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The article missed the reason why QR code menus failed by a mile > One reason is etiquette. Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table, but that’s

The article missed the reason why QR code menus failed by a mile > One reason is etiquette. Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table, but that’s what a digital menu demands. > Still, he said, more dynamic QR-code menus that allow a customer to order and pay without waiting for a server are gaining in popularity. In the first quarter of this year, the number of businesses signing up and actively using the service grew 37.6 percent over the last quarter of 2022, he said. QA code menus failed for three very, very obvious reasons: 1: It's very hard to make a working web site when you're not tech savvy. Restaurants are not "tech" businesses. Many QR menus were difficult to operate, difficult to navigate, and difficult to read. I often found them so confusing that I asked for a paper menu. 2: Tiny menus (because of a tiny phone screen) suck. (edit) 3: It's actually very rude and insulting to force someone to "learn tech" on the fly. It has little to do with if the patron is tech-savvy. Because it takes a long time to debug tech and get out of the problems that I listed in point #1, it's really insulting, as a patron, to get forced to endure a half-baked website when a low-tech paper menu works perfectly.

aembleton 3y ago
There are third parties that make the websites such as ChatFood: https://www.chatfood.io/order-at-table https://www.chatfood.io/order-at-table
- gwbas1c 3y ago
  The most important part of being tech savvy is being savvy about choosing your vendor.
  - astrea 3y ago
    And even having the budget for yet another vendor
astrea 3y ago
#1 I saw a lot. Word documents hosted in private Google Drive accounts, mobile-unfriendly websites, etc.
grishka 3y ago
A website? You had actual websites? We got mostly PDFs of paper menus. And they would often give you an actual paper menu if you asked. Everyone forgot about digital menus fairly quickly after it became clear that covid doesn't spread through surfaces though.
- naravara 3y ago
  > A website? You had actual websites? We got mostly PDFs of paper menus. And they would often give you an actual paper menu if you asked. Not just any website. Often it sends you straight to some online ordering portal like Toast or Doordash. And this bring all the slow performance and pop-ups and adware that implies. Very fun to try to load these bloated web apps when you have 1 bar of cell signal.
  - grishka 3y ago
    Actually I had that happen to me in Dubai last year. They wanted me to order through the website, I put my order in and then a card payment form came up. I didn't have any internationally-accepted cards back then so I had to order through the server to be able to pay cash. Oh and on top of that they didn't have any real drinks, only bottled soft drinks at 3x the grocery store prices. I imagine most of the business in such places comes from delivery so they don't care much about dine-in guests.
- flangola7 3y ago
  Many restaurants I patronize still use QR by default, including very high-end restaurants. Reused menus were always a gross idea so I'm on board with this.
  - klodolph 3y ago
    How gross are menus compared to, say, doorknobs, railings, or chairs? There are a lot of things we touch in a restaurant, and I want to know why menus, specifically, are what’s gross.
    - 3y ago
dylan604 3y ago
>> One reason is etiquette. Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table, but that’s what a digital menu demands. I disagree with the everyone knows part. In certain age groups, I don't think they actually consider it rude to be glued to their phone regardless of location. Whether I agree with them or not, social norms evolve.
- psychlops 3y ago
  I don't think it's age groups as much of classes of people. Certain people of all ages are glued to a screen and certain people have manners.
  - willsmith72 3y ago
    > classes of people Yeah no...
  - 35997279 3y ago
    You got downvoted for this for using the term “class” but I tend to agree. In this context it has nothing to do with how much money you make. I have know classy broke people and trashy rich people. For me, using your phone at all during a meal better be met with an apology and, likely, some reason offered to the group, the same as if you jumped up and ran out the door. Mentally, that’s what picking up your phone is.
- gwbas1c 3y ago
  It's perfectly acceptable to take a phone out at a table everywhere I've traveled. It's rude to be glued to your phone everywhere I've traveled; or to talk on a phone during a meal. Which is also why I said TFA missed the reason by a mile. "Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table" isn't true at all; and demonstrates that the author is out of touch with the general public's relationship with tech.
phkahler 3y ago
I'll add that they better have open WiFi just to be sure everyone can actually access the menu. I was on a wifi-only plan during covid and QR menus absolutely sucked.
kodah 3y ago
> It's actually very rude and insulting to force someone to "learn tech" on the fly. It has little to do with if the patron is tech-savvy. I'm glad you said this. Our industry is full of people who quantify that their job is "easy". We have a history rife with these assertions, including a period of time where we thought everyone would want to code and that we were just trailblazers. I think that hypothesis is becoming less and less true in interesting ways every day. The most I've seen is people interacting with very facade levels or niche implementations of languages to do their jobs. Even then, those are mostly scientific fields to begin with.

aembleton 3y ago

There are third parties that make the websites such as ChatFood: https://www.chatfood.io/order-at-table https://www.chatfood.io/order-at-table

gwbas1c 3y ago
The most important part of being tech savvy is being savvy about choosing your vendor.
- astrea 3y ago
  And even having the budget for yet another vendor

astrea 3y ago

#1 I saw a lot. Word documents hosted in private Google Drive accounts, mobile-unfriendly websites, etc.

grishka 3y ago

A website? You had actual websites? We got mostly PDFs of paper menus. And they would often give you an actual paper menu if you asked. Everyone forgot about digital menus fairly quickly after it became clear that covid doesn't spread through surfaces though.

naravara 3y ago
> A website? You had actual websites? We got mostly PDFs of paper menus. And they would often give you an actual paper menu if you asked. Not just any website. Often it sends you straight to some online ordering portal like Toast or Doordash. And this bring all the slow performance and pop-ups and adware that implies. Very fun to try to load these bloated web apps when you have 1 bar of cell signal.
- grishka 3y ago
  Actually I had that happen to me in Dubai last year. They wanted me to order through the website, I put my order in and then a card payment form came up. I didn't have any internationally-accepted cards back then so I had to order through the server to be able to pay cash. Oh and on top of that they didn't have any real drinks, only bottled soft drinks at 3x the grocery store prices. I imagine most of the business in such places comes from delivery so they don't care much about dine-in guests.
flangola7 3y ago
Many restaurants I patronize still use QR by default, including very high-end restaurants. Reused menus were always a gross idea so I'm on board with this.
- klodolph 3y ago
  How gross are menus compared to, say, doorknobs, railings, or chairs? There are a lot of things we touch in a restaurant, and I want to know why menus, specifically, are what’s gross.
  - 3y ago

dylan604 3y ago

>> One reason is etiquette. Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table, but that’s what a digital menu demands. I disagree with the everyone knows part. In certain age groups, I don't think they actually consider it rude to be glued to their phone regardless of location. Whether I agree with them or not, social norms evolve.

psychlops 3y ago
I don't think it's age groups as much of classes of people. Certain people of all ages are glued to a screen and certain people have manners.
- willsmith72 3y ago
  > classes of people Yeah no...
- 35997279 3y ago
  You got downvoted for this for using the term “class” but I tend to agree. In this context it has nothing to do with how much money you make. I have know classy broke people and trashy rich people. For me, using your phone at all during a meal better be met with an apology and, likely, some reason offered to the group, the same as if you jumped up and ran out the door. Mentally, that’s what picking up your phone is.
gwbas1c 3y ago
It's perfectly acceptable to take a phone out at a table everywhere I've traveled. It's rude to be glued to your phone everywhere I've traveled; or to talk on a phone during a meal. Which is also why I said TFA missed the reason by a mile. "Everyone knows it’s rude to take a phone out at a table" isn't true at all; and demonstrates that the author is out of touch with the general public's relationship with tech.

phkahler 3y ago

I'll add that they better have open WiFi just to be sure everyone can actually access the menu. I was on a wifi-only plan during covid and QR menus absolutely sucked.

kodah 3y ago

> It's actually very rude and insulting to force someone to "learn tech" on the fly. It has little to do with if the patron is tech-savvy. I'm glad you said this. Our industry is full of people who quantify that their job is "easy". We have a history rife with these assertions, including a period of time where we thought everyone would want to code and that we were just trailblazers. I think that hypothesis is becoming less and less true in interesting ways every day. The most I've seen is people interacting with very facade levels or niche implementations of languages to do their jobs. Even then, those are mostly scientific fields to begin with.