4 ms·

I'm not quite sure how having to reprint paper menus is cheaper than a static CDN website. Especially if you have multiple locations. As much as Restaurants mo

by ixwt 2y ago

I'm not quite sure how having to reprint paper menus is cheaper than a static CDN website. Especially if you have multiple locations. As much as Restaurants moan and complain about raising prices, having to reprint menus isn't 0 cost whenever they want to add a new menu item, or change the prices. And then you have to pay your servers to clean them from time to time. As much as people hate this QR stuff, it's generally better, provided it works. Paper is always reliable, but if you can figure out a static CDN website, and create a QR code for it, it's going to be better for a restaurant that wants to change their menus on a semi frequent basis.

JohnFen 2y ago
> As much as people hate this QR stuff, it's generally better, provided it works I can see it being better for the restaurant. I don't see how it's better for the customers, even if it works.
- ixwt 2y ago
  I can Ctrl+F on a web menu. I have to manually scan to find stuff in a paper menu for one.
  - DemocracyFTW2 2y ago
    I can do Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-C and Alt-F4 depending on the location, and yes I give a Ctrl-F as for QR
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    > I can Ctrl+F on a web menu. On your smartphone? I'm not talking about looking at a menu from home, I'm talking about ordering at the table. In any case, not being a fan of the Cheesecake Factory, I can't remember the last time that I saw a restaurant menu that spanned more than two pages. I don't think finding what you want on such a short menu is particularly problematic. However, this may point out a critical difference: what sort of restaurant you prefer. Ones with novel-length menus may indeed present different issues. Regardless, my experience with online-only menus and/or ordering when I'm sitting at the table has been nothing but horrible. My solution is to not go to restaurants that do this. It's better for my blood pressure that way.
    - ixwt 2y ago
      > On your smartphone? I'm not talking about looking at a menu from home, I'm talking about ordering at the table. Yes, and so am I. If I'm feeling like chicken, it'd be easy to Ctrl+F (or "Find in page" if you want to be specific about the phone function) to look for chicken. > I don't think finding what you want on such a short menu is particularly problematic. It generally isn't that bad, but it was a quick off the dome example that comes up particularly in physical documents vs. electronic documents. Some more specific restaurant examples might be to filter out specific allergens or preferences out of dishes: dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. Make a smaller menu for people that can't or won't have particular things, without having to print those menus. > Regardless, my experience with online-only menus and/or ordering when I'm sitting at the table has been nothing but horrible. The worst one I had was a restaurant that was a bit outside of town that had poor cell reception. I've never personally had many issues with using my phone except poor signal.
      - JohnFen 2y ago
        I should also mention my personal bias here: if I'm at a restaurant (or any other socializing event), the very last thing I want to be doing is interacting with a screen of any sort. I want to be present and enjoy the people I'm with, not using a computer. But that's just me, not a criticism of such systems per se. The ideal, I think, is for restaurants to have both. Printed menus for people like me (the advantage to the restaurant is that they won't lose me as a customer) as well as some sort of online thing for others who prefer that.
lores 2y ago
Printing menus only costs about 2 minutes of a dev's time, anyone in the restaurant can do it, there's no need to involve a third party who may not be responsive, and the fact it never fails to work is huge. We tech people often ignore the sheer amount of grief we go through because we're used to fixing things and confident we can. A restaurant owner will experience far higher cognitive load and frustration - and if the site goes down in business time, it's total hell. Not easily worth it.
- ixwt 2y ago
  Restaurants don't often print their menus in house. They get the printed at a print shop. Which takes time, and labor. And unless you're doing them at volume, isn't a negligible costs. Don't get me wrong, I prefer paper menus. But I see why so many restaurants want to do QR code.
  - wbshaw 2y ago
    I'm curious what you estimate the transaction cost would be for printing a recyclable paper menu per customer versus the cost of the tech solution per customer. My gut says the paper is going to win every time. There are also substantial opportunities to improve the experience for your customers with servers being attentive to their tables. The table top tablets are convenient. They go a long way to allowing a customer to have agency in improving their experience. Back in my college days, my friends and I frequented a pub where each booth had a button that would light up an indicator above our table letting servers know we needed more beer. It was far and above our favorite place to go hang out on weekends. I'm sure it was more useful than just a beer signal LOL but for our use case it was perfect.
  - lores 2y ago
    You go to a fancier class of restaurants than I do :)
    - ixwt 2y ago
      Likely not. The most egregious offenders around me are Mexican restaurants. They often have 4 or 5 double sided page menus.
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by ixwt 2y ago

JohnFen 2y ago

> As much as people hate this QR stuff, it's generally better, provided it works I can see it being better for the restaurant. I don't see how it's better for the customers, even if it works.

ixwt 2y ago
I can Ctrl+F on a web menu. I have to manually scan to find stuff in a paper menu for one.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y ago
  I can do Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-C and Alt-F4 depending on the location, and yes I give a Ctrl-F as for QR
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > I can Ctrl+F on a web menu. On your smartphone? I'm not talking about looking at a menu from home, I'm talking about ordering at the table. In any case, not being a fan of the Cheesecake Factory, I can't remember the last time that I saw a restaurant menu that spanned more than two pages. I don't think finding what you want on such a short menu is particularly problematic. However, this may point out a critical difference: what sort of restaurant you prefer. Ones with novel-length menus may indeed present different issues. Regardless, my experience with online-only menus and/or ordering when I'm sitting at the table has been nothing but horrible. My solution is to not go to restaurants that do this. It's better for my blood pressure that way.
  - ixwt 2y ago
    > On your smartphone? I'm not talking about looking at a menu from home, I'm talking about ordering at the table. Yes, and so am I. If I'm feeling like chicken, it'd be easy to Ctrl+F (or "Find in page" if you want to be specific about the phone function) to look for chicken. > I don't think finding what you want on such a short menu is particularly problematic. It generally isn't that bad, but it was a quick off the dome example that comes up particularly in physical documents vs. electronic documents. Some more specific restaurant examples might be to filter out specific allergens or preferences out of dishes: dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. Make a smaller menu for people that can't or won't have particular things, without having to print those menus. > Regardless, my experience with online-only menus and/or ordering when I'm sitting at the table has been nothing but horrible. The worst one I had was a restaurant that was a bit outside of town that had poor cell reception. I've never personally had many issues with using my phone except poor signal.
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      I should also mention my personal bias here: if I'm at a restaurant (or any other socializing event), the very last thing I want to be doing is interacting with a screen of any sort. I want to be present and enjoy the people I'm with, not using a computer. But that's just me, not a criticism of such systems per se. The ideal, I think, is for restaurants to have both. Printed menus for people like me (the advantage to the restaurant is that they won't lose me as a customer) as well as some sort of online thing for others who prefer that.

lores 2y ago

Printing menus only costs about 2 minutes of a dev's time, anyone in the restaurant can do it, there's no need to involve a third party who may not be responsive, and the fact it never fails to work is huge. We tech people often ignore the sheer amount of grief we go through because we're used to fixing things and confident we can. A restaurant owner will experience far higher cognitive load and frustration - and if the site goes down in business time, it's total hell. Not easily worth it.

ixwt 2y ago
Restaurants don't often print their menus in house. They get the printed at a print shop. Which takes time, and labor. And unless you're doing them at volume, isn't a negligible costs. Don't get me wrong, I prefer paper menus. But I see why so many restaurants want to do QR code.
- wbshaw 2y ago
  I'm curious what you estimate the transaction cost would be for printing a recyclable paper menu per customer versus the cost of the tech solution per customer. My gut says the paper is going to win every time. There are also substantial opportunities to improve the experience for your customers with servers being attentive to their tables. The table top tablets are convenient. They go a long way to allowing a customer to have agency in improving their experience. Back in my college days, my friends and I frequented a pub where each booth had a button that would light up an indicator above our table letting servers know we needed more beer. It was far and above our favorite place to go hang out on weekends. I'm sure it was more useful than just a beer signal LOL but for our use case it was perfect.
- lores 2y ago
  You go to a fancier class of restaurants than I do :)
  - ixwt 2y ago
    Likely not. The most egregious offenders around me are Mexican restaurants. They often have 4 or 5 double sided page menus.

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