vmception 5y ago

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 before the beginning of 2020 either. It was a very quick adaptation because the infrastructure was already there.

RalfWausE 5y ago
As i mentioned: No dining out after March 2020... but this will change next month (finally). Your observation is correct: Many germans like to stay in an restaurant es an event, not just to eat something quick ... for this purpose there are tons of Pommesbuden, bakerys or Dönerläden.
- vmception 5y ago
  Although I do hate it when aspects of Germany become more like America, I do wish that sit down nice restaurants had wait staff that checked on us a little more frequently with the expectation that maybe we want to leave!
  - ThePadawan 5y ago
    I've had an OK experience with just demanding the bill when your table's last plates are being taken away.
  - ubercore 5y ago
    As an American sitting in Germany right now, I think that wait staff here aren't bothered if you try to actively get their attention like they might be in the USA. Making eye contact or a polite wave, etc. Feels rude based on US service, but I see people doing that more often here.
    - RalfWausE 5y ago

foxpurple 5y ago

It’s either because of Covid to reduce handling of shared menus or it’s because the place has a full ordering system and is streamlined to be as efficient and with minimal staff interaction as possible.

pjmlp 5y ago

I can tell you there are plenty of those in NRW now, but they usually bring a paper version if you ask them.

keymone 5y ago

where in germany are you? in HH it's about 50/50 these days on paper vs QR menus.

umanwizard 5y ago

I had never seen it in the US either before the pandemic.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]