Pat Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 That's very odd and funny. Just a really bad translation? Very funny. I'd guess someone must have translated/interpreted "people you have with you" as something like "people you are holding." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'll erase this post at some point, but for now, I can't resist poking fun at their nascent website, which is obviously nothing more than a template. Click and have a chuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoramargolis Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Anytown...that must be the Bethesda nabe where the poor folks live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I love the menu. The onion soup costs more than the lobster bisque. They have "Hours d' Ouevres". All "entrees" include a choice of soup or salad, which is so typical of upscale French restaurants. And the most expensive main dish, by far, is ratatouille. I need to find a map that shows me where this Anytown place is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Landrum Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I need to find a map that shows me where this Anytown place is! You may want to start in the state of "AA"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyJohn Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I'd rather avoid AA if I'm dining here. I didn't know that salade Cesar was a classic French bistro dish, did you? Also I'm glad the menu has won awards, wonder, though, about the food. Someone has a good parodying mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunnyJohn Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Note the green text scrolling across the top: http://www.pollointi.com/ Dead link now. Says account for Pollointi suspended. Damn, I missed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Again, restaurant economics - we can't keep paying our website designer to update our menus because they change DAILY I can't help but point out here that the utterly fabulous St John and its sister restaurant St John Bread and Wine both update their online menus for lunch and dinner every day, without fail; granted, their website's pretty minimalist, but if you're printing the menus out in house it's a very short step from that to uploading that same file with the day's menus, and your web designer should be able to set that up for you very easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 I can't help but point out here that the utterly fabulous St John and its sister restaurant St John Bread and Wine both update their online menus for lunch and dinner every day, without fail; granted, their website's pretty minimalist, but if you're printing the menus out in house it's a very short step from that to uploading that same file with the day's menus, and your web designer should be able to set that up for you very easily. I think "minimalist" should be the rule of thumb for every restaurant website. I don't need music, photos of the dining room, and for heaven's sake no Flash! Hours, address, phone number, directions, and menu. St. John does it exactly right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 I think "minimalist" should be the rule of thumb for every restaurant website. I don't need music, photos of the dining room, and for heaven's sake no Flash! Hours, address, phone number, directions, and menu. St. John does it exactly right. And I will add (viscerally, after being up since 4 AM grooming the slopes here) that minimalism - especially when you update things daily - does not equate to laziness. It's very hard to make things look easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthitch Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 I think "minimalist" should be the rule of thumb for every restaurant website. I don't need music, photos of the dining room, and for heaven's sake no Flash! Hours, address, phone number, directions, and menu. St. John does it exactly right. Is it too much to ask that restaurants put the hours, address, and phone number on each page? Or if that is too difficult how about the homepage? I am sick of having to hunt down this information, sometimes it feels like a restaurant believes this as being ancillary to telling us how wonderfully hip and ecological* they are. *not pointing to any restaurant specifically just at general negative trends in restaurant website design Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Imagine this with "restaurant" instead of "university". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungry prof Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I think I almost just got seasick (ok--I exaggerate, but you get my point) on the website for Taylor Gourmet. Found what I needed, but is so much "motion" really necessary (but, that said, kudos for having a flash-free site to which my iphone automatically redirects)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poivrot Farci Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 In the flavor of "Ciel mon mari! Sky, my husband!" Restaurant Chanteclerc proposes a deliciously romantic marvel of distinctively literal menu wordsmith failure.Restaurant Chanteclerc menu. -half way down (demi chemin en bas)Salade de crottin de chévre chaud lardéeSalad of dung of warm goat lardedCarpaccio de saumon fumé aux billes rosesCarpaccio of salmon smoked in the pink ballsTartare de boeuf et frites maisonTartar of beef and fried houseCôe de boeuf grilleéGrilled official list of ox...Crème BruléeBrulée cream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoramargolis Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 In the flavor of “Ciel mon mari! Sky, my husband!” Restaurant Chanteclerc proposes a deliciously romantic marvel of distinctively literal menu wordsmith failure. Restaurant Chanteclerc menu. -half way down (demi chemin en bas) Salade de crottin de chèvre chaud lardée Salad of dung of warm goat larded Carpaccio de saumon fumé aux billes roses Carpaccio of salmon smoked in the pink balls Tartare de boeuf et frites maison Tartar of beef and fried house Côte de boeuf grille… Grilled official list of ox... Crème Brulée Brulée cream gee, "whim of foie gras house and its jam of fig toasté" sounds awfully good, too. and let's give them some credit for correctly using its instead of it's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertyy Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Never Said About Restaurant Websites: "Why would anyone want to skip this intro? I think I'll watch it again." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monavano Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 The redo on Rice and Noodle's website has got to get an award for the most nausea-inducing website out there. Once you click onto a menu category, the category contents come up and scroll up the page over and over and over. It's so bad, it's funny. http://www.riceandnoodlesthai.com/noodles_dishes.html Make it stop!!!! That said, I'm looking forward to their Yum Woon Sen and Penang tonight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirite Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 The redo on Rice and Noodle's website has got to get an award for the most nausea-inducing website out there. Once you click onto a menu category, the category contents come up and scroll up the page over and over and over. It's so bad, it's funny. http://www.riceandnoodlesthai.com/noodles_dishes.html Make it stop!!!! That said, I'm looking forward to their Yum Woon Sen and Penang tonight... You want ugly? Try the Extra Virgin site. Its bilious green background inrtoduces you to its pretty bilious food. Went there two Saturday nights ago only to hear jazz and was assured that our seating would provide perfect acoustics. Well, the acoustics were great for listening to the neighboring table chat, but the jazz was inaudible. Neverteless, the place was packed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajcaj Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Saw this linked on the Washingtonian site.. Funny because it's true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jparrott Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Props for something basic about [bibiana's] website which annoys me with many others. They have their menus integrated with the site/coded in. So you don't have to wait to launch at attached PDF file. Cool. Easier. As long as it's up-to-date. Not using PDFs may make it too time-consuming for some restaurants to update menus consistently. Though this is clearly more of an issue for wine lists. And I would argue that having an updated wine list on your site is even more important than an updated menu. If I know a restaurant's concept and cuisine approach, I can at least have a decent guess what they might be serving (of course, I don't have dietary restrictions that would make seeing an exact menu more important). But wine selections and markups are ALL OVER THE PLACE, with seeming no relationship to restaurant approach or menu or food pricing model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcs Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does anyone else get dizzy when navigating the Taylor website? Really, I have a physical reaction to this website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexC Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does anyone else get dizzy when navigating the Taylor website? Really, I have a physical reaction to this website. My physical reaction is pointing my browser to menupages.com. McSweeney's nails this horrible unnavigable restaurant website phenomenon: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2011/1/10lacher.html On a related note, gotta love that Medium Rare website. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leleboo Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 My physical reaction is pointing my browser to menupages.com. McSweeney's nails this horrible unnavigable restaurant website phenomenon: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2011/1/10lacher.html On a related note, gotta love that Medium Rare website. Alex {These posts may move to the Restaurant Website thread, where the McSweeney's post was already linked -- and Taylor Gourmet is namechecked -- but in the meantime, The Oatmeal pretty much nails it.} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Oh dear *&%^%'ing expletive deleted NSFW http://www.justines1937.com/index.php# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrXmus Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Oh dear *&%^%'ing expletive deleted NSFW http://www.justines1937.com/index.php# Hmm...this is taking a while to load Awww...it's like an old-time movie Hey, are those naked girls? What's wrong with that? No, they have underwear on. Oh, my...they no longer have underwear on. Hey! What are you doing to that one in the middle? ldskjfdlkfjoewirwenfksdgnoguokfnosdifjofn Sorry, that was the seizure induced by the strobe effect. Maybe I'll eat somewhere else tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Why are restaurant websites awful? (The other partner in the branding/design company Love and War is a family member, FWIW ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waitman Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Best restaurant website ever. Make sure you have your sound on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMango Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Best restaurant website ever. Make sure you have your sound on. That's it! I've been searching for a sing-a-long candidate for the next DR picnic. (i'm) (so) (there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol_ironstomach Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Best restaurant website ever. Make sure you have your sound on. Waitman is right...it's super. Save the mp3. Although at first, I heard the last two words ("...and bakery") as "and bacon". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanMike Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Best restaurant website ever. Make sure you have your sound on. I have never wanted to eat somewhere so much just based off their website. I MUST GO THERE. (Not that I probably will as I am very lazy.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Lat night, I was given a choice of about 8 restaurants for lunch today - places such as Proof, Vidalia, Rasika, J&G, etc. I decided to check out all the menus before deciding. I wasn't able to get onto at least half of the websites due to flash requirements that my iPad cannot meet (and I no longer have a computer at home). Thus, I eliminated those restaurants from consideration. C'mon restauranteurs, simplify your websites! I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but maybe if they hear it enough, they'll realize the error of their ways.A. Tom Sietsema :Catch that restaurateurs? Your sites may be driving traffic from, not to, your dining rooms. I have an iPad and I run across all kinds of websites that I can't view; however, I don't blame the web-site designer. I blame Apple. The next tablet I buy probably won't be an Apple unless they start running flash. Contrary to the chatter, I don't believe everyone should cater to what I bought. If I was Tom I would've told the chatter if he/she is going to only have 1 computing device, that device should run flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.A.R. Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Didn't I read around the time Steve Jobs died that Macromedia was phasing out Flash because it was a poor design, just as the great oracle predicted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtureck Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I have an iPad and I run across all kinds of websites that I can't view; however, I don't blame the web-site designer. I blame Apple. The next tablet I buy probably won't be an Apple unless they start running flash. Contrary to the chatter, I don't believe everyone should cater to what I bought. If I was Tom I would've told the chatter if he/she is going to only have 1 computing device, that device should run flash. Look, you can blame Apple all you want, but it's simply a bad business decision for a company to have a website that can't be viewed on the most popular mobile devices. I'd like the option to run Flash on my iPad/iPhone, but it's never going to happen. I don't blame the website designer...all they care about is making the client happy, and a lot of them love bells and whistles...probably not understanding that the bells ans whistles makes the site unusable to many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Look, you can blame Apple all you want, but it's simply a bad business decision for a company to have a website that can't be viewed on the most popular mobile devices. I'd like the option to run Flash on my iPad/iPhone, but it's never going to happen. I don't blame the website designer...all they care about is making the client happy, and a lot of them love bells and whistles...probably not understanding that the bells ans whistles makes the site unusable to many people. I'm not really blaming Apple. I know full well that the iPad doesn't run flash when I bought another iPad. I just like to tell whiners to STFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 What I don't understand is why restaurants don't design a simple site with basic information that anyone can access that also functions as a portal to a fancier site. If they really want people to a see slideshow of their gorgeous interior and signature dishes with accompanying music, that can be done but doesn't have to be the first thing people encounter. The closest to this are the sites that have a main screen with flash/non-flash options, but I don't think they usually have all of the basics on that first page (address, phone, hours, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 What I don't understand is why restaurants don't design a simple site with basic information that anyone can access that also functions as a portal to a fancier site. If they really want people to a see slideshow of their gorgeous interior and signature dishes with accompanying music, that can be done but doesn't have to be the first thing people encounter. The closest to this are the sites that have a main screen with flash/non-flash options, but I don't think they usually have all of the basics on that first page (address, phone, hours, etc.). Because the website designers are playing right into the owners' outsized egos and/or blazing naiveté. It's not a conspiracy; it's more of a "Hey, if you've got the pockets to pay $15,000 (when you could pay $2,000 and get a better, more effective product), I'll be more than happy to indulge you (in building your gaudy monument to yourself)" type of thing. Have you ever driven past a graveyard, and seen the 12-foot-high obelisks towering over the small tombstones? Same mentality. 10,000 square foot house with iambic columns squeezed onto a 1/4-acre lot? Check. It's their moment to shine, and shine they do ... just like rhinestone cowboys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedE Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 What I don't understand is why restaurants don't design a simple site with basic information that anyone can access that also functions as a portal to a fancier site. If they really want people to a see slideshow of their gorgeous interior and signature dishes with accompanying music, that can be done but doesn't have to be the first thing people encounter. The closest to this are the sites that have a main screen with flash/non-flash options, but I don't think they usually have all of the basics on that first page (address, phone, hours, etc.). This is where the site designers are letting owners down. There is no reason in this day and age not to toggle site options or redirect to a mobile version based on browser identity. Unless you are one of the 00.001% of iDevice owners who have changed the identity that Safari broadcasts when it requests a page you can have the site display an optimized version instead of the "full" version. It's a relatively simple thing to do. And, hey, the developers can charge more for making that happen! Win-win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertyy Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Go here, click on "I am under 21," sound on. Thank you, you fine, fine brewers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungry prof Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Having lunch today at BlackSalt, so I went to check out their current menu on their website on my iPhone. To my pleasant surprise, BlackSalt now has a great mobile website. Simply formatted. Basic information readily available. Quite simply a model mobile website for a restaurant. Maybe this has been around for a bit, but it's the first time I noticed (and BlackSalt's regular website used to be a real pain on a mobile device). Bravo, BlackSalt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Open Table and Single Platform now have products that convert your website into a clean, simple and very boring website. I use Single Platfor as it gets my menu on Google Places and Facebook. Open Table's product is free. I was late in getting a mobile site so I can now smugly say any restaurant that doesn't have one is foolish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrXmus Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Go here, click on "I am under 21," sound on. Thank you, you fine, fine brewers. Just thought I'd bump this. Fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Being relatively new to DR.com and in that I spend a lot of my time optimizing local businesses for higher ranking in search I just found this thread and read through from the beginning. Interesting, to me, for several reasons: A lot of the comments from 2005 and 2006 were spot on. All those restaurant web sites with music and flash that were frankly lousy with giving the most pertinent information such as address, phone number, menu, prices, reservations, parking, etc. I clicked on a lot of those website links. Many are no longer around. (hmmmmmmm) (It wasn't just the websites why those restaurants have closed) In 2005/06/07 I worked with noted busy web designers that were doing multiple restaurant sites. All flash and fancy. Little substance. I was alternatively focusing on trying to get high search engine rankings for smb's that wanted to be found for effective business phrases via search engines. Flash and noise and slick intro pages with no substance always hampered that. Today is different. First of all mobile is highly important, more easily accessible, easier to effect design, has apps and simpler tools that allow restaurants to get updates on the site on a daily basis. Hopefully most (but not all) restaurants have rid themselves from the dizzying array of flash sounds and color that distracted from basic and relevant information. (I too had a hard time experiencing the Taylor website). I went back and looked at some club websites as opposed to restaurant sites. 2 of the 3 I viewed still start off with music. But they are so different. Its really not about the food or even the quality of drinks...its about the experience. They are a different breed of animal. Hopefully for the restaurant sites they don't take the lead from the club sites. From a search perspective what is incredibly important is Google+ Local formerly google places/google maps....that responds to enormous high volume search phrases for regional restaurants, sea food restaurants, italian restaurants, deli's, American food, etc etc etc. Like so many others here, as a user...what I want is info. Give me your address, phone number, a way to make reservations. Tell me if there is parking...and above all give me the current menu with current prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Give me your hours! This is the single piece of information I most often find either buried in an unlikely place or not included on a restaurant website at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundae in the Park Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Give me your hours! This is the single piece of information I most often find either buried in an unlikely place or not included on a restaurant website at all. Yes, and please post if you're going to be closed during your normal business hours! If I don't check and am disappointed when I show up wanting to be fed, that's on me, but if I checked and there was no notice, that leads to RAGE. If it was an emergency, post an explanation afterwards, even when you reopen. It will make a difference to me, really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkstar965 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Related to the 'opportunities' that still very much exist with restaurant websites and mobile, but broadening just slightly to website outreach/email. If you're going to promote some kind of special event at your bar, club or restaurant, don't force anyone interested to raise a hand with credit card only by email (without also allowing phone and without some kind of online booking functionality) and then under-staff the email responder(s.) Not that I'm thinking of anyone in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenticket Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Give me your hours! This is the single piece of information I most often find either buried in an unlikely place or not included on a restaurant website at all. And if you do give your hours, make sure they're correct and not some future expectation of hours! Azur, I'm talking to you. It's incredibly frustrating to have taken the time to double-check on the website that a place is open, find this information: Hours Lunch M-F 11:30a-3p Bar M-F 3p-5p Dinner M-Th 5p-10:30p F-Sa 5p-11p Sun closed And then show up to be told they're closed on Monday. Even more frustrating when your time is limited due to a theatre/event start time. Found this on Twitter (this morning): Azur restaurant DC @AzurDC 2 Jun Reminder: we're closed for service tnight&Mon. Open on Tues, with our LUNCH service staring at 11.30am on Wed! Visit out website for details Great that they're on Twitter, but that doesn't really do any good for non-followers/non-Twitter users. Just another plea to keep your information updated, correct, and available on all of the outlets that potential diners might look to for that information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthitch Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I still do not understand why restaurants do not link their addresses to a map – even more frustrating is when the address is part of an image file so you cannot just highlight and copy it (Cizuka, I am looking in your direction). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cizuka Seki Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I still do not understand why restaurants do not link their addresses to a map – even more frustrating is when the address is part of an image file so you cannot just highlight and copy it (Cizuka, I am looking in your direction). helllooooo, i just saw this post. ok, map linking noted. we use a font that requires me to make pdfs that are then pasted into the hosting site. anyway, i didn't realize that you can't cut and paste it because you can highlight it....anyway, it's the fonts fault. i purchased it from a japanese font designer and it requires me to make pdfs of all the text before posting it on the site so that it'll be consistent in any browser, or whatever. all i know is that this seems to be the only way to apply the font. i use godaddy.com as the hosting site and their font selection is pathetic. just look at this font though! it's so cute! it's so ME! my handwriting looks like this when i try to write neatly. but i guess it's not practical so i might need to change it so that it's more user friendly :-( anyway, thank you for the comment. it is genuinely helpful and appreciated. i welcome more since i suck at this. my only real objective was to have a simple site with only necessary information and where the menu is not a fucking pdf/flash/pop up/musical/seizure-inducing disaster. we're a restaurant for god's sake! and that's the only thing i cared about when i put it together.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbogrrl Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 ok, map linking noted. we use a font that requires me to make pdfs that are then pasted into the hosting site. anyway, i didn't realize that you can't cut and paste it because you can highlight it....anyway, it's the fonts fault. just look at this font though! it's so cute! it's so ME! my handwriting looks like this when i try to write neatly. but i guess it's not practical so i might need to change it so that it's more user friendly :-( An easy alternative to changing the look of the front page is to make the image for the address a link to a simple page that has just a map and the address and phone number in plain text. That keeps the main page clean and pretty, and provides the accessibility that people on phones are looking for ;-) You *could* add a Directions heading (in addition to reservations/menus/photos), for people that don't intuitively click on addresses, but that would require delicate rearrangement of your page. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthitch Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 helllooooo, i just saw this post. ... anyway, thank you for the comment. it is genuinely helpful and appreciated. i welcome more since i suck at this. my only real objective was to have a simple site with only necessary information and where the menu is not a fucking pdf/flash/pop up/musical/seizure-inducing disaster. we're a restaurant for god's sake! and that's the only thing i cared about when i put it together.... With the exception of the address issue, I really like your site - I am a great believer that simple is best. To link on the JPEG all you need to do is add the following: <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/hH9fq"><p align="center"><img border="0" src="izakaya_address.jpg"></p></a> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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