There was a Pittsburgh restaurant called Mallorca, a Spanish-Continental expensive place. The dessert menu changed constantly, so it was presented orally by your tuxedoed waiter.
The waiter would stand at attention, and say, “Tonight we are proud to offer…” and it would go on and on in exquisite detail. "Imported fresh raspberries served with clotted cream which Chef has collected from specific cows fed a special diet and a drizzle of blah, blah, blah.
But the really funny part was that after giving ten options in detail, the waiter would finish with, “and Flan”.
But surely it’s a matter of tastes, not being treated badly. The waiter may sincerely love the dish, but if you try it and hate it (assuming it is what it was purported to be, properly made, etc.), that’s not his fault. My question was why would you expect to like the same thing a stranger does?
Yes, that drives me nuts, too. I just want to look at the menu and decide if I want to eat here.
Yes, but not by “is the steak $25 or $30”, more likely “do they have entrees in the $10 range? The $25 range? Everything at least $45?” And honestly, a 2 year old menu posted by a customer answers that question fine.
I often ask the server for suggestions. I know my preferences. But they know whether other customers have raved about the ravioli. Often, the server will tell me explicitly, “I love the lamb, but the most popular dish is the salmon”. That’s useful, as a lot of customers are repeats, and will order something they like.
And sometimes a dish really isn’t very good. I ordered duck at a place that obviously doesn’t sell a lot of duck, and it was microwaved, and had that “reheated” taste. (It was also over-cooked.) I’m fine with them microwaving the soup, but meat is better if it hasn’t been reheated, and a microwave can really bring out that “leftover” flavor. The duck was NOT one of the dishes the waitress recommended. I got it because I really like duck, and it’s easy enough to cook that they should have gotten it right. The appetizer that she recommended was terrific.
Google Maps has (Beta Stage) started doing this. When I dine out I am asked if the cost per person is $10-$20, $20-$30, etc. You should notice this as more of a thing in Google Maps over the next year.
And I don’t understand why people wouldn’t ask what a particular restaurant is known for. I mean, I understand in the sense of comfort and familiarity-- but, for me, I have absolutely zero food aversions and when I go out to a new place to eat, I generally want to try something new and something that’s particularly in that restaurant’s wheelhouse. I will ask stuff like “what’s this place known for” or (more rarely), “what does the chef like”? I’m not asking you to guess my tastes. Quite the opposite. I’ll enjoy anything you put in front of me, I just want to know what you think is good, what you think is the star dish. My best experience with this was at a Lebanese restaurant where the server just took away our menus, asked us if we had any aversions/allergies, and fired up a bunch of apps, mains, and dessert. All for an extremely affordable price, and both me and my wife were so happy. I basically wanted a tasting menu, and I got one. And I didn’t have to hem and haw over all the choices and lapse into sticking to the usual hummus and shwarama.
I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant like that. I told the waitperson I’d never had Ethiopian food, had no preferences or allergies and she brought me a meal fit for a king, then explained to me how to best appreciate it.
Yeah, for me, the appeal of eating in ethnic/regional restaurants I’m not familiar with is to experience the culinary culture of that ethnicity/region. The restaurants I appreciate the most are the ones that treat you like guests of the family, show great love and enthusiasm for their food, and help you out as you go if you’re unfamiliar with how to eat it.
I’ll always remember my first smoked cocktail. Our server mentioned it as an after dinner drink suggestion. I told her I’d never had one. The bartender rolled a cart over table-side and did the coolest demo. It was good! Haven’t repeated the experience yet, but I will.
It never occurred to me that the menu photos were submitted by customers. But they are often reached by clicking on a “View Menu” tab so they seem official. In fact so many restaurants use the same format I assume it is standard template and they just drop their own photos and descriptions in the indicated area. Many of the food and interior photos are obviously submitted by customers. Even so how hard is it to see what they have submitted and add some better photos of your menu.
As for price, certainly I check them out. I’m a very conservative diner and have little intention of ordering a $40 steak when I can get delicious top sirloins at several favorite restaurants for under $20. Pastas are another favorite and if I’m in the mood to try a new mac n cheese dish I would like to know if their offering is $25 or $16. I may still go for the expensive one just because it sounds sooo good. The wife likes pasta and clam sauce and I expect that to be more.
Are you clicking a “view menu” tab on the restaurant’s actual web site, or on the listing in Google Maps? If it’s the latter there’s nothing official about them.
I’m pretty sure the photos are submitted when a patron writes a review of the restaurant. I don’t write online reviews, but it wouldn’t surprise me of Google specifically requested a picture of the menu as part of the review. And if that’s how they get the menu photos, for obvious reasons they won’t let restaurants review themselves.
Even if the restaurant could post their own photo of their menu, it would just go up in addition to the ones submitted by customers, it wouldn’t replace them. When I’ve looked at menus on Google often times there will by multiple pictures of the menu posted by different customers at different times, which is why you sometimes see multiple pictures of just the first page or something. Although there is a link you can click to report inaccurate information, I guess maybe they could use that to get the other photos taken down. But I’m guessing a lot of smaller restaurants simply don’t have the time to constantly be monitoring the information Google has on them.
Yep. Google Maps will ask for a review, and prod for pictures. Even if I don’t use Google Maps to get to the restaurant, they know I’m there, and ask for a review.
Pretty sure the “standard template” you’re talking about is simply how Google formats search results.
Look, O.P. I work at a restaurant. We occasionally get customers complaining about our “online menu” being out of date. I have heard my manager, and the general manager, both explain - repeatedly - that we do not have a website, that the menu(s) they’re seeing are posted by Google, and that we have zero control over what’s posted. Trussssssst me, if the G.M. could alter or update what people were seeing when they Google “X Restaurant” she most definitely would.