Restraunt Ideas Needed!

willstein · #1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 05:05 PM

Hey all Web Designers!

Tomorrow night I go to an appointment with a restaurant about their website.

I'm looking for a few creative ideas from people that have built websites for restaurants.

I'm sure I can land the deal if I throw in some creative ideas that they haven't heard of before.

One idea I'm going to offer is to have their entire menu on the website, and people can order from the site at home, and it will print out in the restaurant so that when they get there it will be entirely prepared for them.

Has anyone ever built a website for a restaurant? Does anyone out there have any suggestions/creative ideas for me?

Thanks!

cyanide · #2 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 05:34 PM

Ooooh, restaurant.

Well, I don't have any ideas at the moment - brain is a little bit tapped
I haven't done a site for a restaurant, yet, but have done a few for chefs.
Being an ex-chef, maybe I can give you some tips.

First, what kind of restaurant?
Fast-food, Tavern/Bar, 5-star fine dining?

Business is business, if you land the deal, be sure you get a good chunk up front and if there's billing involved, keep them on a short leash.
Restaurants are notorious for paying their bills late. If you're not familiar with them, you may want to tak a stroll over during lunch or dinner rush.
If they're empty on a Friday night, then you have an idea of what you're in for.
What you have suggested is good, but be aware, ordering food from a restaurant isn't like ordering a pizza. Lots of variables. People's tastes, allergies, menu customization, well done, medium, rare, etc. You'll need to have options in there.

Computers are pretty common in restaurants these days, but it doesn't mean the staff are computer/web savvy. Are they going to remember to check their email and fax regularly. If the restaurant is busy, will they be able to handle orders coming in during the 'rush' ?? You may have to set certain times for ordering.

Also, this system you're suggesting, once the customer orders on the web, are they picking it up or sitting down ? If they're sitting down, what happens if they're late. I get pretty cranky if I have to heat anything up. Not too mention any food that is re-heated may not turn out as good.

Remember also that dealing with a restaurant is very much different than a mon-fri 9-5 office. Most run 7 days, 18 hours per day. What happens when the ordering system fails at 10pm ??

Feel free to ask more questions

willstein · #3 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 06:20 PM

Well the restraunt is a Greek Restaurant.

I'm meeting with him before the restaurant opens. And it's half upfront, and half when it's finished.
It's a busy restaurant. I know that.

Now as for the system - I haven't exactly figured out how I would do it, but here's a real simple way that I thought of. Tell me what you think.

When the customer orders, it simple sends an email with all the variables that they requested.

Their computers will have some proggy on it to automatically print an email when it comes to a certain address. (created and installed by me)

Maybe some sound could go off also letting the restaurant know that the order has gone through.

Any better ideas than this?

Also thanks for the help.

jdiben · #4 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 06:55 PM

One suggestion about that system is that you should find some way to verify that the order is legit. I think that the owner would get a little upset if they started cooking food for a bunch of online orders that never showed up during the friday night rush. I wouldnt mention the idea to them until you are absolutly sure that you've got the system down. Or at least if you mention it let them know that it is just an idea and you need time to research to see if it is feasible. Don't commit yourself to it until you are certain it will work.

Joe

spice · #5 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 07:07 PM

While that sounds like an interesting idea, experience shows that it's not necessarily worth your time. People have shown to be notoriously unpredictable when it comes to food and websites, and it makes sense when you think about it. Think of all the online grocers, delivery services, chef services and such that have failed.

So think about reversing your position on this issue: you're asking how it could be done and how it would work, when really what you need to ask is "will people use it?" It's fine to pitch it to the owner, and with bread-and-butter businesses you'll run into two kinds of owners: those who don't want their way of business challenged, and those who are in love with technology to the point of excess. If he's the first, your idea's shot down within a second, don't worry about it. The last thing you want to be doing is providing support for a product that they are ever more likely to misunderstand, resent, or break. If he's the second, always phrase it tentatively. A "what if," not a "this is how we'll do it."

Most people will only look at a restaurant website for two reasons: A) pure information. Hours, address, phone number, price range. B) marketing. They want to know what the atmosphere of the place is like, what sort of people hang out there, they want high-quality pictures. Honestly, food barely enters into it. It's good to have the full menu up there, if nothing else, but I really don't know anyone who looks at them.

Sell the mood, the look, the idea of the place ("sophisticated romance", "friday night hangout", "cool dive", whatever it may be). Glitz is everything, get a good photographer straight away. Amateur photos will shoot #2 in the foot right away. And once the site is up, you can put up a poll and ask the visitors if this online ordering system is something they'd use. Go into the physical restaurant yourself and ask the customers. But please gather the data before you commit to making it happen.

matauri · #6 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 11:03 PM

Yes, you would have to look at their staffing to see if they could handle online orders for one. I had a restraunt in the hotel I owned and the staff in there barely had time to answer the phone for reservations. So you would have to see if they have a dedicated receptionist to handle that side of things.

You would also have to have it so that the restraunt confirmed the order once it was taken, not just a program. If you are using email as your client, some busy businesses will still use auto email popup on messages, therefore it would probably register as a confirmation, when in fact someone hasnt seen the order yet. What a pain to have an order for a group that ws confirmed, when the order hadnt really been issued yet.

Payment options for orders would have to be in the form of a credit card, so you didnt have bogus orders.

The concept is great IMO. I would love to order food online from a restraunt. Its an avenue that hasnt been tapped into yet here, and it missed the boom when it did happen. So we have no success or failure rate with it where I am.

You would also have to look at changing menus, specialities of the day, etc, etc. Some foods are seasonal. Having orders online could well be a bonus to you, because of the maintenance factor, but you would have to highlight this to your client too. Maintenance would be high.

Good luck tho!

Cindy

redcircle · #7 (**permalink**) 01-21-2004, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matauri

Yes, you would have to look at their staffing to see if they could handle online orders for one. I had a restraunt in the hotel I owned and the staff in there barely had time to answer the phone for reservations. So you would have to see if they have a dedicated receptionist to handle that side of things.

You would also have to have it so that the restraunt confirmed the order once it was taken, not just a program. If you are using email as your client, some busy businesses will still use auto email popup on messages, therefore it would probably register as a confirmation, when in fact someone hasnt seen the order yet. What a pain to have an order for a group that ws confirmed, when the order hadnt really been issued yet.

Payment options for orders would have to be in the form of a credit card, so you didnt have bogus orders.

The concept is great IMO. I would love to order food online from a restraunt. Its an avenue that hasnt been tapped into yet here, and it missed the boom when it did happen. So we have no success or failure rate with it where I am.

You would also have to look at changing menus, specialities of the day, etc, etc. Some foods are seasonal. Having orders online could well be a bonus to you, because of the maintenance factor, but you would have to highlight this to your client too. Maintenance would be high.

Good luck tho!

Cindy

Here I can order papa john's and have it delivered without talking to anyone. I love it. www.papajohns.com to get an idea on what works.

When I worked for best buy we would receive orders from the interent and people would come and pick them up at the store. The process they used was to have the online store page a pager to let us know to grab the product off the shelf. That might be something to look into .. I know in this area you can't buy a pager anywhere so you make want to look into SMS text messaging or something of that sort.

willstein · #8 (**permalink**) 01-22-2004, 10:09 PM

Hey these are some great ideas.
thanks!

willstein · #9 (**permalink**) 01-25-2004, 12:53 AM

OK Great, so I landed the deal.

Anyone know the best way to create the online order system that will go straight to his printer?

He understood the loss, but liked it anyway.

jdiben · #10 (**permalink**) 01-25-2004, 09:57 AM

Try Mail Alert. You can set it to check your email up to every minute and you can set it to print the email and play a sound. I use it with a cable connection and it works great. It probably works with dial-up also. It's not free, but its worth the $15 that they charge.

Joe