Is a website a value for a restaurant?

[Nicko]

Just today I received a phone call from a good friend of mine who is a chef. He is heading to New York very soon to give a talk on the Internet in regards to what the value it has to a restaurant. After getting off my soapbox and telling all of the many things a website can mean to a restaurant I also mentioned that this would be a good topic for the Cafe.

Having said that, how many of you have websites, and has been a good investment for you? In terms of being a good investment I mean has it brought you business, help to build lasting relationships with clientele, etc?

It will be really interesting to hear from everyone on this topic, I look forward to the replies.

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Thanks,

Nicko
nicko@cheftalk.com

I can't speak as anything other than a customer, but I love it when a restaurant has a website! It's really helpful to be able to see what's on the menu, and if you have dietary restrictions (lactose intolerance!), it's an opportunity to sort of mentally juggle options around.

[lynne]

From a hospitality/tourism point of view, I think a website is definitely worth it - if you are in a tourism based area. So many of our guests have already researched their "plan of attack" and know exactly what they want to see and where they want to go. Many of them plan their meals in to those schedules. I can't tell you how many times a guest has e-mailed asking for reccommendations for a great restaurant to celebrate their honeymoon, anniversary, whatever in. I can sit there and say my top 4 restaurants are A, B, C & D. Restaurants A and C have websites with menus at www.whatever.com. Restaurant B is an upscale restaurant with a very professional waitstaff and a traditional European cuisine, etc. 9 times out of 10 it's one of those 2 restaurants with a website that get the meal. And now that we've been open long enough to start getting that repeat business, those folks come back and eat at the same restaurant.

Also, for me as a host of a B&B, I also have a notebook with all the menus of the restaurants we reccomend. I pulled several off the net, easy to find, easy to reccomend.

For all of those that have control; please give hospitality professionals your menus--they do put them out and people do use them. It's hard to reccomend a great restaurant and have menus from bunches of others without a menu!

Thanks,

Lynne

Hi for the first time.

I don't work in a restaurant, I work for a onsite Caterer. Statistics indicate that more than 60% of people planning weddings use the internet to source products and services. Usually a meeting planners first look at a possible meeting site is a webpage.

Using a low tech solution we try to show off our best features.

We were able to recoup the cost involved with one wedding were the initial contact was through our website.
http://www.atyourservicehospitality.com/aysc/



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Timothy Banning
Editor
Society of Mad Chefs <A HREF="http://www.madchefs.com
Straddling" TARGET=_blank>http://www.madchefs.com
Straddling</A> the Paradox of Profit and Art-All Chefs Must be Mad

I not only research where I'd like to eat over the internet but I found my last TWO jobs via the World Wide Web before relocating. I think a decent web page is just as valuble a marketing tool (if not more so in this day and age) as your menu, a newspaper, radio, or television ad, or word of mouth. It enables you to reach your target market and project an image of professionalism, provided that your website is A.) easy to navigate and B.) informative and polished.

[cookM]

There's this pizza place that I really like in Berkeley. They only serve one type of pizza a day. I heard that they were thinking about building a website which might include a sign-up email where you can sent the flavor of the day everyday.
A friend of mine asked me about a website for her restaurant which changes their menu everyday. I asked my web design teacher if it was possible for the chef to post the menu everyday w/o the help of the web designer. She said yes; the chef would only need to spend about 4 to 8 hours learning how to use a program that would allow this.
I also read that Charlie Trotter (!!!) likes his website cause so many of his customers were from out of town.
This was a long winded way of my saying that yes, I think websites are helpful for restaurants.

[shroomgirl]

Mo. Chapter of chef's Collaborative's farmer dinners and the market schedule is on Saucecafe.com It has saved me hours not having to field calls or go through a mailing. We sold out on our dinners many 3-4 weeks ahead of time. YES it worked for us.
I'm having the Saucecafe girls talk at St.Louis Culinary Society's meeting on the same subject 1-2 quarter of 2001......

[lynne]

I agree with Timothy Banning about websites for caterers too. So many people even if they are getting married where they currently live are resorting to the web for everything from the wedding space to reception space to caterers, music and wedding cakes (and there are some fantastic cake sites out there). People have run out of time with crazy schedules and need something they can look at that is not 9am-5pm.

We also get requests from brides living out of town but planning a San Antonio wedding asking about restaurants online that are suitable for rehearsal dinners, etc.

Christmas party requests are also coming off the web.

By the way, speaking of weddings, how many of you would consider a wedding of 250 to be "small and intimate"? A direct quote from a telephone query from this morning...

[Nicko]

250? Our wedding was 190 and it was a lot of people. Intimate to me would be about 30.

[theloggg]

www.opentable.com is an online restaurant reservation system with 1,200+ restaurants signed up in 22 markets.

When I use Opentable (and I have often), I find that I choose a restaurant based on either 1)been there before and like it 2)recommendation 3)they have a website linked from Opentable and I can review the menu.

Of the 15 or so places I have reserved through Opentable, only a few have been places I had been before or were recommended. If I can view a menu on a website and it looks good, I go. The restaurant I work at just signed up with them and we have a website that will be linked to it. Opentable offers a great service to restaurants, Jardiniere (in SF)had over 1,000 first-time reservers through Opentable within the first few months of service.

I think if you use a webpage as part of a bigger marketing plan, it sure isn't going to hurt your business.

[Nicko]

Great comments everyone, keep'em coming.

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Thanks,

Nicko
nicko@cheftalk.com

[mudbug]

Having a website is simply another form of communication. I don't think you could have a better investment in terms of positive effects.

It works for you 24/7 and people go to you to find your information. So as long as you use common sense and your content reflects the restaurant and it's services, go for it!

No bout adout it...a website is a great investment. Mine ran $1,000 for a 4 page site (3 years ago). I'm a complete doofus when it comes to HTML but tweaking my menu with Netscape Composer is a breeze.

a few of the benefits -
*Fewer "what do you have on your menu" calls.
*Linking a mail list (eg ListBot) allows ez newsletters.
*An e-mail link provides for reservations & specific inquiries.
*Add a few photos of the restaurant and menu items...you know what they say about pictures
* Link exchange - a web site not seen is useless. Exchange links with the B&B's, purveyors, Chamber of C, etc.
* Promos-special events...a great way to get the news out.


TopChef www.princeandpauper.com

[This message has been edited by TopChef (edited 11-02-2000).]

[shroomgirl]

Cool post Topchef! I want to do that HTML UBB stuff too....I actually sat down and check out the directions on this site at lunch....SEEE that's what running a website will do "Mother of Necessity" learning new skills every day.

I love it when a restaurant has a website. I like the ability to communicate, get directions, see their posted reviews, a sampling of their menu, any special events, etc....I use them a lot here in Seattle.