Things I want to see on a restaurant's website

[reality check]

1. Menu. Prices would be nice but I want to see what types of food they offer.

2. Phone number. To call for reservations etc.

3. Hours and days of operation. If a restaurant is going to close on Mon etc, please say so on the website.

If they really thought about it, putting the hours and days of operations online who prevent a lot of phone calls.

[blondie60614]

I also like to see a picture, or something that gives me an idea of the atmosphere.

[jeni1002]

This was mentioned in one of the posts, but it's worth re-iterating: a Last Updated line....it's always good to know if this is last year's menu, whether I should expect the prices to be in the same ballpark, etc. etc.

While this also shows how well a site is maintained, I would rather look at an old site that tells me it was updated last year than at one with no date information....My other pet peeve: scanned menus with small fonts (i.e., font size cannot be increased).

And one last thing: if the restaurant does not take Amex or only takes Amex, I would like to know that in advance, so an online reminder is always useful.

[ekammin]

Being up to date is very important. There is nothing more discouraging than ordering something that was $8.95 on the website menu, and being charged the new price of $15.95, unless it is being told "Oh, THAT! We took it off the menu last year. Lack of demand, you know."

[Gio]

Whether or not a restaurant is fully wheelchair accessable is very important to many people. That includes rest rooms too. Too often it is not mentioned on the web sites.

[piccola]

OK, so the usual: hours, location, menus, prices, contact information, reservation policy (do they take them? etc.), whether they accommodate special diets, reviews

Then, the added value: the day's specials, photos of the space and the food, the number of seats, the closest subway/bus stop, an online reservation form, an online feedback form (that the management actually reads), nutritional information (when it's possible, let's not go crazy here), a calendar of events if there's live music or whatever

The big no-nos: music of any kind, really busy design, pop-ups, long-winded praise of the chef and his/her "art"

[BostonZest]

Ah but I would love to know what music they play at the restaurant. Music is my pet peeve and I won't go anywhere that plays rock, tech, vocals or edgy music.

[piccola]

Sure, but the music on the website is almost never the music they play in-house.

[camp1980]

I HATE music on website. Especially when there isn't even an option to turn off the music. Mainly cause I am usually at work when trying to decide on a restaurant and my computer is very slow and my volume control doesn't always work very quickly. My coworkers a few times have asked where that 'noise' was coming from.

I don't go to restaurant websites to hear music, that is what music websites are for.

[BostonZest]

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I don't want to hear music on the website. I just want to have a one line description of the music. I guess I can continue to call ahead and ask about music but I would love to have that aspect of the place included on the site.

[WNCfoodie]

I am sorry, but I think "What type of music they play" is a bit much. A lot of restaurants (the one I work at as well) Change the music based upon the crowd. If its later in the evening on a friday night, and we have a younger crowd, the music would be different than say a Tuesday night, at 6:30, with an older, more professional crowd.

[swsidejim]

1) Menu with descriptions & prices
2) address and phone numbers
3) hours of operation
4) a bar menu listing out what beers, and tequillas they pour
5) pictures of some menu items, and the dining area

[anna]

Now that we have a puppy, I really love to see information about the outdoor dining area of restaurants. I would love to know if the outdoor seating is available during all hour of operations, if the area is heated, and of course, is the area pet friendly.

[shauben2007]

Pizetta needs one slight modification :)

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=2prbn2d

It's also flash, not sure why?

Agree with alot of what was said here, one thing I'd like to see in general is menu w/prices in PDF or printable format.

-Steve

[Scrapironchef]

If they are going to post a menu, attach the date, "menu and prices as of".

How about posting their last health inspection date and score.

For those of us of who eat sushi, whether or not the place is owned by Rev. Moon.

[silverbear]

Another observation: For some reason, most restaurants within hotels and resorts lack helpful Web sites. There is usually a page on the property's Web site labeled "dining" and that page describes the restaurant(s) on site, but there is almost never a menu or any of the other items mentioned in this thread. Most hotels and resorts seem to be missing an opportunity to promote their restaurants effectively.

[Das Ubergeek]

Not to mention that if it's in a chain hotel (and there are some very good restaurants in chain hotels) you probably have to go to the chain's website, put in some bogus travel information, and submit the form in order to be able to get to that hotel's specific page.

[Chowpatty]

That's so true about hotel restaurants! And even when they do have menus, you have to go through the hotel address rigamarole to get there. They should consider having one URL for the restaurant, and another for the hotel with links to the restaurant.

[Leonardo]

What everyone else said about no overdesigned, animation, flash, music, menu from four years ago, etc.

I like a link to Open Table so I may place a realtime reservation.

Any restaranteurs reading this and taking notes???

[dagoose]

Not a restaurateur, but I do restaurant marketing and maintain sites, so I'm here, reading and taking notes.

[reality check]

A restaurant's website listed their hours as DAILY 11am-9pm.

But they closed at 5pm on Sunday and are completely closed on Monday.

I guess that restaurant and I used a different dictionary.

[pescatarian]

Actually what bothers me most is when they don't have one at all. I was just reminded of this as I was searching for one that I'm going to on Sat night. Very popular restaurant. No website. I think that's my biggest pet peeve re restaurant websites.

[mangorita]

I agree with most of what is said here.

The most important things to me to see in a restaurant's website are:
1) Hours, address & phone number
2) menu-- preferably with prices (or at least put up a sample menu so I can see if it is the sort of place that I can take my super picky brother, my non-pork-eating husband or my vegetarian friends)
3) Reservation policy, accepted payment types
4) Directions that they've written with landmarks etc.
5) How to get there via public transportation
6) photos of the exterior and of the dining room

I also hate the overly Flash-y sites. Flash is good when used in moderation. I hate sites that replay an entire 30+ seconds flash sequence whenever you go back to the main page.

[Karl S]

Yes, for those of us with access issues, seeing the seating layout and chairs can be a make or break.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Dress code, corkage fee, cake slicing fee and cost to share a plate (should the pdf not be a direct copy of the menu).

[toodie jane]

sorry, cake slicing fee?--oh, I get it duh- if you brig in your own.

neeeveeeer mind....

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

I didn't know they existed either until I was charged a cake slicing fee.

[alanbarnes]

Aka "cakeage." Clearer and cleverer.

[Das Ubergeek]

A big one -- content written by someone fluent in English. Yes, I know that the vast majority of restaurant workers aren't, and yes, I know that continually-updated content (like a daily menu) aren't going to be spelled right...

...but the static portion of your site, have somebody proficient in the language go over it before you put it into production!

[bestandworst]

WOW. There is a big market open to web designers that know what they are doing. Those examples are the norm and WOW - such crap.

My city, Toronto, is over-run with flash sites and crappy musak.

[Jacquilynne]

Sadly, somebody has already recognized that market in Toronto and tried to fill it. The vast majority of Toronto resto websites are done by one of a small handful of design concerns - most notably MenuPalace - that specialize in restaurant work.

They're out there selling restaurants on the idea that music and flash is the way to go, and it would be very difficult to sell those restaurants on a scaled back, simpler, more static site.

[bestandworst]

Yes I know. I didnt want to mention their name because I hate the sites they put out - SO MUCH!

[Kater]

In addition, I really want to see photos of the food. The way the menu is written tells me a great deal about a restaurant and it's offerings, but pair it with a photo and I know precisely what you're selling.

[jfood]

Agree with the flash, unless Scorcese directed it and then I'll sit back and watch.

What I want is:

1 - Menu (prices would be nice (put a disclaimer on it if it changes a little)
2 - Phone number
3 - Hours of operation
4 - Closing time and a definition of what that means, last seating, kitchen down, or waiters out the door.
5 - A picture of the dining room would be nice
6 - Did I say menu and phone number
7 - Photo of the outside so I can recognize when in a cab

Nots:

1 - I am not interested in dating the chef, show me the kitchen before the posed Pig Book shot, please post on My Space
2 - Reviews. They are all lies, too positive and probably payola-time. The NY Times reviewed a resto in town, gave it an "Excellent" and when you read the text they sent 3 of 5 meals back to the kitch, DUH?
3 - OLD MENUS. It' October 2006. Although some may want to remember April 2005, that's not a good sign if it's still on the site
4 - Links to better restos owned by the same management group. This is the ultimate in upselling, give me a break

[BabyLitigator]

Parking information with idiot-proof directions to the lot or valet. A lot of websites 'directions' just link you to a mapquest-type page. In L.A., the 'address' you get there may be a long drive (yet a 100-foot walk) from the parking lot or Valet.

I'm mostly thinking of restaurants like Il Pastaio, where the lunch valet is on the corner, which requires going through three lights to reach from the restaurant address (due to one way streets).

[HillJ]

Most "must haves" listed I completely agree with but driving directions to the restaurant would be very helpful; Mapquest for instance is rarely reliable.

[ipsedixit]

Links to Chowhound discussion threads.

[S U]

yup... especially if there are neg. reviews

[Chowpatty]

I would agree that prices are good, Flash is bad. But I would say please don't put the menu in PDF either, I hate having to open it to view something, especially if it's written in a cutesy script font to begin with. How hard could it be to retype the menu in clear font on the website?
I like this one because it's so damn simple, yet has pretty much everything you need, and was up and running as soon as the restaurant opened:
http://www.louonvine.com/
Here's one I find pretty annoying: you have to choose high or low bandwidth, each page takes a while to load, the menu font is hard to read, and there's no hours!
http://www.blairsrestaurant.com/

[Scagnetti]

The http://www.louonvine.com is awful. I really thought it was one of those "Under construction, come back and see us again" web pages.

[Robert Lauriston]

That's better than 80% of restaurant Web sites. One click gets you address and hours, menu, or wine list, with prices.

Maybe it won't win any design awards, but I'd rather a restaurant spend its money on other things.

[ipsedixit]

Actually, sometimes menus in PDF format are helpful, esp. if you want to print it out.

[Produce Addict]

Have to disagree on prices -- I find it so frustrating when menus are posted without prices. Part of my calculation of whether I want to go someplace is how much it will cost and there is a big difference between lots of $14 entrees and mostly $20 entrees, a difference that is not necessarily obvious by the menu, general vibe, etc.

[S U]

I agree... maybe they could state something to the effect of "entrees range from $__ to $__"

[Snackish]

Here's another terrible example:

http://www.landmark78.com/

Unfortunately, this designer does almost all of the restaurants in Ventura.

[DanaB]

What's wrong with that one? It seems basic and straightforward when I click on the link. (I don't have sound on my work computer, so if that's the problem, I can't hear it.)

[pescatarian]

Seems a bit too much, too complicated to me, although the information is there, so I wouldn't say it's the worst example. People are used to getting their information in a quick and concise manner these days and that is not an example of concise.

[Robert Lauriston]

Overdesigned and too many clicks, but you can find what you want quickly, and none of the basic info requires Flash.

[reality check]

The first page is fine, though the font colors and background could be improved. I don't see the menu, wine list being complicated.

[silverbear]

Things I want to see:

-- A phone number for reservations is okay, but online reservations via Open Table or a similar service are even better.
-- If the restaurant does not take reservations, or takes them only for large groups, that policy should be stated clearly on the Web site. Don't make me call just to learn that no reservations are taken.
-- Daily specials. Since many fine restaurants print their menus each day based on what is fresh, it might not be that hard to create a template into which that day's menu might be uploaded.

Things I don't want to see (or hear):

-- As suggested above, splash screens with fancy graphics and thumping music are not helpful. They take the emphasis away from the food and delay my quest for information.

[Robert Lauriston]

Must have:
hours & days
address
phone

Nice to have:
current or sample menu
wine list
photos of interior and/or food
chef bio
events calendar
online reservations
email address

Should not have:
animation
music
information in other than HTML or PDF format
email address nobody ever checks

Might kill any desire to patronize:
can't get past front door without Flash player

Example of what not to do:

http://www.pizzetta211.com

[Karl S]

I fully agree.

Absolutely hideous example; they should get a refund from the designer of their site.

[Snackish]

After seeing that, I would never go to the restaurant.

[Robert Lauriston]

The pizza's actually very good. If I lived in that neighborhood I'd eat there all the time.

[marmite]

Seconded! Hachi machi. That was terrible.

[Morton the Mousse]

Wow! That must be the worst restaurant website in the entire Bay Area. Did the owner's 10 year old build it?

Only thing I'd add to your list is that it's nice to have a non-wine beverage list. Drives me nuts when I can download a 10 page PDF wine list but I can't even find mention of whether or not they serve beer.
Also, menus posted without prices are a huge turnoff for me, as if they're trying to hide something. I understand prices may fluctuate, but is it that hard to periodically update the online menu?

[Robert Lauriston]

Some restaurant owners hire somebody to set up their Web site as a one-off deal, and never update it. In such cases, I'd rather have no prices than get there and find out they've gone up a lot.

[MMRuth]

I have to confess - I kind of like it - it gives me the sense that it might be a fun, family run place that doesn't take itself too seriously. Reminds me a bit of the site of an inn on the North Fork of Long Island opened recently by ex-Gramercy Tavern people. In various parts of the website they have stock photos - but with amusing commentary on such photos. But maybe I have an odd sense of humor.

[Bob Martinez]

That Pizzetta website is the most cloyingly precious thing I've seen all year. Nothing but a love letter to themselves. Gack.

[Das Ubergeek]

Please tell me there's something else besides the obvious there.

I could have built that website in two minutes -- 33 linked IMG tags on a while background? I hope to God they didn't pay for it.

[Chew on That]

Well said! But I think a menu is also a must have, not a "nice to have" unless the menu changes daily or is seasonal or something.

[Karl S]

Dash the Flash.

Extirpate it.

It is sooooo lame for what people want to view a restaurant site for.

[ipsedixit]

This is so so so so so true.

[pescatarian]

What I don't like to see is the opening that flashes and that tells you that you can skip if you want, I'd rather just get to the info. I don't like when they don't have menus or when they only have the take-out menu available on-line.