Restaurants fail to take advantage of the internet

[Ian]

As a web producer, this thread interests me greatly. Has the situation changed one year on? Are there any more great restaurants websites out there? If you have a favourite, I'd love to know about it...

All the best,

--

Ian

[chefwoody]

As a former web developer, (I'm with you on this Ian - and thanks for starting this thread back up) I think the questions posed here are very important. I think the website says a lot more than people think about the restaurant. It's just another outlet of how people interact with the restaurant, just like the first call they make to make a reservation, to the service they receive when they sit down, to the feeling the staff gives them upon their exit. I think (budget willing, of course) all these facets should be given careful attention - very much so to the website, as this is the first contact many people have with a prospective restaurant.

Favorites:

In terms of interactivity, ease of use, photos and descriptions of the food, and that "wow" factor that just makes you want to pick up the phone and book a table, I think Nobu's site is spectacular. http://www.noburestaurants.com

[FaustianBargain]

i remember reading a new scientist article about how the net is going to introduce scents and smells to the browsing consumer. our sense of smell is very closely related to our emotions and often to our spending sprees(when was the last time *you* passed a bakery letting out aromas of fresh baked bread?)...basically, this is how it works..just like colors, 'primary odours' can be combined to form 'secondary odours'...catridges with about 128 'primary odours' can be fitted into your puter just like ink catridges for printing. a georgia based company (its US based..will google the name of the company later...i see that my dear friend, googlebot is present..how do we make him participate? is there a chat applet or an irc server?) will allow the download of various 'odours'...these can also be printed out..high tech scratch and sniff...but on taste based odours..smells are printed onto paper and you can basically lick it to sample the flavors..i have NO idea how this really works..but it seems quite plausible..of course, the logistics of bringing it from business to customer is mind boggling...a decade ago, only a fraction of the world used the internet...times have changed...we are always willing to accomodate frivolous joys, arent we?..maybe we can take sensory based internet marketing strategies for granted...seeing how technology gallops, the internet WILL become an important factor for food based industries to market and sell their wares...it is inevitable..resistance is futile..as slaves to our senses, how can we resist?...i'll bet my bottom dollar that Micro$oft will jump at this chance providing they can take a nice cut..just like how we are burdened with windows in every computer we buy now..of course, we have a choice, of course..but its limited choice...but 'choice' is overrated, no...

[lala]

While I appreciate a well designed website, I primarily look for the obvious information when I'm going to a restaurant site: Location, phone number, hours, and current menu with prices. As well as any pertinent info: dress code, etc. It really ticks me off when the menu is last season's, or they don't say where the place is.

Here in Seattle, there's a promotion twice a year, "25 for 25" - that's 25 restaurants with special 3-4 course $25 menus for a month. I'm always amazed during this promotion at the old information on some of the participating restaurant sites - still having the spring menu up for the fall season is quite common. If a restaurant is going to have a web site, they need to keep it current. I, like many others work on a computer all day, so it's simple for me to click a few buttons to find the information that I want. Except for when the information isn't there! I just regard that as poor customer service, and it would take a special reccommendation for me to then go to that restaurant.

[chefwoody]

I agree, lala.

I think web site maintenance and upkeep is intimately tied to the idea of customer service. The website, after all, is a service that the restaurant/business provides to the customer.

And yes, I find it very frustrating to find (very commonly) restaurant websites with often VERY outdated menus and information (several I have visited are a year or more old). Unless I knew something specific about the restaurant, it would take a bit more for me to visit after seeing a shoddy website.

[scrumdiddlyumptious]

Just give me the information I want, help me find it quickly, then get the hell out of the way. God save us from pointless Flash crap. Goddamn masturbating designers ::grumble grumble::

Amen to this, and for some reason it seems that restaurant sites utilize pointless Flash designs at a much higher rate than the avergae sites I visit out there.

Case in point, tonight I visited the site for therestaurant at which I had reservatios for tonight. All I wanted was the street address but I had to sit through a dopey animation which served no purpose except to tell me they spent money on a web designer. Big whoop.

[Jeffy Boy]

I think you'd have to be insane to run a restaurant today and not have some kind of presence on the web. At least the basic info - location, phone number, hours. If you can post a menu that's up to date, even better.

While I agree some of the flash stuff can be annoying, I've come to expect it for a high-end restaurant. Or at least a good looking web site with some pretty pictures of food. So it may be a marketing gimmick, but it works on me.

[herbacidal]

In terms of interactivity, ease of use, photos and descriptions of the food, and that "wow" factor that just makes you want to pick up the phone and book a table, I think Nobu's site is spectacular. http://www.noburestaurants.com

Yea, but it's annoying how many typos there are in there.

I only looked at the chef's bio and noticed at least three.

[Pan]

While I agree some of the flash stuff can be annoying, I've come to expect it for a high-end restaurant.  Or at least a good looking web site with some pretty pictures of food.  So it may be a marketing gimmick, but it works on me.

If I can't skip the animation, I close the window, nevermore to open it.

Edited May 30, 2004 by Pan (log)

[Ian]

Hey,

Thanks for the comments. They've really helped! I must have checked over a hundred restaurant websites over the past week. I wasn't that impressed and your feedback has convinced me that I'm not going mad! The most common problems are lack of ease to vital information (Contact details, location, etc) and a distinct lack of humanity - some are too corporate for their own good!

I think many customers like to be treated courteously as individuals when they enter a restaurant. Surely the websites should act in the same way?

The use of Flash is an interesting question. In all cases I felt Flash just got in the way as stopped me getting to the information I needed as quickly as I wanted to. Very frustrating.

All the best,

Edited May 30, 2004 by Ian (log)