Restaurant Menus (2 Viewers)

[Optimus Prime]

Restaurants are rolling out ways for customers to order digitally, which could lead to diners placing bigger orders because they can hide their embarrassment from servers, one expert has said.

When customers order digitally, rather than through a server, they're more likely to choose the food they really want, Deepthi Prakash, global director of product and marketing at advertising agency TBWA Worldwide, told The Wall Street Journal.

This is because they don't have to worry about servers judging them, she said……

"I feel like there's an aspect of shame when you're standing in front of a register, you have to look at a person and tell them all the things you want in your drink," a former Los Angeles Starbucks barista told Insider.

Starbucks baristas said that customers often ask for weirder and more complicated drinks when they order via its app. This includes bizarre TikTok-inspired drinks or beverages with excessive modifications, such as an iced latte with 12 shots of coffee and five shots of hazelnut syrup.

Starbucks was one of the first restaurants to widely roll out mobile ordering.

"There's nothing else like it," David Bagley, managing director at Carls Marks Advisors, told Insider. "They're doing something that really every other restaurant should have done years ago"……

Restaurants pushing digital orders in the labor shortage could mean diners asking for more food because they don't feel judged by servers, an expert says

As well as reducing the need for staff in the labor shortage, digital ordering could mean customers placing bigger orders, an expert told the WSJ.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Madmarsha]

I don't understand all of the fuss.

1) Old Fashioned
2) Appetizer - what ever the special is.
3) Steak - cooked to your liking. Alternate- Fish depending on the restaurant and proximity to the coast.

Good advice. I literally did 2 and 3 last weekend.

What do you guys think about a restaurant with only 5 regular entrees and 2 specials one of which was an etoufee? I prefer a few more selections unless they are EXCEPTIONALLY well done and I was not wowed by what was supposed to be a new chef in town. It was okay but this particular place does a lot of onsite catering and the venue is really nice, but I think they can't quite decided WHICH to focus on, the regular diners or the event coming up.

 

[GeauxWhoDats]

Good advice. I literally did 2 and 3 last weekend.

What do you guys think about a restaurant with only 5 regular entrees and 2 specials one of which was an etoufee? I prefer a few more selections unless they are EXCEPTIONALLY well done and I was not wowed by what was supposed to be a new chef in town. It was okay but this particular place does a lot of onsite catering and the venue is really nice, but I think they can't quite decided WHICH to focus on, the regular diners or the event coming up.

It could be supply and demand that is limiting their menu options.

 

[0rion]

My mother does that too, I always giggle a bit. I will, however, ask the server for advice between two entrees or something like that. Like "I can't decide between the X and the Y, which do you think is the way to go here?" Or similar. Sometimes it's not that helpful, like if they give you what is clearly just a personal taste preference, but sometimes they'll say "Oh, the X is really good here, people always comment about it."

It can also be helpful to just ask what the server considers their signature dish or best thing on the menu. If you're not too picky and want what they do best.

I do that also if I'm down to 2 that I can't decide between. I'll ask the server which do they like best and recommend.....then I take the other one haha.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Restaurants are rolling out ways for customers to order digitally, which could lead to diners placing bigger orders because they can hide their embarrassment from servers, one expert has said.

When customers order digitally, rather than through a server, they're more likely to choose the food they really want, Deepthi Prakash, global director of product and marketing at advertising agency TBWA Worldwide, told The Wall Street Journal.

This is because they don't have to worry about servers judging them, she said……

"I feel like there's an aspect of shame when you're standing in front of a register, you have to look at a person and tell them all the things you want in your drink," a former Los Angeles Starbucks barista told Insider.

Starbucks baristas said that customers often ask for weirder and more complicated drinks when they order via its app. This includes bizarre TikTok-inspired drinks or beverages with excessive modifications, such as an iced latte with 12 shots of coffee and five shots of hazelnut syrup.

Starbucks was one of the first restaurants to widely roll out mobile ordering.

"There's nothing else like it," David Bagley, managing director at Carls Marks Advisors, told Insider. "They're doing something that really every other restaurant should have done years ago"……

Restaurants pushing digital orders in the labor shortage could mean diners asking for more food because they don't feel judged by servers, an expert says

As well as reducing the need for staff in the labor shortage, digital ordering could mean customers placing bigger orders, an expert told the WSJ.

www.businessinsider.com

Except that nearly zero percent of American consumption suggests that’s a legitimate pov

If anything I’d see the opposite, you’re not showing off with your ordering, just getting what you want

 

[Optimus Prime]

The coronavirus pandemic saw a number of changes in how we live, in ways big and small.

Some were welcome: flexibility about remote work, say, or cocktails to go.

But here’s one adaptation that can’t fall by the wayside fast enough: the now-commonplace QR code menus offered in place of the paper version in millions of American restaurants.

They are unnecessary, anti-social, discriminatory and unpopular. They fully degrade the experience of dining out.

If you don’t know what a restaurant QR code is, I envy you. It’s the black-and-white square code you find on a placard at the table when you are seated, asking you to scan it with your phone’s camera for a link to the establishment’s offerings.

Offered up as a bit of hygiene when restaurants reopened after the shutdowns of the early pandemic period, online QR code menus are unnecessary, since the coronavirus is (we now know) an almost entirely airborne pathogen.

But all too many dining establishments continue to use them.

A physical menu sets the stage. It highlights the fact that this is a special occasion, even if it’s simply a quick bite at a local diner.

The menu signifies that it’s time to take a break in a busy day, that this meal is something separate from the normal course of events. It also pushes us to interact with others.

We share menus. We point to things; we ask the wait staff questions about the meal and what they particularly like.

It’s like opening a program at a theater, for a show you and your companions are about to experience together…….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/15/against-qr-code-restaurant-menus/

 

[Optimus Prime]

I’m not exactly what you would call a technophile. It took me years to stop printing my airline boarding passes, much to my wife’s chagrin.

But I am willing to acknowledge when technology makes life a little more convenient, even at the expense of long-established routines.

And so just as I’ve (finally) accepted mobile boarding passes, I have come to embrace QR codes for restaurant menus.

I know this might be an unpopular opinion. There are some who see those ugly little squares not just as a minor annoyance but as a threat to the Restaurant Experience.

I won’t dismiss these feelings as simply complaints from, well, customers of a certain generation. Because, again, I get it; I understand the appeal of holding a menu in my hands. (I particularly enjoy quietly judging a restaurant’s choice of typography.)

This is what we expect from dining out. It is a ritual. A comforting formality.

The same could be said of printed boarding passes. For whatever reason, I felt more comfortable with a piece of paper in my hands guaranteeing that I can board my flight. It was simply part of my airport routine — until I tried the mobile version. And now I’ll never go back.

For those who are skeptical of QR code menus, answer this question: What actual advantages do physical menus have over mobile versions?

Physical menus are often bulky and take up space on the table. They must be replaced when changed or overused.

Waiters must run around handing them out, collecting them, and then handing them out again if customers want to see dessert options.

Online menus, by contrast, are easy to access and update. They give restaurants more flexibility to experiment with food options.

I once went to a restaurant that let customers take a personality quiz on their phones to determine what cocktail best suited them.

Was it necessary or based in any sort of science? Absolutely not. But it was fun!…..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/15/restaurant-qr-code-menus-good/

 

[0rion]

Personally....I hate QR menus. I do understand why places use them but I like to hold a menu in my hand for some reason. It's barely an issue for me because we go to alot of the same places so I know what I want before we even go in.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Personally....I hate QR menus. I do understand why places use them but I like to hold a menu in my hand for some reason. It's barely an issue for me because we go to alot of the same places so I know what I want before we even go in.

I hate them in General too but especially places that use them knowing they have spotty cell service

 

[buzd]

I hate them in General too but especially places that use them knowing they have spotty cell service

Dumb to have them without offering wifi, but otherwise, I think there is more upside than down.

 

[superchuck500]

The coronavirus pandemic saw a number of changes in how we live, in ways big and small.

Some were welcome: flexibility about remote work, say, or cocktails to go.

But here’s one adaptation that can’t fall by the wayside fast enough: the now-commonplace QR code menus offered in place of the paper version in millions of American restaurants.

They are unnecessary, anti-social, discriminatory and unpopular. They fully degrade the experience of dining out.

If you don’t know what a restaurant QR code is, I envy you. It’s the black-and-white square code you find on a placard at the table when you are seated, asking you to scan it with your phone’s camera for a link to the establishment’s offerings.

Offered up as a bit of hygiene when restaurants reopened after the shutdowns of the early pandemic period, online QR code menus are unnecessary, since the coronavirus is (we now know) an almost entirely airborne pathogen.

But all too many dining establishments continue to use them.

A physical menu sets the stage. It highlights the fact that this is a special occasion, even if it’s simply a quick bite at a local diner.

The menu signifies that it’s time to take a break in a busy day, that this meal is something separate from the normal course of events. It also pushes us to interact with others.

We share menus. We point to things; we ask the wait staff questions about the meal and what they particularly like.

It’s like opening a program at a theater, for a show you and your companions are about to experience together…….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/15/against-qr-code-restaurant-menus/

They’re cheaper (? not sure). They’re easier to modify. I think this person is way overthinking it.

I don’t mind them. In my experience restaurants typically still have a paper menu if you insist.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

Seems multi-faceted.

If you are dining at restaurants that are often changing their daily menu due to seasonal availability of ingredients, I’m totally fine with it. Why burn through paper and ink every day if you don’t have to? Photoelectrons are much easier and cheaper to update.
Covid also had some effects on the process as Restaurants didn’t want to sanitize menus every time they turned a cover.

Most restaurants have websites where you can find a menu online, so give it a bit of thought and research before you head to them.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

i can't stand trying to read a menu in a resturant with dim lighting. 10 years ago, not a problem. now days, a problem...

 

[Madmarsha]

I can do the QR thing ... if I must. But when one week it works .. and the next week I can't get anything to come up, yeah, I wonder, do I have to pay extra for frustration?

 

[BooBirdSaint]

Who can afford to eat out anymore? What the pandemic didn't kill off the recession soon will...