Your Menu Is a PDF, and Nobody Can Read It on the Subway

The problem with the scanned menu

Many restaurants post a menu as a PDF or a photo of a printed sheet. On a phone, on a crowded train, with one bar of signal, it is slow and tiny. The customer pinches, squints and gives up. Plain text on a web page loads quickly, reads easily and can even be found when someone searches for a dish.

What each place needs to say

A pizzeria should say what is on the menu, whether it delivers and where. A cafe should say when it opens, whether there is seating and what is available for the morning rush. A bar should mention opening hours and any regular event nights. A caterer should explain what is on offer for office lunches or parties and how far ahead to ask.

Eating out is local

People searching for food in New York usually have a particular neighborhood in mind: the East Village, Astoria, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Flushing. Mentioning your cross streets and the nearest station helps them find you after dark, and an up-to-date hours line saves a wasted trip.

Fixing it is not complicated. Write the menu as text, add a few photos and put your hours at the top. A free website gives you a place to do that and to change a special in a minute.