Yes and no. I find the restaurant on Google maps but 9/10 times the menu is either outdated or not properly structured and having a link to the menu website is better. So Google maps is the top of the funnel but I still appreciate a website.

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avhception 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For many local places here, the only way to get the menu online is if a customer posted a photo of the menu on Google maps or something.

And 1/3 of the time, that photo is too blurry and off-angle and whatnot to even read properly.

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Gigachad 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I can’t help but think what this means is just that the menu isn’t that’s important as a marketing tool. If having an up to date website and menu resulted in a noticeable boost in business, every restaurant would have it.

Average person either finds the place through google maps or a TikTok video, checks a few photos of the food or venue, then goes. Doesn’t matter what the exact menu is because there are plenty of options and something will be appealing.

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ruszki 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Or it’s good for customers and bad for restaurants. There are such things, and menu can be easily one. Especially tourist focused restaurants infested with such tactics, and you can avoid most of them just looking on their menu.

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avhception 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Maybe that is the case for some places, but this is rather rural Germany. Not sure when I've last seen a tourist here.

	▲	datsci_est_2015 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah that context matters significantly. What’s the turnover rate for restaurants in your area? What’s the variance in menu? “Success” in my neck of the woods is staying open more than 2 years, and menu availability plays a significant role.

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avhception 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

We usually order by phone, then drive by and pick up the food. Can't do that w/o a menu. The solution is usually to take a printed menu with you when you're there. But that's a chicken-and-egg problem!

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soco 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Is that a "restaurant" then? Your use case means a kitchen which indeed needs a menu. But dining is something else, so we cannot compare.

	▲	avhception an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Many of them offer that option, so there is a grey zone. But you're right - should have been more clear about that.

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Xenoamorphous 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What makes you think that the menu in the website is not going to be outdated.

	▲	baud147258 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think the parent is making the assumption that a business owner would be able (and willing) to update the menu on their own website, whereas random pictures on Google Maps/Instagram might not have the most recent menu.

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Apocryphon 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Really the previous comment should have mentioned Yelp, and perhaps Tripadvisor for non-American customers.