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I walked into a restaurant yesterday looking for a server job and walked out hired as their web guy. They need 3 sites done to start with and there's nothing done on any of them. I have some ideas but I really want to make this shine and you guys are a well-informed bunch. First, ideas. Point me to restaurant websites you really like or are impressed with. Second, what should I be worrying about? The first thing on my mind is accessibility - any device should be able to get the info they need quickly and clearly. Third, what new stuff is useful? What social media integration stuff works and is worth building? Have you seen any great ideas for connecting people to restaurants. About the restaurants: in Chicago, one is 75% delivery, one is a family sports bar, and one is a Poboy shop. What do you like to see, what do you hate, and what could restaurants do better in online marketing?
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Oct 2, 2013 20:58
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For the delivery one see if you can get an online ordering system set up
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Oct 2, 2013 22:02
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Online ordering is cool, but if these places don't already have websites, there's no way they'll have or pay for the infrastructure to set up online orders. The restaurant websites I visit are usually for fancier places, but my basic list would be: 1. NO music, Intros (especially Flash), applets to install, or anything similar. At least not to make the website functional. If I do install something, it better be for something worthwhile. I'm not a big fan of transitional animations either. 2. Function > Design (yes your minimalist website looks cool, but I've now wasted 10 minutes looking for your address/phone number/hours) 3. Up to date and easily accessible information. Don't include menus if they won't be current. Make reservation, ordering, hours, delivery information, phone number(s), and address(es) very easy to find. Don't hide business hours under "contact us" or the address. 4. Sensible social media. I admit I'm not a huge fan of most social media, but having twitter, foursquare, facebook, yelp, digg, google plus and so on is usually way too heavy handed. 5. Google it. The name of the restaurant, the website, etc. You don't want any surprises. 6. Give me a reason to want to visit. Both the website and the restaurant. I can usually google a phone number, address, etc. and never have to visit a website. Is the website entertaining, especially informative, or otherwise worth visiting? I don't think I've ever gone to a website for a sports bar or sandwich place and I imagine there a websites for a lot of restaurants I've been to that I've never considered checking out. 7. No Pop-ups. Ever. Not "like us on Facebook", not for coupons, NEVER EVER EVER. 8. Mobile - prioritize important information. If I'm on my phone checking out a restaurant website, I'm looking for (in order of importance) hours>phone number>address>anything else. I don't care if it's a mobile version or not unless one version is completely lacking in usability (mobile doesn't have enough important information or the regular version is too crowded to make it navigable on a phone). 9. The website should never be a sounding board for an owner's crazy opinions. Or even reasonable opinions. There's a fantastic local restaurant with a decent website, but with a blog attached with pages full of the chef/owner's rants. I agree with a lot of what he says, but too much of it has nothing to do with the food or the restaurant. I want to check out cool pictures of food, not hear what he thinks about the government shutdown. 10. Label the pictures. If there's a picture of something delicious looking, I'd like to be able to identify it and order it. 11. Spell check and edit. Non-design related, but if you're working for them, check out all the restaurants' reviews, but don't freak out about them. Owners arguing with yelpers almost always looks pathetic. So do fake positive reviews. But an owner/employee showing that someone is paying attention and trying to solve problems? That's very important. Seeing the same problems mentioned in reviews dated across several months time looks terrible. Those are my own nitpicky things. I like simple, clean, functional.
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Oct 2, 2013 23:50
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Make the site play well on mobile. List the phone number and hours somewhere on the landing page. If there is any kind of flash anything then you have failed us, the public. The entire site shouldn't be more than 3 or 4 pages at the most, and none of those should be huge. For the delivery place, I know lots of neighborhood joints in the Chi do beer and liquor delivery with the food, include that stuff with the online ordering (which you *have* to have). If there is a minimum order amount put together some combos with and without beers that hit that line. I know that might be above your purview as web guy, but I also know if it looks close they'll probably use them, or adjust them or whatever. Have an option to order for pick-up, too, especially if they are near an El stop.
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Oct 2, 2013 23:58
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Trying to figure out what to get last night, since I was feeling lazy, I probably hit up 2 dozen restaurant websites in Houston. Probably the most functional that I found was this one: http://www.barryspizza.com/ They have a dedicated mobile site, all of the most important information (except maybe hours) are available on every page at the bottom, etc. There are some things I could nitpick, but all in all I found it to be very functional.
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Oct 3, 2013 01:08
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Vegetable Melange posted:
Somehow I am going to throw you under a bus with this information.
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Oct 3, 2013 02:10
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bunnyofdoom posted:For the delivery one see if you can get an online ordering system set up That is big job, don't do this. Or at least do this last.
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Oct 3, 2013 11:48
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hhhmmm posted:That is big job, don't do this. Or at least do this last. It's not too bad if you use something like Shopify - it seems like they do most of the heavy lifting for you.
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Oct 3, 2013 14:01
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hhhmmm posted:That is big job, don't do this. Or at least do this last. Oh yes, I'm well aware. There's a reason entire companies are dedicated to this stuff, but there is some infrastructure in place I'm hoping to springboard from. I haven't looked into the structure of these systems or if they offer any APIs, but that's a ways off for now. First, though, I'm building several web sites to develop a relationship and get them comfortable. Once they know me better and I know the business better we're figuring out a more permanent role. They have an online ordering system but it's supported by the POS vendor - and I know what a loving nightmare those companies can be. On the other hand, I am perpetually aghast at how bad restaurants are at web sites and online presence, so I'm hoping I can come up with some more thought out solutions and modern, clean web design. Thanks for the great tips, logical fallacy, and everyone else. I've noticed a few odd things on social media, but I'm going to just guide them from now on instead of going crazy about what's out there. Edit: Jesus. I just went to Alinea's site, which is a famous high end restaurant y'all probably know, and it has a very minimalist design. Until you get to the gallery section which has classic scroll bars, including a vertical one because the containing div is a few pixels too small! I am going to crush this industry, tech-wise. Enderzero fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Oct 3, 2013 |
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Oct 3, 2013 17:28
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Just don't expect them to pay you what you think you're worth, because to many hospitallers (especially those who grew up pre-internet), a good clean website that loads easily on a Mobile is more trouble than it's worth, so take your witchcraft elsewhere good sir.
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Oct 3, 2013 17:37
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Vegetable Melange posted:Just don't expect them to pay you what you think you're worth, because to many hospitallers (especially those who grew up pre-internet), a good clean website that loads easily on a Mobile is more trouble than it's worth, so take your witchcraft elsewhere good sir. They aren't, but I need the work, experience, and eventual portfolio additions. I came in to apply for a server job, remember so all things considered, this is a fair deal. The owner built up an empire to 30 restaurants, imploded, and had to sell off almost all of it. So he knows how to make businesses work, and isn't afraid to spend smart money. I've worked for small clever shops before, so I have a backing in pulling off technical designs on a budget.
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Oct 3, 2013 18:15
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Don't be tempted to make the online menu a PDF of the regular menu ("oh, but that way we can keep the design!"), forcing customers to download a file just to check the prices. I loving hate that.
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Oct 3, 2013 21:43
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If the pretty awesome cheap Chinese delivery place near where I used to work can do online orders and payment, and still churn out $5.50 lunch specials with your choice of eggroll or soup, and deliver within 5mi for a $15 min order, there is zero excuse for anyone who wants online ordering to not have it.
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Oct 3, 2013 23:59
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If this isn't the appropriate thread to ask in, I can move to the Chat thread, but I have a question for you restaurant folks. I have worked as an Arts & Entertainment reporter at a local newspaper for all of three weeks now, and we do a weekly restaurant review. We have a great culinary scene for a smaller Midwest town with lots of restaurants, with a handful opening every few months. I was a vegetarian for a decade, but started eating meat this month. It's been rough going, mostly physically, so I have featured a vegetarian option with a shorter section on a meat dish. Readers are trashing my recent review of a veggie burger ("Why send a vegetarian to a burger restaurant?"), when I included a paragraph on the burger my dining companion ate. Would you as restaurant folk prefer a reviewer wait to come to your restaurant when they can enjoy your whole menu? Or, does it not matter, as long as they touch on an omnivore dish?
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Oct 4, 2013 04:12
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Tig Ol Bitties posted:If this isn't the appropriate thread to ask in, I can move to the Chat thread, but I have a question for you restaurant folks. If someone is going to review a restaurant known for a specific meat item (burgers in this case), one would expect the reviewer to be talking about said burger. Come on, man, that's like going out to a fried chicken joint and gushing about the cornbread with a little side note of 'oh, and they sell chicken'. Or sending a gluten-intolerant reviewer to check out a bakery. It just isn't of interest to the general reader. If you were writing for a vegetarian or vegan magazine? Then you'd be in business.
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Oct 4, 2013 04:17
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Liquid Communism posted:If someone is going to review a restaurant known for a specific meat item (burgers in this case), one would expect the reviewer to be talking about said burger. I completely agree. I guess I just got too selfishly excited about a new restaurant and didn't think about the reader's experience. I'll stick to reviewing chicken and vegetable-based dishes for now, then hit the new BBQ joint. Thanks for the honest input.
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Oct 4, 2013 04:20
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Enderzero posted:Oh yes, I'm well aware. There's a reason entire companies are dedicated to this stuff, but there is some infrastructure in place I'm hoping to springboard from. I haven't looked into the structure of these systems or if they offer any APIs, but that's a ways off for now. tips : a. define a very specific scope for these projects, estimated hours, and get a letter of engagement on the projects before spending a minute more of your time. this is very standard for the industry, and very important for your sanity 2-4 months from now. state clauses, any relevant requirements (IE, I need content for a menu before I can post a menu and complete the project) and what happens if you go over your estimated hours. google 'IT letter of engagement'. b. quote them $7500-10000 per website, and give the projects to me. I'll handle the letter of engagement, do all the work, and personally engage with the client - you keep 25% and do nothing, everyone wins. 
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Oct 4, 2013 04:23
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Tig Ol Bitties posted:I completely agree. I guess I just got too selfishly excited about a new restaurant and didn't think about the reader's experience. I'll stick to reviewing chicken and vegetable-based dishes for now, then hit the new BBQ joint. Thanks for the honest input. No worries. Don't take it as harshing on you, I've got frustrations right now. Per what we've been told by the inspectors lately, to make something we can call 'gluten free', we'd have to shut the whole place down for 3-4 hours to let the flour dust settle, clean and sanitize the bakery top to bottom including the ductwork and ceiling tiles, and -then- we could start production of gluten free items. It's not worth our time in any way. But we still get people all pissed off because a tiny scratch bakery doesn't cater to their special snowflake dietary preferences. We'll bend over backwards to work with vegan stuff, or nut allergies, low carb sweetners where possible, or even dairy allergies (this one is rather difficult). But while I can happily make someone a flourless chocolate torte (basically a modified brownie recipe with ganache icing) that has no gluten in the -recipe-, I can't guarantee a lack of cross contamination by the sheer presence of flour in the air. Not to mention that I'm covered in it as well while I'm talking to them. Laminating croissant dough by hand gets a bit floury.
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Oct 4, 2013 05:37
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While I have nothing but sympathy for actual celiacs, don't people who latch onto that poo poo because it's trendy also tend to buy into the whole  The Government won't let us say these crystals will cure your cancer but... *wink**wink*?Could you cater to them by saying, "We did not *add* anything with gluten to this torte, but we legally can't say it's gluten-free" They get to fuel their persecution complex, you sell a torte, hopefully real celiacs are smart enough to know that even products labeled "gluten-free" can have gluten.
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Oct 4, 2013 06:47
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Celiac's not the only gluten issue on the table, not by a long shot. Allergies, people with inflammatory diseases like arthritis, people who just fart a lot when confronted with long-chain complex carbs and so on. If you don't offer an alternative, it's up to them to find one, not you. Don't ride that sense of communal obligation too far into the weeds of un-recoupable costs; if it's not reasonably practical to accommodate them then it's not worth worrying over. Never gently caress with "I have this dietary issue", though. No matter how unconvincing or  their explanation may be, the potential risk is awful and always present. There's no shame in just saying "Yeah no, we don't have anything for you, sorry."Baking, though, you could offer spelt-based products and satisfy most of the people looking for a wheat alternative. It's not legally gluten-free (IIRC a cup of whole spelt flour has ~0.1% of the gluten that you'd find in a cup of whole wheat flour), so there'd be no need to certify for it. Spelt is a little drier than wheat so recipe liquids need to be tweaked accordingly and it'll go stale a little faster, but compared to bullshit like rice flour it's pretty easy to work with. Spelt's low enough in gluten that even celiac patients can often deal with it.
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Oct 4, 2013 08:18
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Liquid Communism posted:Per what we've been told by the inspectors lately, to make something we can call 'gluten free', we'd have to shut the whole place down for 3-4 hours to let the flour dust settle, clean and sanitize the bakery top to bottom including the ductwork and ceiling tiles, and -then- we could start production of gluten free items. It's not worth our time in any way. Buy some Cup4Cup and make gluten-free products with a note that there may be trace amounts of flour in them. My chef did a lot of research into producing gluten-free foods in a facility that uses lots of flour (we have a pretty large fresh pasta program) and came to the conclusion that gluten intolerance/allergy isn't the same as, say, a peanut allergy, where a tiny amount of peanut can kill someone. With this in mind, you can probably make a gluten free muffin or two if they're clearly marked. All of our pastas are available gluten free, and we have special bread for gluten free guests. People cry, that's how exciting it is for them.
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Oct 4, 2013 13:44
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You're right in that trace amounts of gluten won't kill anyone (as far as I know), but even gluten derived stabilizers can cause digestive issues in people with celiac's disease. However, I worked in a vegetarian/vegan coffeeshop and we catered heavily towards the gluten free crowd and we never had problems with the sign up saying that all "gluten free" items are made without gluten but we couldn't guarantee them to be 100% gluten free. In a bakery it'd be a lot different than it was cooking lunch, but I know that our baker would do gluten free and regular stuff on the same day on the same prep table. She just wiped it down with diluted vinegar in between. So yeah, just say it's made without gluten and not gluten free and put a note that it's made in a kitchen alongside products with gluten. People can decide the level of their sensitivity and whether that's going to work for them and you have your bases legally covered while still expanding your customer base somewhat.
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Oct 4, 2013 15:44
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Trying to explain to banquet staff what things are and aren't gluten free is such a pain. A banquet captain asked if our chips are gluten free. I tell her no, they are not because they are cooked in a fryer with items that contain gluten. She then freaks out because she already told someone that they are and that person was already eating them. I tell these idiot servers and banquet staff that if someone is actually deathly allergic to anything, they will give you the little 'I Will Die If:' card. And they still freak out when I tell them nothing is actually gluten free in this kitchen, they're just 99% gluten free.
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Oct 4, 2013 17:26
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Trying to explain to banquet staff what things are and aren't gluten free is such a pain. A banquet captain asked if our chips are gluten free. I tell her no, they are not because they are cooked in a fryer with items that contain gluten. She then freaks out because she already told someone that they are and that person was already eating them. next time someone asks you if something is gluten free, look them deep in the eye and go "gluten free? do... you even.... know.... what... freedom... is.........." and then get hegelian on their rear end or something hoorah
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Oct 4, 2013 20:50
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heyfresh888 posted:So I'm helping my brother open a wine bar and here are some shots of the food I'm going to do. If anyone is on the central coast of california, we are opening in about a month in Atascadero. Opening hasn't been anything less than a nightmare working with family who have little to know experience. From a few days ago, but I work in SLO and am definitely interested in crossing the grade for that food so keep us posted
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Oct 4, 2013 23:25
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A local chain that has a restaurant and small bakery for their coffee shop calls all of their "we can't legally say gluten free but we did the best we could" goods by the name "gluten not". It gets the point across and they explain what it means. I'm not gluten sensitive but I have other food allergies and I know how to ask questions, read, and decide when to take or not take chances.
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Oct 4, 2013 23:58
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The greatest marketing trick is making people think gluten free = healthy. Philz, a local coffee chain, sells gluten free donuts and pastries and people scarf them up. As far as I know they are still loaded with butter and sugar.
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Oct 5, 2013 01:13
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The guy who owns the local bakery has this awesome "fermented bread glycemic index" speech ready for anyone who goes up to him asking for gluten-free stuff, and it catches them off-guard since none of them could actually tell you what gluten is, what it's found in, or why it's bad for them. I'm glad I'm cooking Mexican food right now, and can throw people off with "It's not in anything we make at all" or get gems from glutards talking about how they read an article that said corn was almost as high in gluten as wheat. I don't want to be insensitive to people with genuine gluten problems. I'm more than happy to help out with someone who has an actual allergy, but I'm not going to listen to long loving diatribes about how you've "just felt better" since you quit gluten, and that I should really cater to gluten-free since that's where the money is. Vegetarians are becoming a new nightmare, though, for so many reasons. I personally prefer vegans, as they're usually really grateful when you make them good food, and aren't very picky as long as it's within the basic vegan parameters. Plan Z fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 8, 2013 04:42
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Plan Z posted:I personally prefer vegans, as they're usually really grateful when you make them good food, and aren't very picky as long as it's within the basic vegan parameters. There's times when I'll go back to a meaty place because they've done right by me in the past, and I want to let them know that I appreciate it.
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Oct 8, 2013 15:38
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Plan Z posted:The guy who owns the local bakery has this awesome "fermented bread glycemic index" speech ready for anyone who goes up to him asking for gluten-free stuff, and it catches them off-guard since none of them could actually tell you what gluten is, what it's found in, or why it's bad for them. I'm glad I'm cooking Mexican food right now, and can throw people off with "It's not in anything we make at all" or get gems from glutards talking about how they read an article that said corn was almost as high in gluten as wheat. Oh my god I had never heard of this... if I can eat something made with wheat I am seriously going to cry because holy poo poo nothing tastes like toasted wheat except toasted wheat. Also I'll bet you'd love my mother in law, who is trying to go  low gluten and mainly stays away from eating gluten unless it's bread crumbs in crab cakes or pound cake for breakfast or sandwich bread or soy sauce etc etc etc.
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Oct 8, 2013 21:14
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It's low in gluten, but not gluten free, and it produces excellent bread, so it works out. It's common for bakeries in Europe, but still not all that common in the US.
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Oct 8, 2013 23:52
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Can you point me towards good further reading on that? A glance at Google pulls up results that are all over the place.
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Oct 9, 2013 01:29
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I haven't seen any good resources online. I'll get some book names for you when I go back to the kitchen in a few days. The head baker is more than happy enough to share the information most of the time. He's a hell of a great guy, and this a massive depository of food knowledge.
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Oct 9, 2013 03:33
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I'm trailing at a unbelievably serious place tonight: think I should get my red wings shined?
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Oct 9, 2013 16:36
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Plan Z posted:I haven't seen any good resources online. I'll get some book names for you when I go back to the kitchen in a few days. The head baker is more than happy enough to share the information most of the time. He's a hell of a great guy, and this a massive depository of food knowledge. I loving love drinking with people like that. 
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Oct 9, 2013 16:47
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Vegetable Melange posted:I'm trailing at a unbelievably serious place tonight: think I should get my red wings shined? Are you serious? Just make sure they're clean.
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Oct 9, 2013 19:22
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Man, do any of you guys get the as much of the "haha sure hope they don't spit in my food," water-testing as I do? I have worked with angry crackheads before, but never once have I seen someone spit in food. The only times I've seen it have been those famous pictures crappy chain and fast food restaurants where the "cooks" are basically just microwave technicians.
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Oct 9, 2013 19:58
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Plan Z posted:Man, do any of you guys get the as much of the "haha sure hope they don't spit in my food," water-testing as I do? I have worked with angry crackheads before, but never once have I seen someone spit in food. The only times I've seen it have been those famous pictures crappy chain and fast food restaurants where the "cooks" are basically just microwave technicians.
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Oct 9, 2013 20:00
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No Wave posted:Spit, no. Sweat, yeah, but that's got more to do with caring too much rather than too little. I had to constantly badger my buddy to start wearing gloves at one job, because he would just get flop sweat on everything. His doughs would glisten in it, and I risked our friendship by yelling at him when our boss complained the cookie dough tasted "salty" one time.
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Oct 10, 2013 04:45
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What kinds of software do you guys use to organize and communicate with your restaurant/team? I immediately thought of something like BaseCamp, but I'm wondering if there's more specific software for the restaurant industry, like Shift Notes. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Oct 10, 2013 19:29
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