This conversation warms my heart. I believe most restaurant websites are a disaster. Especially European restaurant websites. Those people love their flash.
I think part of the problem is one of perspective: what is a great webpage from the POV of the restaurateur is not from the POV of a customer. A restaurateur wants something that sells the fantasy, something design-y and stylish, something that tells the story. I think that is why flash and music and crazy animations and tons of photos are so popular.
Plus these aren't people who sit in front of computers all day. My impression, and I might be off base, is that restaurants were a little later to the game of websites. At least, they didn't jump on the bandwagon until after other industries that are more office-y and where work consists of using a computer and the internet daily. They are coming at it from a different perspective.
As a customer, you want basic information. Where are you? What is your phone number? A footer is ideal for this kind of thing. More: Do you take reservations? What time are you open? When do you stop service? Beyond that I might want to know: Are you near the metro? Do you have parking? Do you have vegetarian options? Do you cater? Do you have a party room? And I don't want to work that hard to find the answers. A FAQ can be great for answering questions like these.
We recently redid Cafe Atlantico's website replacing the flash beast with an HTML page (with some flash elements.) I think (I hope) we succeeded in addressing many of your needs and criticisms. I'd love to hear what you think. The lovely thing about a webpage: always a work in progress.
www.cafeatlantico.com