Comments on: Restaurant Websites: The Great and the Terrible. http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/ Culinary Rants & Raves from Bay Area Foodies and Professionals Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:41:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Janna http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2278 Janna Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:10:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2278 I was recently looking for a location for a company dinner in North Beach, and a friend recommended Mangarosa.<br/><br/>http://www.mangarosasf.com/menu.htm<br/><br/>No formatting makes the window about 7000 pixels wide. Terrible.<br/><br/>I agree that I'm completely turned off by a bad website. A good website (and good food) will have me dreaming of dining at said restaurant.<br/> <br/>One of my favorite restaurant websites (of course) is The French Laundry.<br/><br/>http://www.frenchlaundry.com/<br/><br/>Granted, it's flash, but it's very well executed. I was recently looking for a location for a company dinner in North Beach, and a friend recommended Mangarosa.

http://www.mangarosasf.com/menu.htm

No formatting makes the window about 7000 pixels wide. Terrible.

I agree that I’m completely turned off by a bad website. A good website (and good food) will have me dreaming of dining at said restaurant.

One of my favorite restaurant websites (of course) is The French Laundry.

http://www.frenchlaundry.com/

Granted, it’s flash, but it’s very well executed.

]]> By: Marina http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2274 Marina Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:45:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2274 An excellent site for a simple place...a brewpub of all things! www.wunderbeer.com is very clean, easy to navigate... everything you want to know about the beers (what's on tap today!), food, menu etc. is right there in front of you, yet the design/layout is sleek and chic and very well done. No annoying flash or bad music. An excellent site for a simple place…a brewpub of all things! http://www.wunderbeer.com is very clean, easy to navigate… everything you want to know about the beers (what’s on tap today!), food, menu etc. is right there in front of you, yet the design/layout is sleek and chic and very well done. No annoying flash or bad music.

]]> By: Desirae http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2272 Desirae Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:41:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2272 Hey Jennifer,<br/><br/>I'm the web designer behind Spruce's site. I just wanted to say thank you for posting this and for motivating people to leave some very valid feedback about some of the local restaurant websites. I'm going to work with the people behind Spruce to make navigation improvements and to work on another format for their menus besides PDF. I also plan on pointing other restaurant clients and fellow web designers to this post. Thanks again! Hey Jennifer,

I’m the web designer behind Spruce’s site. I just wanted to say thank you for posting this and for motivating people to leave some very valid feedback about some of the local restaurant websites. I’m going to work with the people behind Spruce to make navigation improvements and to work on another format for their menus besides PDF. I also plan on pointing other restaurant clients and fellow web designers to this post. Thanks again!

]]> By: EB http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2271 EB Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:54:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2271 What's worse? No website or impossible to navigate/no info site??? What’s worse? No website or impossible to navigate/no info site???

]]> By: Virginia http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2270 Virginia Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:32:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2270 Amen! I spend a lot of time daily browsing restaurant websites, experiencing all the annoyances you describe with the desire for simple basics: price, hours (amazing how hard that can be to find!), location, maybe reservation links. I agree Menu Pages has been a lifesaver at times, unappealing as it looks. <br/><br/>The website for the new Orson is already annoying me with it's "sample menu MIGHT include", listing only a handful of items, no prices, no real idea of what they will cost or are serving. <br/><br/>Though I like Ducca, their website is also annoying with (once again) PDFs for all menus and NO PRICES. Nothing is more annoying than not listing prices. <br/><br/>Thanks, Jen!<br/>www.theperfectspotsf.com/newsletter/ Amen! I spend a lot of time daily browsing restaurant websites, experiencing all the annoyances you describe with the desire for simple basics: price, hours (amazing how hard that can be to find!), location, maybe reservation links. I agree Menu Pages has been a lifesaver at times, unappealing as it looks.

The website for the new Orson is already annoying me with it’s “sample menu MIGHT include”, listing only a handful of items, no prices, no real idea of what they will cost or are serving.

Though I like Ducca, their website is also annoying with (once again) PDFs for all menus and NO PRICES. Nothing is more annoying than not listing prices.

Thanks, Jen!
http://www.theperfectspotsf.com/newsletter/

]]> By: KiltBear http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2269 KiltBear Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:00:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2269 Oi, try using opentable.com on an iPhone... They have this "autocomplete" feature when typing in a restaurant name that totally hoses your ability to actually select the restaurant you want... Oi, try using opentable.com on an iPhone… They have this “autocomplete” feature when typing in a restaurant name that totally hoses your ability to actually select the restaurant you want…

]]> By: Griff http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2268 Griff Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:34:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2268 The point about prices struck a nerve with me. Menus on restaurant websites are useful for two things, to tell you what sort of food it serves and to tell you whether you can afford it. Omission of prices short-circuits the second purpose, and as you say, seems pretentious. House's website lacks prices, and although I was thinking of going there, now I'm not going to because I don't know what I might be getting myself into. No prices, no customer. Simple. The point about prices struck a nerve with me. Menus on restaurant websites are useful for two things, to tell you what sort of food it serves and to tell you whether you can afford it. Omission of prices short-circuits the second purpose, and as you say, seems pretentious. House’s website lacks prices, and although I was thinking of going there, now I’m not going to because I don’t know what I might be getting myself into. No prices, no customer. Simple.

]]> By: shuna fish lydon http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2267 shuna fish lydon Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:21:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2267 Jen,<br/><br/>Thank you so much for writing this! I have a full year's worth of horror stories from many restaurants I've worked at who didn't even know why a website was necessary and important. <br/><br/>Restaurants have little to no idea what and why the designers are doing and so there's a huge disconnect there to begin with. Really it's a miracle you like any of them.<br/><br/>And many of the places that have been mentioned as having horrible websites rely on their tried and true repeat customers and can barely be bothered with the fact that new diners might never get there. It's a strange but true fact.<br/><br/>Although <a HREF="http://www.oliveto.com/menus.html/" REL="nofollow">Oliveto's</a> menus show up in a PDF with my browser I give them a lot of credit for keeping up with posting their daily dinner and dessert menus. Any restaurant that changes their menu daily, and considers that to be an important draw, should be able to figure out how to make this function happen.<br/><br/>There's so much more to be said and discussed on this subject, I hope you've started a web-fire! Jen,

Thank you so much for writing this! I have a full year’s worth of horror stories from many restaurants I’ve worked at who didn’t even know why a website was necessary and important.

Restaurants have little to no idea what and why the designers are doing and so there’s a huge disconnect there to begin with. Really it’s a miracle you like any of them.

And many of the places that have been mentioned as having horrible websites rely on their tried and true repeat customers and can barely be bothered with the fact that new diners might never get there. It’s a strange but true fact.

Although Oliveto’s menus show up in a PDF with my browser I give them a lot of credit for keeping up with posting their daily dinner and dessert menus. Any restaurant that changes their menu daily, and considers that to be an important draw, should be able to figure out how to make this function happen.

There’s so much more to be said and discussed on this subject, I hope you’ve started a web-fire!

]]> By: Diane http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2266 Diane Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:31:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2266 Super slow-loading intro screens are the devil's spawn! And EVERY restaurant seems to have them. Was this some kind of "bad web page 101" seminar that all restaurants were required to take or something? Do restaurants honestly think we care enough about their graphic experimental skills that we care to waste 30 seconds clicking through tedious content-free intro pages before we get to content?<br/>Ick. Super slow-loading intro screens are the devil’s spawn! And EVERY restaurant seems to have them. Was this some kind of “bad web page 101″ seminar that all restaurants were required to take or something? Do restaurants honestly think we care enough about their graphic experimental skills that we care to waste 30 seconds clicking through tedious content-free intro pages before we get to content?
Ick.

]]> By: tkw http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/comment-page-1/#comment-2265 tkw Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:19:00 +0000 http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/02/26/restaurant-websites-the-great-and-the-terrible/#comment-2265 from the east bay, here is the worst:<br/><br/>http://www.maricaseafood.com/<br/><br/>(i worked for chris cheung long ago, he is a good chef and this is a decent restaurant, but this site suu-uucks)<br/><br/>i like wood tavern's site:<br/><br/>http://woodtavern.net<br/><br/>overflashed:<br/><br/>http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/<br/><br/>HATE:<br/><br/>http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/519000039.asp from the east bay, here is the worst:

http://www.maricaseafood.com/

(i worked for chris cheung long ago, he is a good chef and this is a decent restaurant, but this site suu-uucks)

i like wood tavern’s site:

http://woodtavern.net

overflashed:

http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/

HATE:

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/519000039.asp

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