CubeOfCheeseJun 15
Rob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.Art

Dear Every Restaurant:

I don't want to place an online order, I want to look at your menu.

I don't want to visit Facebook or any other site demanding that I login to an app.

Current offerings with accurate prices are appreciated.

Thanks to the 3 of you already doing this!

Bon Appetit!

Jun 15 at 4:19pmWeb
Show threadNatJun 15
@RMiddleton why do I have to look at menu photos on google maps please please just publish it yourselves 😭 and allergen info would be AMAZING but I guess it's too much to ask...
Show thread64 Islands Aroha CooperativeJun 15
@nat @RMiddleton we published it…. on facebook! 🙃
Show threaddragonfrogJun 15
@RMiddleton I remember it used to be standard for restaurants to put their menu in the window or on a board outside, but I rarely see that any more.
Show threadPhil Thane ✅Jun 15
@RMiddleton
I agree wholeheartedly but I suspect the restaurants paid £€$¥ for a website they cannot update so don't want to put a menu and prices on. Facebook they can just about manage themselves. Most people outside the IT industry are completely bewildered about it, that's how the industry makes its profits.
Show threadOffbeatmammalJun 16
@pthane @RMiddleton problem with FB is if the last post was in 2021 I assume they are out of business. At least with a website after a year the domain lapses and then I know they are out of business!
Show threadRob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.ArtJun 16
@Offbeatmammal @pthane There are many, many problems with Facebook & the one you list is the least of it! But, yeah, of course you're mostly right. There are still oodles of stale restaurant websites. Giving Google maps the benefit of the doubt (not easy for me) I consider notoriously poor resto websites being a legit reason they largely took over the duty. The problem of course is capitalism. In my world phone, mailing, & online are public identifiers available for all who elect to be listed.
Show thread🍻 Alexander 🇪🇺Jun 16

@RMiddleton @Offbeatmammal @pthane

Sadly, restaurants are usually not willing to pay for a website they can easily update themselves.

My experience as a website contractor is generally they don't want to, either.

FB tends to be the only thing they are prepared to very occasionally update.

Show threadOffbeatmammalJun 16
@MostlyHarmless @RMiddleton @pthane sadly, same experience. Built a couple back in the day and rapidly discovered getting them to let me know when menu changed was a full time job!
Show threadPhil Thane ✅Jun 16
@MostlyHarmless
Even more galling are govt depts with the same attitude. Couple of years ago I was on a river trip and stranded on the wrong side of a broken flood barrier belonging to the UK Environment Agency. They told me it would take 2 weeks to fix so I got a lift home. Two weeks later I phoned to check. It had been done in 1 week 'you should have checked Facebook'.
@RMiddleton @Offbeatmammal
Show threadRob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.ArtJun 16
@Offbeatmammal @pthane @MostlyHarmless I'm dreaming of living in Mexico (for numerous reasons) & one thing I dread is that Meta-owned WhatsApp is considered mandatory. Not only do I not look forward to regular use of a Meta product I also have a not-insignificant fear that the company will prevent me from using it. I was hacked then kicked off Facebook for unknown reasons. I took it as a sign & happily walked away. My identity with Meta is compromised.
Show thread🍻 Alexander 🇪🇺Jun 17

@pthane @RMiddleton @Offbeatmammal

If they use FB they don't need to spend so much time training staff, as all* the staff know how to use it.

* Well the younger ones at least.

Show threadOffbeatmammalJun 17
@MostlyHarmless @pthane @RMiddleton given the contempt a large portion of the younger generation feel for FB, I think they might struggle there too
Show threadRob 🏳️‍🌈 RMiddleton.ArtJun 18
@Offbeatmammal @MostlyHarmless @pthane yeah I don't have too many friends under 40 but those I do aren't on Facebook.
Show threadPhil Thane ✅Jun 16
@Offbeatmammal
Whenever a business tells me to use Facebook I tell them if rather take my money elsewhere.
@RMiddleton
Show threadmatt wilkieJun 25
@pthane @RMiddleton ^this^
it's because we failed read-write web (so far)
Show threadgroxxJun 15
@RMiddleton so many of them spend SO much time and money trying to avoid taking a single photo of whatever they have on hand
Show threadRichardInSandyJun 15
@RMiddleton I detest those bloody ‘bar code’ menus that instantly change your focus from dinner with friends to “let’s all stare aimlessly at our phones while we think about what to order”. Such BS.
Show threadJan JohannessonJun 15
@RMiddleton Yes, yes, YES!!!
Show threadMarlowJun 15

@RMiddleton Plese like a basic website I can easily find with your menu and operating hours.

Then please give me a physical menu when I am there in person.

Show threadTedJun 15

@RMiddleton I built the user experience for multiple large chain restaurants e-commerce platforms. I cannot tell you how many times I had to explain this. Everyone in leadership was like, no customer will care about having to put in their address or sign in first.

I had to restrain myself so many times from asking them how dumb were they????

Show threadBwazJun 15
@RMiddleton
And I don't want a large percentage of my meal cost going to some order-taking site that provides nothing more than a website. I want to call and order, to a human being. Or if that isn't practical, have the restaurant at least run their own website with online ordering rather than some megasite that serves dozens of other restaurants.
Show threadJen FizzbuzzJun 15
@RMiddleton I don't want to sign into instagram or try and look at a three year old menu to work out if a place has enough vegan food to bother with.
Show threadPseudo NymJun 15

@RMiddleton

Hours you are open, address, phone number, menu with ideally, accurate prices.

Really, That's all we want.

Show threadRaven667Jun 15
@RMiddleton also name, phone, address and *business hours*, top of main page, then menu then online reservations if available
Show thread🇨🇦 OhOkKayJun 15
@RMiddleton
A friend went to order from Pizza Hut, no prices online website, so she drove to the actual takeout place, still no prices on the board above the workers head. She asked how was she supposed to know the prices she was being charged. They told her the prices are the Pizza Hut APP that she would have to download. Meaning, the only way a customer can find the prices are by downloading their spy app.
She stopped buying from pizza hut.
Show threadPomegranate_StewJun 15

@OhOkKay @RMiddleton
Hmm. Maybe that’s why ours closed.

Not sure how long ago though, because we haven’t ordered since before 2020, when we received two pizzas which were completely raw in the center.

Show thread🇨🇦 OhOkKayJun 15
@pomegranate_stew @RMiddleton
This was about 8 month ago here in Ontario Canada. Lost a bunch of customers over it.
Show thread^[[200~MichaelJun 15

@RMiddleton

Site: "Click here for our menu"
Me: "Don't be a 6MB PDF...please..."
Site: "Download completed!"

Show threadThe TurtleJun 15

@RMiddleton

...and "DOWNLOAD OUR AAAAAAAPP!!!!!"

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/restaurant_website

What I want from a restaurant website - The Oatmeal

A list of things I'd like restaurant websites to provide.

The Oatmeal
Show threadLog 🪵Jun 15
@RMiddleton Before the digital age, every restaurant had to somehow figure out how to get their menus typeset and submitted to a print shop. How was that less difficult than publishing a static single-page web site?
Show threadmatt wilkieJun 26
@log @RMiddleton a question to treat seriously
Show threaderica_sea55Jun 15
@RMiddleton or view your menu via QR code
Show threadMy camera shoots fascistsJun 15

@RMiddleton

Also, no, I will not order and pay with a QR code taped to the table so you or some data scraper can gather more data about me. I've walked out of more than one place that required payment via QR, two of those times were on dates, even. (It's becoming quite common practice in the Bay Area.)

There are so many reasons someone might not have a smart phone linked to a credit card. Requiring this just to go eat a meal at a restaurant is exclusionary. Yeah, Mr. Restaurant Owner, you're telling my elderly parents that you won't serve them, so you're not serving me either, bye.

Show threadMikkoJun 15

@RMiddleton

This.

Rob for president!

How much money have we raised?

Show threadstu miller 🇨🇦Jun 15

@RMiddleton
What I love are the little spanish street cafés where the only menu is on the chalk board out front, that changes daily.

At many once you order a glass of wine (or beer) a small tapas just arrives. Their choice so it always a surprise. (This of course depends on the city/neighborhood - in the tourist centers there are no free tapas.)

You can always pay with card, but they like cash too. (Euros only please)

Show thread🍻 Alexander 🇪🇺Jun 16
@RMiddleton Accurate pictures of your dishes are also appreciated.
Show threadBespoke Nonsense MachineJun 24

@RMiddleton

https://mastodon.me.uk/@pikesley/111227040691725871

🇫🇷 is 🥓 (@pikesley@mastodon.me.uk)

Gonna get rich when I open a restaurant with an accessible menu. The food will be shit *but* we'll have an API

mastodon.me.uk
Show threadDerick RethansJun 24
@RMiddleton Also, list your opening times!