View Full Version : The End of physical menus?



Edmond Hausfrau
09-23-2020, 12:46 PM
Seems like most restaurants ditched their menus in the early days of Covid, due to concerns about transmission and having to sanitize the menus. Lots of places in other states now just have QR code on table or have link to the online menu.
Even though the surface transmission of Covid was likely less than originally thought, I am hopeful that the physical menus never return. They were still pretty grimy in most places, and just seemed like a big waste of space.
I'm curious if any local restaurants or bars have decided to give menus the ole heave-ho permanently?

KTB
09-23-2020, 12:53 PM
The only place I've been to in the last few months that only had a QR code is Uncle Julio's. Most other restaurants have had a regular menu or a simple disposable paper menu.

Bill Robertson
09-23-2020, 12:53 PM
I could see positives to having online menus. Updates and changes of individual items for instance could be done without having to print and distribute entire menus.

HangryHippo
09-23-2020, 12:54 PM
I hope so. They’re unnecessary.

jerrywall
09-23-2020, 01:06 PM
I prefer a physical menu. I don't always bring my phone in with me when I go to a restaurant to eat (we prefer to have no phone temptation at the table). Even if I did, having to navigate a menu on an app or a web page (and a special boo for any place that does make you install an app to be their customer) is much more difficult that looking at a physical menu. Also? There are a lot of people without smart phones, as hard as that is to believe... and it's not always a financial decision.

Disposable menus are a fine option, or if menus are laminated they can be cleaned between uses.

Pete
09-23-2020, 01:08 PM
They are very wasteful and pretty gross if you think about it...

But a ton of older patrons are never going to be able to get with the QR code thing.

TheTravellers
09-23-2020, 01:10 PM
I prefer a physical menu. I don't always bring my phone in with me when I go to a restaurant to eat (we prefer to have no phone temptation at the table). Even if I did, having to navigate a menu on an app or a web page (and a special boo for any place that does make you install an app to be their customer) is much more difficult that looking at a physical menu. Also? There are a lot of people without smart phones, as hard as that is to believe... and it's not always a financial decision.

Disposable menus are a fine option, or if menus are laminated they can be cleaned between uses.

Seconded, I don't want to have to screw with my phone to see the menu, and there are actually people out there that don't have a smartphone or cell phone at all (pretty small number, though, I'm guessing, and not sure they'd be eating out at restaurants anyway).

sooner88
09-23-2020, 01:22 PM
The only place I've been to in the last few months that only had a QR code is Uncle Julio's. Most other restaurants have had a regular menu or a simple disposable paper menu.

There are a few places off the top of my head that I've been to in the last few that had QR codes only: The Jones Assembly, Scratch, and I want to say OSO... there are a few more that are slipping my mind.

Pete
09-23-2020, 01:23 PM
It really makes a lot of sense for counter-service places.

Go sit down and place your order, rather than standing in a line.

Jersey Boss
09-23-2020, 01:25 PM
I prefer a physical menu. I don't always bring my phone in with me when I go to a restaurant to eat (we prefer to have no phone temptation at the table). Even if I did, having to navigate a menu on an app or a web page (and a special boo for any place that does make you install an app to be their customer) is much more difficult that looking at a physical menu. Also? There are a lot of people without smart phones, as hard as that is to believe... and it's not always a financial decision.

Disposable menus are a fine option, or if menus are laminated they can be cleaned between uses.

Agreed. Plus paper is recyclable and it's not like there is a pulp shortage.

MadMonk
09-23-2020, 02:13 PM
Chalk had the QR codes on the table when I was there a couple weeks ago. Works better than trying to catch what you want on their big TV screens as they cycled through the menu pages. They did offer an option for throwaway paper menus if we didn't opt for the QR scan method.

5alive
09-23-2020, 03:37 PM
Oso menu is online.

oklip955
09-24-2020, 01:34 PM
w
What is a QR code? sorry i guess i will be one who does not know when I return to eating out. I am one who leaves my phone at home.

Bill Robertson
09-24-2020, 01:39 PM
w
What is a QR code? sorry i guess i will be one who does not know when I return to eating out. I am one who leaves my phone at home.

The little square box thing with a mix of black and white dots you see on a lot of stuff lately.

16474

oklip955
09-24-2020, 01:45 PM
ok then what so you do with it?

Bill Robertson
09-24-2020, 01:58 PM
ok then what so you do with it?

You download a QR reader app on your smartphone then use it to read the code which will open up their menu on a web page.

Pete
09-24-2020, 02:00 PM
With most phones, you just open your camera and hover over the code and it will then provide a link to follow for the menu.

jerrywall
09-24-2020, 02:07 PM
The little square box thing with a mix of black and white dots you see on a lot of stuff lately.

You missed out on a great opportunity to use this one... :D

16475

Bill Robertson
09-24-2020, 02:10 PM
You missed out on a great opportunity to use this one... :D

16475
I just used the first one that came up on a search. I don't even know what it was. :rolleyes:

oklip955
09-24-2020, 03:53 PM
Thanks for explaining this to me.

Richard at Remax
09-24-2020, 04:23 PM
I was in Las Vegas this past week and every place had them. I totally understand why they do it but I couldn't help that it felt cheapen the experience, especially at the really nice places. Nothing like everything laid out in front of you instead of scrolling. I'm probably in the minority though :)

Pete
09-24-2020, 04:25 PM
Just one of those things we'll have to get used to.

If you think about handling a menu, it's pretty disgusting no matter how they clean them.

TheTravellers
09-24-2020, 04:36 PM
Just one of those things we'll have to get used to.

If you think about handling a menu, it's pretty disgusting no matter how they clean them.

But also most likely lower risk for catching COVID-19 than actually sitting eating/drinking/talking in a restaurant during a meal since fomite transmission isn't as easy as once thought.

Pete
09-24-2020, 04:38 PM
But also most likely lower risk for catching COVID-19 than actually sitting eating/drinking/talking in a restaurant during a meal since fomite transmission isn't as easy as once thought.

I meant disgusting in general, not just in terms of Covid.

TheTravellers
09-24-2020, 04:44 PM
I meant disgusting in general, not just in terms of Covid.

Yeah, true, but in general, our immune systems can handle that. Just think about all the door handles you touch, the people that you have no idea if they've washed their hands after using the restroom and touch those door handles, your phone, keypads at ATMs, etc. Those kind of germs are all around us every day, but not too bothersome for the great majority of people (counting the minutes until somebody says it's the same for the coronavirus :)).

Pete
09-24-2020, 04:48 PM
Trust me, I am very careful about restroom door handles.

Ward
09-24-2020, 05:23 PM
I enjoyed lunch at Uncle Julio's today. The waitress brought out paper menus to us instead of the traditional menus. That was fine.

The other thing interesting was when she brought the check out, it was actually some sort of electronic gizmo in a nice folding case. We were instructed to take our time, insert our credit card in the gizmo and pay out bill. That's also how we added the tip. Signed our name with finger on the gizmo screen.

The awesome thing was our credit card never left our possession. I thought that was super, I've always wondered what could happen when someone takes your card with them to another part of the building to swipe it and create the slip you sign. I know "skimmers" are used in places to scan your card when it's out of your physical possession.

My card was recently hacked, within 10 minutes it was used 5 times in Europe, some sort of European based e-commerce. 3 were declined, 2 were approved. It was a real pain in the ass to deal with the credit card company, blah blah blah and etc etc etc. Just an ordeal to mess with, but it had to be done. Screw these thieving bastards!

So yeah, now I'm a big fan of a disposable menu and the electronic gizmo, whatever it's actually called, my credit card never leaves my hand.

And oh, by the way, the waitress told us we could keep the paper menu if we wished. I kept mine for perusing over later to see what I might want to order as takeout.
.

catch22
09-24-2020, 05:28 PM
if this is the future then, Restaurants will need to seriously invest in their mobile websites. I often find mobile websites incredibly half-assed, dysfunctional, and painful to navigate. A few weeks ago I was in a restaurant and used the QR code and found their menu to be pretty small, but it was my first time in the establishment so I didn't think about it too much. Not seeing anything that sounded good, I settled on fish and chips. Usually my last choice as I am not really a seafood guy, even fried. While waiting for my food, the table next to me had several items which I didn't see at all on the menu. I opened their mobile site again to find that the other side of the menu required literally 3 fingers to force the iPhone to scroll over to see it. Two fingers to "pinch" the menu and the other to hold it in frame. I find this experience far too often with mobile websites of all kinds. I prefer a physical copy of the menu. Usually my browser on my phone is on something I am reading or doing, and flipping back and forth between a mobile menu and what I am reading or typing sucks.

TheTravellers
09-24-2020, 05:39 PM
Trust me, I am very careful about restroom door handles.

So am I, but every single other door handle those people touch before the nastiness "wears off" is still in play.....

TheTravellers
09-24-2020, 05:42 PM
if this is the future then, Restaurants will need to seriously invest in their mobile websites. I often find mobile websites incredibly half-assed, dysfunctional, and painful to navigate. A few weeks ago I was in a restaurant and used the QR code and found their menu to be pretty small, but it was my first time in the establishment so I didn't think about it too much. Not seeing anything that sounded good, I settled on fish and chips. Usually my last choice as I am not really a seafood guy, even fried. While waiting for my food, the table next to me had several items which I didn't see at all on the menu. I opened their mobile site again to find that the other side of the menu required literally 3 fingers to force the iPhone to scroll over to see it. Two fingers to "pinch" the menu and the other to hold it in frame. I find this experience far too often with mobile websites of all kinds. I prefer a physical copy of the menu. Usually my browser on my phone is on something I am reading or doing, and flipping back and forth between a mobile menu and what I am reading or typing sucks.

It's not just mobile websites, lots of restaurants don't even have normal websites, just Facebook pages, if even that. And some of the ones that do have websites/FB pages don't have menus or up-to-date ones.

Bill Robertson
09-24-2020, 05:52 PM
So am I, but every single other door handle those people touch before the nastiness "wears off" is still in play.....
I will probably always carry latex gloves in the car and use one to get gas from now on. My hip surgeon gives a long speech about never getting an infection and I got the speech twice in three weeks. I'm not going though an infection because that procedure is way worse than replacements. And while I've been very careful since my replacement surgeries this has convinced me to be one of those anal people that others look at funny.

Bill Robertson
09-24-2020, 05:54 PM
if this is the future then, Restaurants will need to seriously invest in their mobile websites. I often find mobile websites incredibly half-assed, dysfunctional, and painful to navigate. A few weeks ago I was in a restaurant and used the QR code and found their menu to be pretty small, but it was my first time in the establishment so I didn't think about it too much. Not seeing anything that sounded good, I settled on fish and chips. Usually my last choice as I am not really a seafood guy, even fried. While waiting for my food, the table next to me had several items which I didn't see at all on the menu. I opened their mobile site again to find that the other side of the menu required literally 3 fingers to force the iPhone to scroll over to see it. Two fingers to "pinch" the menu and the other to hold it in frame. I find this experience far too often with mobile websites of all kinds. I prefer a physical copy of the menu. Usually my browser on my phone is on something I am reading or doing, and flipping back and forth between a mobile menu and what I am reading or typing sucks.
True. There are lots of restaurants. Even major chains that have plenty of resources that have terrible web sites.

ctchandler
09-24-2020, 07:51 PM
Just one of those things we'll have to get used to.

If you think about handling a menu, it's pretty disgusting no matter how they clean them.

Pete,
The Hal Smith restaurants (at least the ones I have been to) have laminated menus and at Upper Crust they wash them in a dishwasher after each use. If you can drink their drinks, their menus shouldn't be a problem. I don't have a smart phone (by choice) and my eye sight would make it worthless anyway, so I need a menu. I'm a retired IT professional and am a computer guy for almost everything I do but I like a powerful desktop with a huge screen. A smartphone just doesn't work for me.
C. T.

Bunty
09-24-2020, 11:43 PM
Trust me, I am very careful about restroom door handles.

I'm glad at Mexico Joe's, Stillwater, that their restroom door can be easily opened with my foot when exiting it. I use it every time.

Bunty
09-24-2020, 11:47 PM
I can see using a smartphone, but would rather see a big, colorful, laminated restaurant menu that looks clean and not over used.

Edmond Hausfrau
09-25-2020, 11:21 AM
I can see using a smartphone, but would rather see a big, colorful, laminated restaurant menu that looks clean and not over used.

Good luck finding that. Hosts/hostesses generally in charge of keeping menus clean, and as a former hostesses I did a piss poor job and I don't think I was alone.
Personally I do like being able to research a restaurant menu in advance so the online menus help. I'm guessing paper option may hang on due to to-go orders, people without phones with cameras, etc.

Edmond Hausfrau
09-25-2020, 11:26 AM
I enjoyed lunch at Uncle Julio's today. The waitress brought out paper menus to us instead of the traditional menus. That was fine.

The other thing interesting was when she brought the check out, it was actually some sort of electronic gizmo in a nice folding case. We were instructed to take our time, insert our credit card in the gizmo and pay out bill. That's also how we added the tip. Signed our name with finger on the gizmo screen.

The awesome thing was our credit card never left our possession. I thought that was super, I've always wondered what could happen when someone takes your card with them to another part of the building to swipe it and create the slip you sign. I know "skimmers" are used in places to scan your card when it's out of your physical possession.

My card was recently hacked, within 10 minutes it was used 5 times in Europe, some sort of European based e-commerce. 3 were declined, 2 were approved. It was a real pain in the ass to deal with the credit card company, blah blah blah and etc etc etc. Just an ordeal to mess with, but it had to be done. Screw these thieving bastards!

So yeah, now I'm a big fan of a disposable menu and the electronic gizmo, whatever it's actually called, my credit card never leaves my hand.

And oh, by the way, the waitress told us we could keep the paper menu if we wished. I kept mine for perusing over later to see what I might want to order as takeout.
.

It's ironic that your hacked card was used to charge in Europe, because the mobile gizmo you liked has been de rigueur in Europe for at least 15 years. They had chip cards long before us.
I wish everyplace in the US used those.

Thomas Vu
09-25-2020, 05:14 PM
It's ironic that your hacked card was used to charge in Europe, because the mobile gizmo you liked has been de rigueur in Europe for at least 15 years. They had chip cards long before us.
I wish everyplace in the US used those.

I was going to say this! During my travels in europe, they all had mobile POS machines with chip/nfc

rte66man
09-27-2020, 07:49 PM
Brent's Cajun Cafe in Edmond uses the QR codes; however there was no way to magnify the page on my phone to make it legible. Had my brother try it on his Android. Same result. Had to ask for paper menus. I really don't want to have to use my phone for everything (I have bad arthritis and a fused thumb) but the world in general seems to be headed in that direction.