Restaurant Websites lacking prices

[dodge621]

I just looked at Bernards Inn website and I have seen others where they list the menu without prices. Now, I realize that some prices are subject to change but if they take the time to put their menu on the web why the games about not putting down the price.

[tommy]

as you say, prices are dynamic, as are menus.  the best possible way to approach a menu on a website, assuming you as the restaurant cannot update it often, is to post a "sample" menu, which generally includes sample prices.  

i would think that you'd have a good enough idea about the pricing structure of the menu without having to consult a website, whether it be by recommendation from a friend (or someplace like egullet), or simply by calling and asking if it's that important.

the fact is, there is a cost associated with keeping a website up-to-date, and some restaurants choose to put that money elsewhere.

edit/full disclosure:  "choose/chose" are some of the most misspelled/used words on the internet.  "dessert" is probably a close second, and it amazes me how often us food freaks misspell "dessert" as "desert"!!

[thereuare]

I never get the dessert wrong thanks to a 7th grade teacher, who commented, "It's so good it gets two 's's" (<-- ok, how do you correctly type two letter s?)

The other word that is often mispelled on the internet is loose vs lose.

But then again, i'm in no position to be critcizing other people's grammar or spelling!

[dodge621]

sure prices are dynamic

but if they want to tell you what is on the menu then they can give as you say sample prices

it seems some sights like the Bernards Inn does not even do this.

guess they are not appeling to people like me who bother to care about prices

they must want those who feel price is no object  

- guess I'll have to stick to Wondees for great prices

went last night - awesome thanks guys

[tommy]

you know what they say about having to ask...

[dodge621]

is this supposed to be funny or informative

[tommy]

neither.  the bernards inn, in particular, is one of the pricier restaurants in the state.  i'm guessing that their clientele does not make a decision on whether to dine there based on the exact price of their dishes.  their website, now that i look at it, does in fact offer a "sample" menu.  as a general rule, if you see venison and truffles on a website menu, and the website boasts an 8000 bottle wine collection, you can make a fair assumption that entrees will run from 25 to 40 dollars.    

this discussion would probably serve egullet better on the "General" board, as opposed to the NJ board, as it is a universal issue.

[Wilfrid]

guess they are not appeling to people like me who bother to care about prices

they must want those who feel price is no object  

Let me say, I don't know anything about the Bernards Inn.  What I do know is that there are many restaurants who fit exactly your description:  they really are not soliciting custom from people who cannot easily afford their prices.  There are many such restaurants in Manhattan and other major US cities, and there are bound to be some outside the cities too.

However, exactly the same would go for quite a few clothes shops, car shops, wine merchants...and the list goes on.  I am unclear as to whether you are suggesting that this is objectionable.  Certainly, I can't see any way to avoid it in an economy organized very broadly along market lines.

Or, in other words, what's your beef?

[Rosie]

Most restaurants have their websites maintained by an outside firm.Every time they change a comma it costs money. I have no problem with the prices not being listed.Also, many restaurants change their menu daily and it would be difficult to keep an up to date menu on the internet. If you want to know if a restaurant is expensive or not just ask us!

Or you could call the restaurant and ask the average price of their entree.

[rozrapp]

Nicholas, in Middletown, is an upscale restaurant whose website includes all their menus, which are always kept current (they change seasonally), and prices.  Granted, providing prices is easy for them since they only have three categories: 2 courses, 3 courses or tasting menu.  And the prices have not changed since they opened a year and a half ago.

"...and it amazes me how often us food freaks misspell "dessert" as "desert"!!"

BTW, Tommy, since you brought up the topic of grammar and usage, please note that the correct usage is "we food freaks."  The way you determine whether it's "us" or "we" is to drop the words "food freaks," and test it out.  Obviously, you wouldn't say "...us...misspell...."  At least, I hope you wouldn't.    

[tommy]

BTW, Tommy, since you brought up the topic of grammar and usage, please note that the correct usage is "we food freaks."  The way you determine whether it's "us" or "we" is to drop the words "food freaks," and test it out.  Obviously, you wouldn't say "...us...misspell...."  At least, I hope you wouldn't.    

often times i "dumb-down" my grammar so that the rest of the world can keep up, or just to sound self-effacing.

but thanks.  

[TCD]

Now, I realize that some prices are subject to change but if they take the time to put their menu on the web why the games about not putting down the price.

Do you really believe they are attempting to lure the unsuspecting there for dinner?

[glenn]

Most restaurants have their websites maintained by an outside firm.Every time they change a comma it costs money. I have no problem with the prices not being listed.Also, many restaurants change their menu daily and it would be difficult to keep an up to date menu on the internet.

I gotta take issue with you here.  If a restaurant chooses to post their menu (with or w/o prices), they are obligated to keep it up to date as well as all the other info.  So sez glenn.  Seriously, a restaurant has no business having a menu posted that is not accurate.  If they cannot maintain it, or afford to have it maintained, then the menu simply shouldn't be posted.  Put signature dishes on w/o prices or something like that. The Jerry's website was a nightmare to maintain since the menu was constantly changing, but we did it.  And it was costly. If a restaurant has a menu on its site, then I believe it's an indication of amateurism not to keep it up to date and probably a reflection of how the restaurant operates.

And definately is definately the most missspelt word on the net.

[TCD]

I gotta take issue with you here.  If a restaurant chooses to post their menu (with or w/o prices), they are obligated to keep it up to date as well as all the other info.  So sez glenn.  Seriously, a restaurant has no business having a menu posted that is not accurate.  If they cannot maintain it, or afford to have it maintained, then the menu simply shouldn't be posted.  Put signature dishes on w/o prices or something like that. The Jerry's website was a nightmare to maintain since the menu was constantly changing, but we did it.  And it was costly. If a restaurant has a menu on its site, then I believe it's an indication of amateurism not to keep it up to date and probably a reflection of how the restaurant operates.

And definately is definately the most missspelt word on the net.

Personally, I don't have a high expectation that the menu posted on a restaurant's website that day will be the one offered when I arrive at the restaurant.  Many restaurants that do have a site post a seasonal menu.  There will significant (but not exact) correlation between posted menu and offered menu.  Depending on what is available to the chef or the lack of popularity of offered items the menu will change on a daily basis and there does not seem to be a need to make real time website changes.  

Certainly back in the pre-net days as well as today there are many restaurants that I try based on reputation alone and a general idea of the cuisine offered.

So long as the posted menu is not misleading as to the type and level of sophistication of the food it would not bother me if the restaurant posted only an unchanging sample.

[dodge621]

Sure but if they go the effort of putting the actual regular items on the menu on the web why not put sample prices.

[tommy]

Sure but if they go the effort of putting the actual regular items on the menu on the web why not put sample prices.

no one will get up in arms if a menu item on the web site is no longer on the menu, however you open yourself up to liability if the advertised price is different than the actual price.

again, it's a matter of the cost associated with maintaining a site.  this has been suggested by 3 or 4 people already.

[dodge621]

Opening up to liability?

over a menu price

when the website would say

"prices subject to change"

[rozrapp]

"If a restaurant chooses to post their menu (with or w/o prices), they are obligated to keep it up to date as well as all the other info.  So sez glenn.  Seriously, a restaurant has no business having a menu posted that is not accurate.  If they cannot maintain it, or afford to have it maintained, then the menu simply shouldn't be posted."

Glenn, I totally agree.  It bugs me no end when I go to a restaurant site to look at the menu to see if what they are serving appeals to me and find that the last update was six months ago.  On one of my visits to Nicholas, I commented positively to him about his website, and he told me that his wife, Melissa, oversees the site, and that she is a stickler for making sure that it is always current.

“And definately is definately the most missspelt word on the net.”

“Definately” not!  The most misused term anywhere is “alot.”  It should be two words -- a lot – which means “a great deal.”  There is a word “allot” (2 l's), meaning “to parcel out.”

“often times i "dumb-down" my grammar so that the rest of the world can keep up, or just to sound self-effacing.”

Tommy, you “self-effacing”???

[Wilfrid]

Is it a sign of the zeitgeist that we speak so much about entitlement, obligation and liability?  I assume these terms aren't being used in this thread in a legal sense.  I am not sure about New Jersey, but in New York restaurants aren't legally obliged to display menus in their windows (unlike in the UK).  The menu they place in the customer's hands obviously has to have the correct prices - although not necessarily the correct dishes.

Clearly no restaurant is legally obliged to host a web-site, and I doubt if liability arises should something on the web-site be inaccurate or out-of-date - I stand open to correction by the attorneys out there, of course.

So, are we talking about obligations arising out of ethics or courtesy?  Seems to me a restaurant is doing more than we are entitled to expect or demand by putting up a web-site at all.  Glenn argues that once a restauarnt chooses to do so, some obligations kick in.  I think the easiest way for any restaurant to deal with these concerns is to clearly display terms like "sample" and "example" and "subject to change" on their web pages.  But even if they don't, I think its reasonable to expect people to read the web-site information that way.  I would have a grouch if a restaurant changed from serving haute cuisine to pizzas without changing their web-site, but I don't expect minor changes in the menu to be reflected on a daily basis - and if you want to hold restaurants to that standard, guess what?  Goodbye web-sites.

[TCD]

Sure but if they go the effort of putting the actual regular items on the menu on the web why not put sample prices.

Because they don't want to do so.  If that turns you off to the place, then I guess they'll learn their lesson by losing your business.

[tommy]

Opening up to liability?

over a menu price

when the website would say

"prices subject to change"

yes.  some people are petty and unrelenting, and would pursue that issue ad infinitum.  others don't let it bother them and go on with their lives understanding that the correct price will be in the menu or stated by the server when they dined.

[Wilfrid]

Unless there's some clear law to the contrary, a hopeless case.  Someone sits down with a menu in the restaurant, they're relying on the menu to tell them the price of the dishes.  Someone consults a menu on a web-site, all they're relying on is the menu published there, along with a bunch of other information, in order to decide whether to go to the restaurant in the first place.  Can't see any contract being entered into at that stage, and it's hard to see that they are going to be able to demonstrate any worthwhile damages arising from their reliance on those specific prices when deciding what to do for dinner.  (Like: if I'd known the steak was going to cost $5 more, I'd have gone somewhere else, so that's the damage Your Honor).

No.  But remember, I am not an attorney.

[tommy]

Unless there's some clear law to the contrary, a hopeless case.

from a legal standpoint, of course.  from the restaurant's standpoint of having to deal with some irate lunatic bitching about the prices that where quoted on the website, well, it's clearly well worth it to leave prices off.

[Wilfrid]

So, have the last word.

[tommy]

So, have the last word.

thank you.  i believe that i will.