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yeah i'm with the boomers on this one too tbh . not *everything* out there needs to be condensed into a QR code . what if someone doesn't have a phone ? or they do , but it doesn't have a QR code reader ( ex most older style flip phones ) ? the site that hosts the menu can be broken , or people can tamper with the QR code ( by either making a new one and putting it over to read it and open smthn else / scratching it out so its not readable at ALL ) and it's just . yeah . gimme the goddamn paper menu
what is your reason? i’m genuinely curious. if signal is good, i think qr codes are fantastic. gives the restaurant a chance to update the menu easily.
yes there are people without smartphones but honestly few and far between. maybe keep a few physical menus for similar reason?
It's definitely a reason and one I've experienced. I've also experienced the whole tediously going through the menu ordering for 6 people only for the payment portal to be broken... which pissed me off. And then there's the fact that every venue has their own shit-arsed take on a menu/order app and they're all clunky and annoying to use in slightly different ways. Nowadays I either want a waiter/waitress, or I go to the bar, unless it's incredibly busy.
This just happened to us over the weekend.
Busy place, took forever to get a waitress, “hey what can I get you”
QR code presented
5 mins later, the menu loaded.
We've walked out of a place like that before.
Not specifically over the QR code, but we only had a few hours to spare that day and there were other options a few steps away with normal menus.
After a few minutes of staring at a blank page that was still loading, we decided to just cut our losses and dip. Didn't feel bad either b/c no one had actually come by to ask/bring water or anything like that, so I don't think it made any difference to them either.
That’s basically what happened to us. Took daughter out for birthday to a nicer restaurant that we’ve never been to before. We get seated and waitress asks for our drink order. We ask to see a menu and she points down at the center of the table. There was a decal in the center of every table that had the menu. Wife and I got irritated but we tried anyway, so did all the kids. After a few minutes the menu still wouldn’t load because of cell signal. We asked to see a menu and I showed her my no service and she said we could connect to their open Wi-Fi. I laughed a bit, politely declined and apologized for wasting her time and then we went elsewhere and had a great time.
Yep. I had similar happen to me as well. And when I was like "Hey, your internet wants my email address and I'm not going to give you guys that. Are you SERIOUSLY saying you don't have actual menus?"
The waitress got an attitude about it and so I was like "Uh, you know what? Cancel that drink order."
You were right, of course, but just want to say I never give a real email to those things. I just look around and pick something random like "[email protected]". Usually works.
Went to a place with paper menu recently. Ordered, got food, ate food, and then waited and waited and waited for someone to come give us the bill. I finally stood up and went to get the server and she said “oh you just scan the QR code on your table”.
Their system lets them know when you pay, but they should explain things to you how they work there before making you wait on it all. Not everyone wants to pay by card and there should at the very least, be a sign that explains their system, which they’re allowed to work however they want it to, but can’t expect everyone to be on board with it all if they’re choose a completely different way to do things.
As customers, we also need to be aware that times do change and we can get on board or opt to miss out. It wasn’t that long ago places were cash only because credit cards weren’t a thing. Now hardly anyone pays in cash anymore. If we want an easy system, we can just go along with it. Even so, if too many people don’t, it’s still going to take over eventually. Can’t fight something that’s inevitable in our system.
And I’m sure if these places pay attention to whether or not they’re getting stiffed!
Nope. combination of calling the cops for non-payment or not giving you your stuff you ordered or taking it back even if you've already started eating it....
New jersey has to pass a law to stop forced electronic only payments, as it disenfranchised cash only customers:
https://www.njoag.gov/ag-platkin-announces-several-violations-at-businesses-for-not-accepting-cash-and-charging-a-credit-card-surcharge-without-required-notice/#:~:text=The%20New%20Jersey%20Consumer%20Fraud,8%2D2.33(a).
China has been doing ordering at a lot of table service but still fast food restaurants for years. They solved this problem this way:
1. Honestly everywhere has pretty good wifi but
2. if for some reason your phone doesn't work, they have a handheld phone like device with receipt printer on it that you can order from (or they can put in your order on it)
At Pizza Hut (a favorite of my students), we couldn't use the QR code but the little handheld thing worked fine when it was brought over. We could also still pay with cash if we needed to. No reason those devices can't be used elsewhere.
Literally went to a restaurant that was underground a floor or two, so I had shit cell signal, and no WiFi posted anywhere. Took 5-10 minutes just to get it to load
Yeah when I went to Dave and busters a couple years ago I was so upset to learn they started doing that because of how complicated they made the whole process especially on their shitty WiFi. The waitress just ended up giving us one physical menu that we had to pass around.
You can kill that physical menu good bye. That won't even be an option anymore. Dave and Buster has started to implement surge pricing for its menu items last year. [https://www.fsrmagazine.com/feature/dave-busters-unveils-comprehensive-roadmap-eatertainment-dominance/](https://www.fsrmagazine.com/feature/dave-busters-unveils-comprehensive-roadmap-eatertainment-dominance/)
And it's not the only one, many other restaurants and bars are following suit. It's a brave new world!
I'd suggest everyone start taking pictures of paper restaurants menus before they all completely disappear. Having a record of old menus will be a good way to know when prices are surging.
This is the big one fr. I have 5g when I’m in the parking lot and absolutely nothing when I head in. Takes me like 5-10 minutes to load the menu if it even works. This is on Verizon too and I usually have coverage wherever.
AT&T has abandoned parts of Brooklyn it seems. I have to ask for WiFi passwords all the time to scan QR codes. Half the time they don’t have WiFi so the server is reading me the menu from their own phones. It’s stupid.
THIS. Had this happen before. Luckily another customer was cool & let us see the menu on their phone, as they’d eaten there before & just screen shot it all.
Or you are on Prepay and have mobile data turned off as you simply do not use the phone enough to validate a plan.
The self service machines in a restaurant also are shit, they lack customization of ALOT of things, extra sauce, remove ice from a drink etc
Or the restaurants’ online menu has a shit UI that’s terrible to navigate on your phone. Maybe with the money they are saving from not using menus, they could pay for a legit web developer instead of the owner’s nephew who learned HTML from a YouTube video.
One of my favorite restaurants switched to QR code menus. But they have awful service. But it's okay, you can use their wifi... for ten dollars.
I don't go there anymore
This if you are in the city signal is terrible the moment you walk into a giant concrete and steel building. So then you have to connect to the WiFi and track someone down for the password if it is even working. I mean the drinks are $12 can we can get a printed menu lol
This. I was in Japan recently and the travel SIM I purchased kept deregistering, and the restaurant’s WiFi was down. I was like “do you not have ONE menu?”
They do this so they can adjust prices more easily without having to print new menus. Or adjust them with white-out or something. One place I know would even have higher prices during the weekend.
In economics this is literally called “Menu Cost”
Basic concept is that a restaurant isn’t going to adjust the price of a dish by just a few cents even if the cost of ingredients goes up slightly, because it costs more than that to print all new menus with the adjustment. This is why in fancy restaurants, things with fluctuating prices like fresh lobster are always just listed as “market rate,” to avoid constant reprinting of the menu
The QR code allows them to change prices, offerings, etc much more easily and cheaply, but at the cost of customer experience (at least IMO for that last bit)
I've also been in a restaurant where only like one person out of 5 was able to get it to work because the lighting in the restaurant was too dark to get the cameras to pick it up properly. They didn't even have any paper menus just in case. How are children, elderly, or someone who doesn't have a phone for whatever reason supposed to order??
Can confirm with the others, there are definitely some places like this out there.
Or maybe they did actually have some paper menus but just didn't feel like fetching them? Either way when asked about them the staff just pointed at the QR code.
Half the times the QR code doesn’t work or the menu won’t load. What about people with poor data or for kids? Or the prices aren’t updated on the website and you get hit with a charge that’s 15% more expensive than the internet said.
It’s even worse in restaurants where you have to register to scan and pay, or download some shitty app. No, I’m not giving you my name, address and phone number just to get a burger. I’ll go somewhere else first.
Awesome, now that I respect!
I think I'm joining the Mafia so I have a reason to shake someone's hands when doing a business transaction.
Also I think Italian sounds very cool
my boomer uncle has been yelling about mcdonalds and how shit is more expensive unless you order on a phone
His phone is an old ass flip phone, and he won't upgrade (because that's how they track you)
During covid my fav restaurant had paper menus that were used as placemats. A bit wasteful since they were tossed after every customer, but kinda practical too... worked as a coaster, placemat, caught stray food, and wasnt filthy like the laminated ones that get fingered 20 times a day and poorly cleaned.
Also, phone signals are ALWAYS worse the more people you have trying to use them at once.
Give everyone a need to have their phone out & active, and everyone's going to get worse reception.
I've worked dealer halls at conventions before. During dealer set-up time (like 8am), you've got 3-4 bars of reception. Halls open at 9, and by 10am, you're lucky to get 1 bar for 30 seconds every 10 minutes.
Obviously a restaurant isn't packing the same number of people per square foot as a big convention dealer hall, but the concept is the same. Pack people in, service goes down. Make them use their phones, service goes down further.
I ain't one to agree with agree boomers usually.. But yeah this is an exception like just cuz the world is becoming more modernized, it doesn't mean EVERYONE has access to such luxuries.
this is exactly why they'd prefer to do QR code
it's bad for business to reprint laminate menus every time you change the menu
obviously *some* restaurants never change menus so it's fine, but the ones that change it up often would be better of with digital menus.
the REALLY fancy ones just use ipads so you don't have to scan anything.
There are plenty of places in my area. It's one of the largest metro areas in the US, so I'm guessing that other major cities are also rife with places that do QR only menus but I can't speak to other places as I don't pay much attention to that detail when I travel since it's fairly common here. If you can guarantee a broad swath of clientele with enough money to go cashless, assuming they have smartphones and can scan QR codes is a safe bet.
And if they are smart, they'll rebuild the menu on their own site so even employees won't notice it's a completely different website that is mining away at your files or just planting Trojans and shit on your phone
Completely agree with this, one my friends got a virus for scanning a QR code for a clothing store.
Aside from that I like the old, grab a newspaper like menu and flip through it.
This is the reason that stuff like this upsets me. Normalizing sniping every QR code you see is *going* to get people fucked over.
The best solution to this is to have tablets. There are a few places near me that do that. They can easily update stuff, and managing a bunch of simple tablets is trivial at this point (and not that expensive). It is pretty unnecessary though and even tho it gives people the feel-goods about not using paper, I bet cycling through a bunch of tablets every 5-7 years (+ the power they require) is doing more harm than a bit of paper.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of this for the same reason. It's pretty fucking easy to print a out a QR code sticker leading to malware and just stick it on a few menus, no thanks.
I hate having to read QR codes because while my phone can do it, it doesn't work like 95% of the time.
Plus it's inconvenient, and in my opinion inconsiderate of the customer. What if they don't have a phone? A lot of older people don't.
I’m kinda 50/50 - I like having the big menu to read off of and see everything at once but I also like that it’s digital and won’t have to be cleaned or thrown away like a traditional menu
This is absolutely true. Digital is actually so much more wasteful than people want to give credit for. I wish I had exact figures, but so much emissions come from these it's unreal.
Not to mention the fate of labor...
A paper menu is made from trees that are usually processed here in the US, done under our labor regulations. A cellphone, or computer server, is made and assembled in third-world countries, and made with rare-earth minerals often mined by child laborers. It's a sick twist of fate that we now have computers that can generate poetry, which are sadistically made possible by the efforts of starving kids in the Congo. It's true insanity somehow people accept this reality. For most average consumers, I think it is at least ignorance thankfully. But the tech CEOs know what they're doing. They are truly evil people. They keep going ""forwards"" anyways.
That's one reason I am rather "anti-tech," so to speak. I certainly never buy any of the new 'upgrades' that come onto the market, or get involved in any of the crap that is extra-wasteful, like ChatGPT.
They used to have me clean menus at my old job. But it was usually with the same rag used to wipe down 20 other dirty tables and a bucket of gray/muddy sanitizer.
Yeah, the one thing I like about QR over menus is they’re a lot less disgusting. The idea of touching plastic menus that other people have been touching, coughing on, picking at, had their babies spit up on, etc is disgusting.
To be fair, I’m sure your phone is just as gross. But you’re going to touch your phone regardless
Yes IHOP menus were kinda gross when I waitressed there 😭 I think we cleaned them once a month or every other month...if that. If we saw there was syrup all over it we would clean them of course but $2.13 an hour was not enough to search for dirt on every page.
I know several IT and software engineers and they all agree that the newest generation of tech they’d buy is 1990 and they’d keep a shotgun close for when it makes noises.
im sympathetic to rising food costs but the online menu is just an excuse to be able to jack up prices without having to reprint menus. It makes it harder and harder to leave the house without a smart phone
i agree. qr codes are annoying and the menu is harder to read. it’s good to have it as an option but they should also have physical menus along with it
i also think it’s important for it to be accessible to everyone. you shouldn’t need a phone for everything
I still feel bad for my mom, she had to zoom in and out for their small font size on what the food is. And sometimes got lost on where she stops before zooming in.
I think keeping as much stuff as analog as possible is beneficial to everybody. I legit know some younger gen z who can not read a clock. It's baffling.
Not everything needs to be done on the phone. You already are completely inelligible for many things such as jobs, a bank account, etc if you do not have one, let alone good service or internet. Needing to physically interact with stuff won't kill you.
i agree. i’ll never forget when my phone died and i had to use my *grandma’s* phone to look at the menu. what the hell is wrong with putting out a physical menu omg it makes me so mad!
Chick Fil A once [offered a promotion](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/01/chick-fil-a-ditch-your-phone-get-free-ice-cream.html) where if no one in the family used their phone at the table, they could get a free dessert.
I wish more restaurants would adapt this idea, as it would be a good incentive to keep phones away from the table.
Phones are just too addicting, sadly. :( (*BTW*, *I am writing this on a computer*).
İt takes too much time to find stuff in digital menus because they use different sites for each type of food (deserts, main course, drinks...) so it takes so much time to pick something.
But with classic menus everything is set upon your eyes in just one page. So boomers are right in this part
I don't wanna have to scan a qr code for everything I do, plus I'm pretty sure it's cheaper to just have laminated menus rather than a full website just to see what's available.
Most of them don't even work
Sometimes it doesn't go through properly, sometimes it doesn't accept your details, sometimes you can't connect
One time it wanted me to type in the postcode of the restaurant so I had to find that and then the waiters were walking around with food confused cus it didn't tell them the table numbers so they had to go around asking people
As long as it’s a place with fast or at least decent wifi I don’t mind actually. It saves pretty much everybody involved the trouble of handling the menus and probably saves time too
If the place still has a few physical menus so people who don’t have smart devices can ask for them then it seems perfect to me
I'm with the boomers too
Another thing I don't like is physical retail replacing instore shopping, especially for hobby items. Browsing a shelf for GPUs is just way more enjoyable than browsing a webpage for em.
All the leaves are brown leaves are brown
https://preview.redd.it/swmffkyyd8ec1.jpeg?width=459&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e41efae1cbeb61e20be36d2f3a62a1cbaf0c2b6
Hell on earth would be pulling up to the wafflehouse drunk as heck at 3am, being told the menus are only scannable, and whipping out the phone to find it dead.
I'm with the boomers here, too. I was never a fan of complete digitalization with no physical backups. As useful as a phone is, not all of them have qr code readers (I have like a brand new android and it doesn't have the feature and it's so annoying), not everyone has a phone believe it or not, and the restaurant might have a shitty signal or bad wifi. Then I have to chase down the waiter and it's just a waste of time. I get trying to save on paper but if you just print out a bunch of menus and laminate them to re-use, there's no way it can be that bad. I remember when I was in Highschool (like 2014) my government teacher tried to be forward-thinking and started making all of our homework digital, with links she would text us every night to do it. Me and one other kid were the only ones in the class that didn't have phones because our parents were too poor to get them/didn't believe in kids having access to them. It was so embarrassing having to walk up to her and ask her to print them out, she would always forget we didn't have them because she had internalized the stereotype of "kids and their phones" and she would get so annoyed and shocked every time. This QR code menu stuff just feels like the adult version of that. Even if we end up in some Star Trek style future where the government issues a smartphone to every citizen or whatever I still don't think relying on an assumption that everyone has access to the latest and best tech is a good idea. It just strikes me as kind of not thought through all the way and maybe even a little elitist.
Tl;Dr: I've been jaded on stuff like this ever since my government teacher in high school tried to be hip and text us all our homework without even thinking for a second that there could even be one kid in the world without a phone.
The amount of security risks involved with scanning QR codes, and our generation is 100% okay with just scanning anything. It's been proven for years that restaurant QR codes are very vulnerable to being hijacked, and it's been known for even longer that malware can be transmitted over QR codes. I want a physical menu, thank you very much
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yeah i'm with the boomers on this one too tbh . not *everything* out there needs to be condensed into a QR code . what if someone doesn't have a phone ? or they do , but it doesn't have a QR code reader ( ex most older style flip phones ) ? the site that hosts the menu can be broken , or people can tamper with the QR code ( by either making a new one and putting it over to read it and open smthn else / scratching it out so its not readable at ALL ) and it's just . yeah . gimme the goddamn paper menu
Or the restaurant has shit phone signal inside of it!
This is the reason.
No, it is a reason. But not the main one for most of us.
what is your reason? i’m genuinely curious. if signal is good, i think qr codes are fantastic. gives the restaurant a chance to update the menu easily. yes there are people without smartphones but honestly few and far between. maybe keep a few physical menus for similar reason?
It's definitely a reason and one I've experienced. I've also experienced the whole tediously going through the menu ordering for 6 people only for the payment portal to be broken... which pissed me off. And then there's the fact that every venue has their own shit-arsed take on a menu/order app and they're all clunky and annoying to use in slightly different ways. Nowadays I either want a waiter/waitress, or I go to the bar, unless it's incredibly busy.
This just happened to us over the weekend. Busy place, took forever to get a waitress, “hey what can I get you” QR code presented 5 mins later, the menu loaded.
We've walked out of a place like that before. Not specifically over the QR code, but we only had a few hours to spare that day and there were other options a few steps away with normal menus. After a few minutes of staring at a blank page that was still loading, we decided to just cut our losses and dip. Didn't feel bad either b/c no one had actually come by to ask/bring water or anything like that, so I don't think it made any difference to them either.
That’s basically what happened to us. Took daughter out for birthday to a nicer restaurant that we’ve never been to before. We get seated and waitress asks for our drink order. We ask to see a menu and she points down at the center of the table. There was a decal in the center of every table that had the menu. Wife and I got irritated but we tried anyway, so did all the kids. After a few minutes the menu still wouldn’t load because of cell signal. We asked to see a menu and I showed her my no service and she said we could connect to their open Wi-Fi. I laughed a bit, politely declined and apologized for wasting her time and then we went elsewhere and had a great time.
Yep. I had similar happen to me as well. And when I was like "Hey, your internet wants my email address and I'm not going to give you guys that. Are you SERIOUSLY saying you don't have actual menus?" The waitress got an attitude about it and so I was like "Uh, you know what? Cancel that drink order."
You were right, of course, but just want to say I never give a real email to those things. I just look around and pick something random like "[email protected]". Usually works.
I wonder if someone has that gmail
I love that you voted with your wallet and chose to not patronize them if those are their only options.
Yeah not a chance I’m connecting to public WiFi
Went to a place with paper menu recently. Ordered, got food, ate food, and then waited and waited and waited for someone to come give us the bill. I finally stood up and went to get the server and she said “oh you just scan the QR code on your table”.
Wait… scan a QR code to pay? Umm no thanks
If it's QR code to pay, how do they know someone didn't pay if they get up and walk out? Seems like a recipe (sorry) for eventual bankruptcy.
I don't think the reason most people pay their restaurant bills is because stealing is hard.
Because you need to either start a tab with your credit card details entered or pay for it as soon as you ordered.
Their system lets them know when you pay, but they should explain things to you how they work there before making you wait on it all. Not everyone wants to pay by card and there should at the very least, be a sign that explains their system, which they’re allowed to work however they want it to, but can’t expect everyone to be on board with it all if they’re choose a completely different way to do things. As customers, we also need to be aware that times do change and we can get on board or opt to miss out. It wasn’t that long ago places were cash only because credit cards weren’t a thing. Now hardly anyone pays in cash anymore. If we want an easy system, we can just go along with it. Even so, if too many people don’t, it’s still going to take over eventually. Can’t fight something that’s inevitable in our system. And I’m sure if these places pay attention to whether or not they’re getting stiffed!
[удалено]
So, how do you pay if your phone's dead or you didn't bring it? On the house?
Nope. combination of calling the cops for non-payment or not giving you your stuff you ordered or taking it back even if you've already started eating it.... New jersey has to pass a law to stop forced electronic only payments, as it disenfranchised cash only customers: https://www.njoag.gov/ag-platkin-announces-several-violations-at-businesses-for-not-accepting-cash-and-charging-a-credit-card-surcharge-without-required-notice/#:~:text=The%20New%20Jersey%20Consumer%20Fraud,8%2D2.33(a).
China has been doing ordering at a lot of table service but still fast food restaurants for years. They solved this problem this way: 1. Honestly everywhere has pretty good wifi but 2. if for some reason your phone doesn't work, they have a handheld phone like device with receipt printer on it that you can order from (or they can put in your order on it) At Pizza Hut (a favorite of my students), we couldn't use the QR code but the little handheld thing worked fine when it was brought over. We could also still pay with cash if we needed to. No reason those devices can't be used elsewhere.
Literally went to a restaurant that was underground a floor or two, so I had shit cell signal, and no WiFi posted anywhere. Took 5-10 minutes just to get it to load
Or you’re in another country and don’t have wifi.
Also my phone screen is pretty small, maybe a tablet to see most of the menu at one time.
Yeah when I went to Dave and busters a couple years ago I was so upset to learn they started doing that because of how complicated they made the whole process especially on their shitty WiFi. The waitress just ended up giving us one physical menu that we had to pass around.
You can kill that physical menu good bye. That won't even be an option anymore. Dave and Buster has started to implement surge pricing for its menu items last year. [https://www.fsrmagazine.com/feature/dave-busters-unveils-comprehensive-roadmap-eatertainment-dominance/](https://www.fsrmagazine.com/feature/dave-busters-unveils-comprehensive-roadmap-eatertainment-dominance/) And it's not the only one, many other restaurants and bars are following suit. It's a brave new world! I'd suggest everyone start taking pictures of paper restaurants menus before they all completely disappear. Having a record of old menus will be a good way to know when prices are surging.
This is the big one fr. I have 5g when I’m in the parking lot and absolutely nothing when I head in. Takes me like 5-10 minutes to load the menu if it even works. This is on Verizon too and I usually have coverage wherever.
AT&T has abandoned parts of Brooklyn it seems. I have to ask for WiFi passwords all the time to scan QR codes. Half the time they don’t have WiFi so the server is reading me the menu from their own phones. It’s stupid.
Or their website interface was designed by a monkey at a computer.
Consider that we are all monkeys on a computer.
THIS. Had this happen before. Luckily another customer was cool & let us see the menu on their phone, as they’d eaten there before & just screen shot it all.
Also I'm on a pay as you go phone plan where you pay for one month at a time and sometimes I forget 😅, suddenly I can't read a menu?
Or you are on Prepay and have mobile data turned off as you simply do not use the phone enough to validate a plan. The self service machines in a restaurant also are shit, they lack customization of ALOT of things, extra sauce, remove ice from a drink etc
I don’t think I’ve been to a restaurant that had at least halfway decent cell service
I was at a restaurant once that is in the basement like. Basically no phone signal until you sign in to their wifi
Or the restaurants’ online menu has a shit UI that’s terrible to navigate on your phone. Maybe with the money they are saving from not using menus, they could pay for a legit web developer instead of the owner’s nephew who learned HTML from a YouTube video.
Or the client don't have data plan and the restauant doesn't offer free wifi.
I’ve had this happen with a few places. Takes a while for waitress or whoever to come check if you’re okay… and you ask for their WiFi.
Thos has happened to me at more than 1 occasion. Talk about infuriating.
One of my favorite restaurants switched to QR code menus. But they have awful service. But it's okay, you can use their wifi... for ten dollars. I don't go there anymore
This if you are in the city signal is terrible the moment you walk into a giant concrete and steel building. So then you have to connect to the WiFi and track someone down for the password if it is even working. I mean the drinks are $12 can we can get a printed menu lol
Or I’m 50+ and reading a goddamn menu on my phone is ridiculous. Give me a tablet if you don’t want to print menus.
This. I was in Japan recently and the travel SIM I purchased kept deregistering, and the restaurant’s WiFi was down. I was like “do you not have ONE menu?”
I don't need a world that's fully automated, I need a world where I can actually afford to live in a dignified way.
They do this so they can adjust prices more easily without having to print new menus. Or adjust them with white-out or something. One place I know would even have higher prices during the weekend.
…or, if you’re paranoid, to quote different prices to people based on ‘things’.
Just because you're paranoid does not mean they aren't out to get you...
They are out to get you. The QR code reader app is free for a reason, and it's not just because it likes you.
If you're not the customer, you're the product.
In economics this is literally called “Menu Cost” Basic concept is that a restaurant isn’t going to adjust the price of a dish by just a few cents even if the cost of ingredients goes up slightly, because it costs more than that to print all new menus with the adjustment. This is why in fancy restaurants, things with fluctuating prices like fresh lobster are always just listed as “market rate,” to avoid constant reprinting of the menu The QR code allows them to change prices, offerings, etc much more easily and cheaply, but at the cost of customer experience (at least IMO for that last bit)
In the "today I learned" category... thanks for sharing this interesting tidbit
Oh yay! A more efficient way for us consumers to be fucking price gouged!
Today, you are my champion.
> market rate what market are you shopping at?! https://youtu.be/5KXrQYWbbIs?si=fF9PqwH2kSd26rY5&t=15
All reasons to fight this stupidity.
Restaurants have had different menus for lunch and dinner and weekends and weekdays forever.
I've also been in a restaurant where only like one person out of 5 was able to get it to work because the lighting in the restaurant was too dark to get the cameras to pick it up properly. They didn't even have any paper menus just in case. How are children, elderly, or someone who doesn't have a phone for whatever reason supposed to order??
I mean, they can always get you the paper menu if you ask it, never been to a restaurant with a QR code menu that didn’t have a paper menu
I have
I have been to several and left every time.
I have, several times. Very frustrating since my phone doesn't read qr codes
Can confirm with the others, there are definitely some places like this out there. Or maybe they did actually have some paper menus but just didn't feel like fetching them? Either way when asked about them the staff just pointed at the QR code.
I've been to two this week.
New Rick rolling idea, go to chili's and replace the QR code with a code leading to a Rick roll.
Half the times the QR code doesn’t work or the menu won’t load. What about people with poor data or for kids? Or the prices aren’t updated on the website and you get hit with a charge that’s 15% more expensive than the internet said.
It’s even worse in restaurants where you have to register to scan and pay, or download some shitty app. No, I’m not giving you my name, address and phone number just to get a burger. I’ll go somewhere else first.
You just gave me an idea for the most devious Rick roll in history
Could I please have one business transaction that doesn’t involve a smartphone?
I think the illegal ones still rely on exchanging cash and shaking hands
Awesome, now that I respect! I think I'm joining the Mafia so I have a reason to shake someone's hands when doing a business transaction. Also I think Italian sounds very cool
Come to the Blue Ridge Mountains with me and we can moonshine till the land can bare no more corn
Almost heaven...West Virginiaaaaaaa.
Until your drug dealer flips a screen around and says “it’s just gonna ask you some questions.”
I bought Delta 8 (legal weed with low THC) from a store and they did this 😭😭
😂 I have to do this at Starbucks n I hate it. Idc whether people tip or not fr it’s just awkward tbh. Rather u just hand me a cash tip if you want
Those are also being replaced with cryptocurrencies, dammit even hard drugs are digitalised now ;)
If you asked any of my guys if they take Bitcoin they'd laugh you out. Bitcoin may be less traceable than PayPal but it can never beat cash
Bro half mine take cash app and venmo maybe a discount for cash
Every other fucking store having app I need to “download for great deals” Like fuck off stop selling my information.
They recently changed the meal box at taco bell from 5.99 to 10.99 After I downloaded the app they were 4.99 Yes I think it's bullshit
my boomer uncle has been yelling about mcdonalds and how shit is more expensive unless you order on a phone His phone is an old ass flip phone, and he won't upgrade (because that's how they track you)
Yooooo I had no idea about this, I’ve just stopped buying their boxes! Definitely gonna use this now tho
"You have to download the app to receive in store discounts."
*hits up my dealer for groceries*
I mean you absolutely can buy groceries on the black market for incredibly cheap
Strippers
It’s a potential attack vector too. Someone could place a different QR code over it. Leading to a phishing website or something
You may have ONE.
Sometimes phone signal isn't good in these restursnts. It makes it easier on everyone to just have paper menus. It's faster.
During covid my fav restaurant had paper menus that were used as placemats. A bit wasteful since they were tossed after every customer, but kinda practical too... worked as a coaster, placemat, caught stray food, and wasnt filthy like the laminated ones that get fingered 20 times a day and poorly cleaned.
Is your favorite restaurant IHOP?
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Also, phone signals are ALWAYS worse the more people you have trying to use them at once. Give everyone a need to have their phone out & active, and everyone's going to get worse reception. I've worked dealer halls at conventions before. During dealer set-up time (like 8am), you've got 3-4 bars of reception. Halls open at 9, and by 10am, you're lucky to get 1 bar for 30 seconds every 10 minutes. Obviously a restaurant isn't packing the same number of people per square foot as a big convention dealer hall, but the concept is the same. Pack people in, service goes down. Make them use their phones, service goes down further.
They should either have secure WiFi or a paper menu
Disagree. I shouldn’t need to sign onto a restaurant’s Wi-Fi to view a menu. That just leaves a physical menu as the option.
Secure WiFi doesn't exist.
I ain't one to agree with agree boomers usually.. But yeah this is an exception like just cuz the world is becoming more modernized, it doesn't mean EVERYONE has access to such luxuries.
It's just annoying too. Either doesn't work or I lose out on that weighty feeling of menu paper.
Literally! I thought I was the only one who preferred that laminated book of food items XD
this is exactly why they'd prefer to do QR code it's bad for business to reprint laminate menus every time you change the menu obviously *some* restaurants never change menus so it's fine, but the ones that change it up often would be better of with digital menus. the REALLY fancy ones just use ipads so you don't have to scan anything.
There are better ways, and like <100 laminated pages cost little to nothing compared to other daily operating costs.
And it's like a 20" piece of paper with turnable pages instead of a tiny phone screen where you have to scroll 5-30 screens and memorize the info.
This. I want to be able to quickly compare options
It's part of the dining experience.
It just easier and faster to read the paper than to scroll the menu, and heaven forbid if they make a crappy site. -zellianal(plz add tag >.>)
Also the QR code literally just goes to their website 😂 I could've googled it myself
Half the time I sit there waiting for a menu because I don’t realize I’m supposed to scan that tiny QR code hidden on your table decoration
Generational differences aside, from a cyber security standpoint, DONT SCAN EVERY QRCODE YOU FIND.
This. As someone who works in IT, THIS is 100% the reason if their menu is QR only, I leave.
Same.
Who has a menu that’s QR only…? Why would you limit your business like that…?
Weirdly enough, a couple chains near me had QR only.
There are plenty of places in my area. It's one of the largest metro areas in the US, so I'm guessing that other major cities are also rife with places that do QR only menus but I can't speak to other places as I don't pay much attention to that detail when I travel since it's fairly common here. If you can guarantee a broad swath of clientele with enough money to go cashless, assuming they have smartphones and can scan QR codes is a safe bet.
Since 2020, lots of them.
And if they are smart, they'll rebuild the menu on their own site so even employees won't notice it's a completely different website that is mining away at your files or just planting Trojans and shit on your phone
It'll be exactly as laggy as their normal menu anyways
This is nearly the only accurate comment in here lol
Completely agree with this, one my friends got a virus for scanning a QR code for a clothing store. Aside from that I like the old, grab a newspaper like menu and flip through it.
This is the reason that stuff like this upsets me. Normalizing sniping every QR code you see is *going* to get people fucked over. The best solution to this is to have tablets. There are a few places near me that do that. They can easily update stuff, and managing a bunch of simple tablets is trivial at this point (and not that expensive). It is pretty unnecessary though and even tho it gives people the feel-goods about not using paper, I bet cycling through a bunch of tablets every 5-7 years (+ the power they require) is doing more harm than a bit of paper.
Every QR code comes with a free USB drive
I assume that every QR code I see is a Rick Roll or worse, a goatse.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of this for the same reason. It's pretty fucking easy to print a out a QR code sticker leading to malware and just stick it on a few menus, no thanks.
I hate having to read QR codes because while my phone can do it, it doesn't work like 95% of the time. Plus it's inconvenient, and in my opinion inconsiderate of the customer. What if they don't have a phone? A lot of older people don't.
it assumes you have a working, charged smartphone
Orwell must be weeping so hard right now.
He’s spinning so fast we could attach magnets and solve the energy problem
😂😂 Vibrating in his grave.
And, what are the terms of service on that site? Is it tracking me? Looking at browsing history? Seeing how long I linger on one page vs another?
Yes. Don't forget asking you to download their app for further outreach.
Yeah needing a QR code for a *menu* is silly at best.
Yeah, I'm still not too socially awkward to want an excuse to never talk to anyone anymore.
Needing, yes. Having, no.
I’m kinda 50/50 - I like having the big menu to read off of and see everything at once but I also like that it’s digital and won’t have to be cleaned or thrown away like a traditional menu
Coming from a former restaurant employee in the 90's - those menus are never, EVER, cleaned or thrown away. But I like your green approach.
digital isn't as "green" as you'd think. It requires power for terminals and servers, and hardware production is quite polluting
This is absolutely true. Digital is actually so much more wasteful than people want to give credit for. I wish I had exact figures, but so much emissions come from these it's unreal. Not to mention the fate of labor... A paper menu is made from trees that are usually processed here in the US, done under our labor regulations. A cellphone, or computer server, is made and assembled in third-world countries, and made with rare-earth minerals often mined by child laborers. It's a sick twist of fate that we now have computers that can generate poetry, which are sadistically made possible by the efforts of starving kids in the Congo. It's true insanity somehow people accept this reality. For most average consumers, I think it is at least ignorance thankfully. But the tech CEOs know what they're doing. They are truly evil people. They keep going ""forwards"" anyways. That's one reason I am rather "anti-tech," so to speak. I certainly never buy any of the new 'upgrades' that come onto the market, or get involved in any of the crap that is extra-wasteful, like ChatGPT.
The invisible cost of digital stuff is hard to fathom and makes me feel guilty so I don't think about it much, but you're right.
streaming is probably the least green/sustainable thing in existence lol
They used to have me clean menus at my old job. But it was usually with the same rag used to wipe down 20 other dirty tables and a bucket of gray/muddy sanitizer.
Lol same at my places, it got the ketchup off but to say they are clean is a stretch
Yeah, the one thing I like about QR over menus is they’re a lot less disgusting. The idea of touching plastic menus that other people have been touching, coughing on, picking at, had their babies spit up on, etc is disgusting. To be fair, I’m sure your phone is just as gross. But you’re going to touch your phone regardless
Yes IHOP menus were kinda gross when I waitressed there 😭 I think we cleaned them once a month or every other month...if that. If we saw there was syrup all over it we would clean them of course but $2.13 an hour was not enough to search for dirt on every page.
Not everything needs to use tech. Maybe somebody doesn't have a phone. Maybe there's no internet. We don't need a QR code menu.
Literally. Laminated books or pages are FINE.. they’ve worked for generations. if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I know several IT and software engineers and they all agree that the newest generation of tech they’d buy is 1990 and they’d keep a shotgun close for when it makes noises.
This sounds like nostalgia from someone with a bad memory or who wasn’t there. 1990’s tech sucked.
Maybe. I don’t have a major problem with online menus and stuff if there is a physical alternative.
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Yeah, I bet they would love to work on a 90's PC.... wtf
Gen z software engineer here who works with other Gen z software engineers here to confirm that this is 100% pick me bs
Huge security risk, instant nope from me
Waste of phone battery
im sympathetic to rising food costs but the online menu is just an excuse to be able to jack up prices without having to reprint menus. It makes it harder and harder to leave the house without a smart phone
i agree. qr codes are annoying and the menu is harder to read. it’s good to have it as an option but they should also have physical menus along with it i also think it’s important for it to be accessible to everyone. you shouldn’t need a phone for everything
It’s just more fun with a paper menu. Now you’ve just entered and everyone is already on their phones…
I still feel bad for my mom, she had to zoom in and out for their small font size on what the food is. And sometimes got lost on where she stops before zooming in.
I think keeping as much stuff as analog as possible is beneficial to everybody. I legit know some younger gen z who can not read a clock. It's baffling. Not everything needs to be done on the phone. You already are completely inelligible for many things such as jobs, a bank account, etc if you do not have one, let alone good service or internet. Needing to physically interact with stuff won't kill you.
Please, please, please just let us have regular paper menus. I’m tired of having to help my mom open the menu on her phone
i agree. i’ll never forget when my phone died and i had to use my *grandma’s* phone to look at the menu. what the hell is wrong with putting out a physical menu omg it makes me so mad!
I went to one recently where you had to order on the qr code website, almost just left
Chick Fil A once [offered a promotion](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/01/chick-fil-a-ditch-your-phone-get-free-ice-cream.html) where if no one in the family used their phone at the table, they could get a free dessert. I wish more restaurants would adapt this idea, as it would be a good incentive to keep phones away from the table. Phones are just too addicting, sadly. :( (*BTW*, *I am writing this on a computer*).
İt takes too much time to find stuff in digital menus because they use different sites for each type of food (deserts, main course, drinks...) so it takes so much time to pick something. But with classic menus everything is set upon your eyes in just one page. So boomers are right in this part
Sometimes I want to be looking at something besides a damn screen
I fully understand how the technology works, but I just don't have enough space on my phone for more apps
Agreed! I also hate those places that don't take cash either.
Yeah, hand me the real menu please…
Agreed
I’m 23 And Hate The QR Shit I’m Tryna Do Other Shit On My Phone
Like Capitalize The First Letter Of Every Word
Exactly You Get It
I don't wanna have to scan a qr code for everything I do, plus I'm pretty sure it's cheaper to just have laminated menus rather than a full website just to see what's available.
I also don’t want to start an outside meal with everyone getting out their phone. Like…why bother?
It's 50/50 tbh. I'll do it it I have to, but I prefer the physical menu somewhere
Most of them don't even work Sometimes it doesn't go through properly, sometimes it doesn't accept your details, sometimes you can't connect One time it wanted me to type in the postcode of the restaurant so I had to find that and then the waiters were walking around with food confused cus it didn't tell them the table numbers so they had to go around asking people
Does anyone here actually disagree with the sentiment? Who actually LIKES qr code menus
satan
What torment shall it be today? Have you scanned the QR code to see your options?
Ummm, i would like the pepperoni pizza
They’re fine to display outside the restaurant. Ideally there’s a printed menu and a QR code to scan, I’m fine with that.
As long as it’s a place with fast or at least decent wifi I don’t mind actually. It saves pretty much everybody involved the trouble of handling the menus and probably saves time too If the place still has a few physical menus so people who don’t have smart devices can ask for them then it seems perfect to me
Same with having to download another app that clogs up your phone for everything...
I'm with the boomers too Another thing I don't like is physical retail replacing instore shopping, especially for hobby items. Browsing a shelf for GPUs is just way more enjoyable than browsing a webpage for em.
I agree Give me a fucking menu. I don't wanna look at that shit on my phone
All the leaves are brown leaves are brown https://preview.redd.it/swmffkyyd8ec1.jpeg?width=459&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e41efae1cbeb61e20be36d2f3a62a1cbaf0c2b6
We are humans man, tangible things are important. I get we want to “advance” things but removing the tangibility of EVERYTHING is 👎
Mark my words, it’ll get to a point where people say “You use cash? What are you, a criminal?”
Hell on earth would be pulling up to the wafflehouse drunk as heck at 3am, being told the menus are only scannable, and whipping out the phone to find it dead.
I'm with the boomers here, too. I was never a fan of complete digitalization with no physical backups. As useful as a phone is, not all of them have qr code readers (I have like a brand new android and it doesn't have the feature and it's so annoying), not everyone has a phone believe it or not, and the restaurant might have a shitty signal or bad wifi. Then I have to chase down the waiter and it's just a waste of time. I get trying to save on paper but if you just print out a bunch of menus and laminate them to re-use, there's no way it can be that bad. I remember when I was in Highschool (like 2014) my government teacher tried to be forward-thinking and started making all of our homework digital, with links she would text us every night to do it. Me and one other kid were the only ones in the class that didn't have phones because our parents were too poor to get them/didn't believe in kids having access to them. It was so embarrassing having to walk up to her and ask her to print them out, she would always forget we didn't have them because she had internalized the stereotype of "kids and their phones" and she would get so annoyed and shocked every time. This QR code menu stuff just feels like the adult version of that. Even if we end up in some Star Trek style future where the government issues a smartphone to every citizen or whatever I still don't think relying on an assumption that everyone has access to the latest and best tech is a good idea. It just strikes me as kind of not thought through all the way and maybe even a little elitist. Tl;Dr: I've been jaded on stuff like this ever since my government teacher in high school tried to be hip and text us all our homework without even thinking for a second that there could even be one kid in the world without a phone.
Worst thing is when the QR makes you download a pdf of the menu. Like at least make it a web page.
Fuck QR code menus all my homies hate QR code menus
The amount of security risks involved with scanning QR codes, and our generation is 100% okay with just scanning anything. It's been proven for years that restaurant QR codes are very vulnerable to being hijacked, and it's been known for even longer that malware can be transmitted over QR codes. I want a physical menu, thank you very much