Well for certain restaurants it makes some sense. Like if your a nicer seafood place all that shit changes by the week in price, sometimes daily. You don’t want to have to print out menus on nice card stock everyday and you also don’t want shitty looking paper menus.
I don’t get how people go abroad and don’t just get a local sim. In most countries, a travel sim is something between 20 and 40 bucks. In my opinion, that’s pretty essential.
I’m Canadian now but kept my Hungarian SIM, still paying it to this day after seven years. It’s 9EUR/mo for some paltry amount of data, but mostly just using it for online services that require a Hungarian or European phone number for MFA. I just bought extra data that counted as EU wide roaming data when I last visited.
However the options for my wife were very limited as a non-EU traveller. I think it was €30 or something for ~5GB of data usable in Hungary only and limited to ten days (we stayed for 14) and added as an eSIM with the help of an app/website. It was not transferable to other EU member states, and this was one of the best deals we could find that did not require us to go to a physical store location. This included us checking offers for prepaid SIMs from the major providers (Vodafone / -Mobil / Yettel)
As a non European, prepaid sims in Europe are complicated. Some companies won’t sell sims to foreigners, some have little to no roaming. Some have activation fees that double the price.
Some examples: in Germany you need to do a video call to activate your sim, in Italy most providers require you to have an Italian tax number to buy a sim. In Romanian most of the plans have a paltry 1 GB of roaming.
Also most of the SIMs geared toward tourists don’t allow roaming.
If the QR code was just encoded text or an image as apposed to a weblink, then this could have been avoided. Although, I’m not sure how many QR readers support images, and if your phone doesn’t have a built-in QR app nor you have a third-party one, then you’d be SOL anyways.
That’s exactly why I prefer qr. I don’t need to touch dirty menus and before anyone says that they clean them every night. Doesn’t matter, they use the same watery rag on all the menus, they may not be sticky but they sure as shit are still dirty. I’ve worked at plenty of restaurants, including ‘high end’ ones. The only way to guarantee they’re clean is to just print out a new one for each guest.
Remember kids: Every time you touch something, you get your germs on it. That also means that portion of your germs is no longer on your hands. So in lieu of washing your hands, consider touching every single surface you come across.
Yeah sorry, if I can view the menu from my phone instead of touching a menu that 6000 other people have touched, without having to deal with either the server taking it away or it being in the way on my table, I don’t see why I would want or need an actual physical menu
I’m with you on this, I live in a country where a digital menu is not a given and I hate it more than people who prefer physical menus seem to hate digital menus. I do agree that both should be available as an option
I don’t think you should “have to”. I think physical menus should always be available. But if both are available, I certainly think the digital is superior in every way
QR codes as menus are a security risk. A bad actor could make up some stickers and put them on the table in place of the menu QR code. The code could then take the user to a malicious site, that they think they should be able to trust.
I see your point, but that seems highly improbable. That a bad actor would be willing and able to successfully create a QR Code that looks enough like the restaurant’s QR and that neither the patrons nor the establishment itself would notice. Not only improbable, but the roi for the scammer seems very poor.
No one working at the restaurant is analyzing the pixels in a QR code to see if they are in the right spot. A QR looks like a QR code. Show someone 10 QR codes and ask them to pick the one from their restaurant, no way anyone is getting that right based on anything more than dumb luck.
The fake one could even forward on to the normal menu after it does the nasty bits, assuming it’s just installing something that will run in the background. This seems like a great way to get some malware out into the wild, especially if it can’t self-replicate.
They might not be analyzing, but its not like restaurant’s qr codes are just plain generic qr codes. They are are all branded, so effort would have to be put into making them appear to be authentic. And I think it’s improbable that staff wouldn’t notice. And again, the roi for the bad actor seems incredibly poor.
They are branded, so effort would have to be put into making them appear to be authentic.
Not really. Branded QR codes are just regular, unbranded QR codes but messed up— You basically just stick the the branding right on top, and then let the built-in error correction take care of the rest. Should take all of 5 minutes to set up, or maybe 20-30 if you wanna be a stickler for detail.
And I think it’s improbable that staff wouldn’t notice.
If I were working at the restaurant— I think I’d notice after a couple weeks— They’d have impunity up to then— But even then, I’d just assume the management switched it out or patched it up because they wanted to change the link for metrics or messed up something backend or something like that.
The staff is paid to wait tables, not to audit cybersec from the perspective of the customers.
And again, the roi for the bad actor seems incredibly poor.
Probably highly variable.
If the restaurant has a lot of patrons that are wealthy and technologically illiterate, with banking apps on unupdated phones with known exploits, then you’d think “ROI” is basically everything in the bank accounts of the patrons.
Same if the online menu includes online payment options for whatever reason.
Disagree, this is one of those changes that not only is very hyginic but also has a juge impact on reducing the amount of work for staff.
I won’t disagree however that they could still have menus available for the instances people don’t have a smartphone or are having problems with their smartphone. However, overall the impacts are mostly positive aside from incoviniencing the customer slightly to look at the menu on their phone.
The entire point of going out to eat is customer service. If I didn’t want things like this handled for me I would eat at home. “Slightly inconveniencing the customer” is not acceptable.
What’s worse is I’m now expected to tip 20% to a person that basically runs my food and fucks off. Id be fine with it if I picked up my food at a window. Why am I tipping someone so much money when all they do is deliver food? No talking, no taking an order, no checking in, not even bringing a bill. I was at a brewery recently with one of those order online and bring it to your table setups. I asked for some ketchup when they brought the food and they told me I had to order it through the website. Not going back.
The last two exclusive QR Code menues I tried to use were just stupid:
One was on an island in the Adria without cell phone reception. I had to ask the waitor on his second round for the wifi password, which he did not know and supplied on his 3rd round. All of this took 20 minutes.
the other one was in an cafe mostly visited by tourists in Scotland. They had a website that was only accessible to British people since brexit, and they did not care to fix it.
I fucking hate those! They spend so much money on the decoration and ads, but can’t be bothered to print 10 menus? What a BS! If a café or a restaurant is still stuck in covid times and wants to use QR codes, they should provide free Wi-Fi otherwise I’m walking out (as I have done many times) because fuck you and your barcode and your shitty management cause if i’m picking from an app I should be able to order through and pay through the same web app, there is no reason for a waiter or reception and cashier its just half assing technocracy.
I have no interest in a shitty laminated menu that is most certainly not clean.
Why are people so upset about this? It could not be more simple and as it’s on the phone you can select and search for things or maybe you weren’t familiar, etc.
It’s easier to update for the restaurant, no cleaning of the menus, etc. it makes everything easier for both sides of the coin
Cool. Stay at home and order ubereats or doordash. They both deliver slop to pigs. It could not be more simple and as it’s on the phone you can select and search for things or maybe you weren’t familiar, etc.
But that’s assuming everyone brings their phone along everywhere and not everyone knows how to scan a QR code or even (think elderly people, for example) owns a smartphone.
I do agree that it’s more sanitary, though. I did go to a place a while ago that had a QR code on the table which I thought was really cool, actually. Because it allowed me to place my order on my phone and even pay on my phone. But they offered a physical menu as well.
Nowadays I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that people have a device that can scan a qr code. It just needs to be accompanied with sufficient instructions.
Pulling out my phone, opening the camera app or whatever one scams the QR code, pointing it at the thing, fighting focus because the code is so small or dirty, clicking to follow the link, downloading a PDF or following the website, waiting for it to transfer over mobile data, zooming in and out to move around the menu and read the tiny print, because half the time it’s just the same PDF they would send to a printer and not optimized for viewing on a phone.
OR
Be handed a paper menu and just looking at it.
Which is more simple?!
But ignoring the simple aspect, I simply don’t want to use my phone. I don’t like how everything is on a cell phone.
I’d tell the waiter to give me their special of the day. No other questions or answers, just the special … don’t know … don’t care what it is … as long as it doesn’t make me sick, puke or have diarrhea … just give me the special.
I feel that. I can’t stand this crap and I get you wanna save paper but some of us don’t bring phones everywhere we go or we just have a flip phone or a phone without service. If you really wanna save paper instead of using more paper to print out a QR code just get a chalkboard or whiteboard
It would be nice if this was about saving paper but a website is being powered and that likely isn’t a good ecological trade. You could say it’s easier to change prices but it’s also easier to track you; your browser cookies are like a membership card.
Personally I’m more along the lines of " if i have to adapt then i will" becuase going out to eat is one of the few social things i do that require touching grass and i ain’t giving it up easy.
I love and seek out restaurants that use online ordering and payment. I don’t need someone waiting on me. I’m in the US and they are not paid a living wage, the work is difficult with little reward. Now there is a place in my neighborhood where you sit down the QR code is table based, interaction is simple, clear and designed to work (uses Toast as the backend iirc). You order, the order stays open till you pay it’s a restaurant/bar so if you need another you don’t have to do anything but tap on your phone. They have amazing helpful servers that are paid well. You pay on your phone and leave when you are done. It’s amazing.
I think this is more about power dynamics than currency and menus. I think many people just want or more accurately demand that others (with less power) to serve them. I’ve even heard people say “it’s not my job to check me out or take my order.” Those same people treat their waitress like shit, when those waitresses are paid basically nothing to take the abuse. Then they try to weasel out of the bill. Seen it time and time again.
Now, some restaurants do poor a poor implementation of modern menus and it’s frustrating. However… long term those that do it well will win. It reduces friction and costs leading to lower prices higher margins and quicker more accurate service.
Nobody will win. The waitress stays or will return and still get paid shit. The menu will get digitised because it’s cheaper. You know what less costs mean?
You might want to reevaluate who needs to “wake up”. Right now the only difference I see between you and Jeff Bezos is who has the money.
There are many other successful ways to run a business. Co-ops are one example… The legal and regulatory framework of our society should encourage and reward making and encouraging pro-social ethical decisions not discourage them. I think our problem is how we treat each other - not how we order food. Ordering food is just the symptom of the greater ill.
As long as you think like Bezos, nothing will change and more of your money will flow to the rich.
Thus, why I suggest the “waking up” that needs to happen is to realize we are in an increasingly unstable dream/nightmare (depending on whether you have money or not) that we collectively need to choose a different way that truly does benefit everyone.
X/Twitter post by user john is toast @johnistoasted reading: My dad and I went to a restaurant and the waiter pointed at the QR code on the wall and sad “thats our menu” and left and my dad looked at it really close and said “Is this some kind of joke”
[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]
I am fine with it but I feel they should have alternatives. Some people don 't have a device, connection. Or have issues with using technology for whatever reason, being old, incapacitated, etc.
If they don’t have a good internet connection available for free for customers with a good mobile website, why would anyone visit and actually struggle through the ordering process?
It’s a niche probably imaginary scenario they want to strawman. If a place has shit cell service or no Wi-Fi then they clearly aren’t using QR codes and just shrugging their shoulders confused at every customer.
Then they don’t eat there. I don’t see the problem. Might be the owners problem. But hopefully it was taken into cinsideration. If not, though luck again.
I think it’s pretty reasonable to require restaurants to spend a little money to print menus, and even a little more to get braille ones. There’s millions of people who might have some difficulty or another using a browser based menu, certainly we can do better than saying “sorry, tough luck.”
That’s not quite how accessibility regulations are structured. Wouldn’t surprise me if there are requirements on this in any given jurisdiction. Perhaps not a ‘thou shalt have printed menus’ but some kind of reasonable accommodation I think isn’t absurd.
Regardless of age, I think you could probably argue that the small, glowing rectangle in your palm is an inferior reading and dining experience compared to an actual menu.
That’s not even to mention the unholy abomination of a tech stack that a system like this would be— Camera, QR decoder, web browser, WiFi/cellular, their web server— That signal might travel hundreds of miles to your ISP, their host, and then back— Probably a couple layers of outsourcing/contracting/helper apps they used to set it up— Though it’s apparently normal to take all that for granted these days, it’s still sorta ridiculous.
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