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The worst dining experience I’ve had was directly attributable to QR code menus. I took a client out to lunch. The waitress came to the table, directed our att

The worst dining experience I’ve had was directly attributable to QR code menus. I took a client out to lunch. The waitress came to the table, directed our attention to the qr code and left. I was wanting to connect with my guest but instead had to get out my phone, point it at the qr code then peer at a screen, which is the height of bad manners when you are in someone else’s company, choose what I wanted then hand my phone to my guest, which is a revolting and unhygienic thing to do, nowhere else in society is this expected, then he had to do the same, choose something to eat, then I’m damned if I didn’t have to pay for it there and then at the table, get out my credit card and complete the transaction, just such bad manners and embarrassing. Dealing with money has rules and expectations in our society. Are we meant to go through some sort of “I’ll pay/no please I’ll pay” ritual over a qr code menu at the beginning of the meal? Ugh. I hated every moment of that experience. Instead of enjoying and exploring the menu, chatting lightly about the choices available, I couldn’t wait to get the awful experience over with. The printed menu, and the human interaction with the waiter, are an integral and key part of the experience of eating out, and if a restaurant owner doesn’t understand that then they really don’t know what business they are in. QR code menus are lazy, impersonal, offensively pushing me to use tech when I don’t want to, inconvenient, tasteless and generally the absolute opposite of the experience I want when dining out. Makes no sense to me that restaurant owners think they are a good idea. I can see why they’d be good at Macdonalds or fast food restaurants but that’s it. When I book a restaurant I now ask if the use QR code menus and if they do then I cancel.

dzhiurgis 4y ago
Geez relax I’m ordering coffee and sandwich not an escort
- bluGill 4y ago
  i want my sandwitch fast. i rarely order fast good, which means i don't know where things are in your app. the user interface on apps are terrible. with training they can be fast, but i don't wabt training on how to find things. train your own people
bambax 4y ago
Yeah. Here in France the number of restaurants with QR code only menus is still small, but as annoying as you describe. And the only time I went to a restaurant where you also had to pay from your phone (by entering manually your CC number!), me and my party just laughed and left. This is the opposite of the restaurant experience. I'd rather buy a sandwich in a supermarket and eat it on a public bench (which is a nice thing to do, weather permitting).
hoten 4y ago
There's an excellent restaurant (or... it was) in Palo Alto named Nola that moved to this model recently. Been many times, but the last time I took some guests from out of town there and it was nothing short of awful and an embarrassing experience. They work in the restaurant industry so are typically lax about minor gaps in service but...this is just such an unforced error that it's hard not to feel ripped off. After that I've learned to refuse patronizing any of these restaurants.
- andrewstuart 4y ago
  Be sure to tell the owner.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
fphhotchips 4y ago
Hard disagree. I love Web menus like these, because it means I don't have wait staff constantly disturbing my conversation. In Australia, a lot of them are rigged up so that - even if I'm paying for the meal on my tab - the person I'm dining with can order from their phone instead of the "pass my phone around the table" dance that you describe. No more "sir are you ready to order" when we haven't even glanced at the menu yet at restaurants. No more "can I get you another drink". No more desperately trying to attract the attention of waitstaff. No more "oh whose round is it now" and trying to remember 8 different orders when you're out at a bar. An entire suite of dining annoyances just... gone. I love it. Edit: note that this assumes that they're using a system that allows you to order and pay through the web system as well. Others are talking about PDF menus and that's quite rare here now.

dzhiurgis 4y ago

Geez relax I’m ordering coffee and sandwich not an escort

bluGill 4y ago
i want my sandwitch fast. i rarely order fast good, which means i don't know where things are in your app. the user interface on apps are terrible. with training they can be fast, but i don't wabt training on how to find things. train your own people

bambax 4y ago

Yeah. Here in France the number of restaurants with QR code only menus is still small, but as annoying as you describe. And the only time I went to a restaurant where you also had to pay from your phone (by entering manually your CC number!), me and my party just laughed and left. This is the opposite of the restaurant experience. I'd rather buy a sandwich in a supermarket and eat it on a public bench (which is a nice thing to do, weather permitting).

hoten 4y ago

There's an excellent restaurant (or... it was) in Palo Alto named Nola that moved to this model recently. Been many times, but the last time I took some guests from out of town there and it was nothing short of awful and an embarrassing experience. They work in the restaurant industry so are typically lax about minor gaps in service but...this is just such an unforced error that it's hard not to feel ripped off. After that I've learned to refuse patronizing any of these restaurants.

andrewstuart 4y ago
Be sure to tell the owner.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

fphhotchips 4y ago

Hard disagree. I love Web menus like these, because it means I don't have wait staff constantly disturbing my conversation. In Australia, a lot of them are rigged up so that - even if I'm paying for the meal on my tab - the person I'm dining with can order from their phone instead of the "pass my phone around the table" dance that you describe. No more "sir are you ready to order" when we haven't even glanced at the menu yet at restaurants. No more "can I get you another drink". No more desperately trying to attract the attention of waitstaff. No more "oh whose round is it now" and trying to remember 8 different orders when you're out at a bar. An entire suite of dining annoyances just... gone. I love it. Edit: note that this assumes that they're using a system that allows you to order and pay through the web system as well. Others are talking about PDF menus and that's quite rare here now.