{"id":457525,"date":"2022-06-04T00:21:46","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T21:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-we-should-stop-using-qr-codes-for-restaurant-menus\/"},"modified":"2022-06-04T00:21:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T21:21:46","slug":"why-we-should-stop-using-qr-codes-for-restaurant-menus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-we-should-stop-using-qr-codes-for-restaurant-menus\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why we should stop using QR codes for restaurant menus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2496486cdf7\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2496486cdf7\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-we-should-stop-using-qr-codes-for-restaurant-menus\/#%E2%80%9CWhy_we_should_stop_using_QR_codes_for_restaurant_menus%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Why we should stop using QR codes for restaurant menus&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWhy_we_should_stop_using_QR_codes_for_restaurant_menus%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Why we should stop using QR codes for restaurant menus&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Their fifteen minutes of pandemic fame are up.<\/p>\n<p>Remember 2020, when we were thrilled to be dining outdoors after a three-month lockdown? Capturing a QR code and seeing a restaurant menu pop up on your phone almost seemed like fun at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Back then, the coronavirus was falsely believed to spread by surface contact. Post-vaccine, QR menus belong on the ash heap of pandemic history, along with wiping down mail and dousing your takeout containers in hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n<p>But these Rorschach inkblot-like menu replacements refuse to die. Too many in the industry stubbornly, irrationally, continue to use QR codes, further irking customers confronted with ever-more sprawling menus. Being forced to squint at an iPhone before your first sip of wine can suck the joy right out of a meal \u2014 indoors or out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDining out should be carefree and fun. QR codes kill the mood and turn what should be a pleasant experience into a chore,\u201d says New York-based communications consultant Rachel Antman, who likes to dine out frequently. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I scan a QR code at a restaurant, it reminds me of the check-in rigamarole\u00a0at kiosks that offer rapid COVID tests,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/qr-code-86.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"QR code menus are relics of the days when the coronavirus was falsely believed to spread by surface contact.\" class=\"wp-image-22523027\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/qr-code-86.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/qr-code-86.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/qr-code-86.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>QR code menus are relics of the days when the coronavirus was falsely believed to spread by surface contact.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jeremy Wladis, who owns the Upper West Side\u2019s Good Enough to Eat and Harvest Kitchen, long ago got rid of QR codes because customers \u201cnever fell in love with them\u201d at his crowd-pleasing Columbus Avenue spots. He can\u2019t wait to switch from QR to paper menus at Fred\u2019s, a popular burger and beer joint at Amsterdam and West 83d Street that\u00a0he just bought. The previous owners were still using QR.<\/p>\n<p>At ultra-trendy Szechuan spot Shan on Smith Street in Cobble Hill, the lengthy menu requires multiple swipes. A manager explained to us, \u201cIt\u2019s easier to change the menu\u201d from day to day as dishes are added and dropped.<\/p>\n<p>Easier for them \u2014 not for us. What a pleasure, after you waited for up to an hour for seats, to pick your way through Shan\u2019s ma-la dry pot variations on a two-by-three-inch screen!<\/p>\n<p>Midtown craft beer emporium The Three Monkeys takes things even farther, offering 36 beers to scroll through, plus a zillion tacos, flatbreads, bowls, salads, small plates, large plates, cocktails, wine \u2014 all in separate categories. Just what you need when you\u2019re desperate for a bite.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-475689783-1-copy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Like diners needed another reason to stare at their phones during dinner \u2014 now it's unclear if the unwelcome distraction will ever be done away with.\" class=\"wp-image-22523023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-475689783-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-475689783-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-475689783-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Like diners needed another reason to stare at their phones during dinner \u2014 now it\u2019s unclear if the unwelcome distraction will ever be done away with.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For my friend Shelley Clark, a Manhattan-based publicist, dish-and-drinks-wrangling proved an exercise in frustration at Drom, the long-established nightclub\/restaurant on Avenue A.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere\u2019s the menu,\u201d a staffer stated coldly, pointing toward the tiny, barely visible QR code.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe room is dimly lit, because it\u2019s a showplace,\u201d Clark points out. It strained her and her companion\u2019s patience as they tried to target the code with their phones and then to peruse listings for falafel plates and German sausage platters in the gloom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo customers were definitely disgruntled,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Drom didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. Other restaurants offered feeble explanations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-519518115-copy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Restaurant industry pros insist that the cost of printed menus is negligible, and that customers order less when using QR codes.\" class=\"wp-image-22523200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-519518115-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-519518115-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-519518115-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Restaurant industry pros insist that the cost of printed menus is negligible, and that customers order less when using QR codes.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images\/Tetra images RF<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe menu is out of date, it changes all the time,\u201d the waiter told us at popular Turkish-Mediterranean Blue Mezze Bar on Upper Second Avenue last week.<\/p>\n<p>Strange \u2014 their lineup, heavy on mezze and falafel samplers looked exactly as I remembered it from months ago.<\/p>\n<p>A manager at Tartina, an Italian cafe on Amsterdam Avenue near West 110th St., said they still use QR codes \u201cfor safety reasons,\u201d but wouldn\u2019t elaborate. He said they might switch to paper when the seasonal menu changes in a few months \u2014 which can\u2019t come too soon.<\/p>\n<p>Are they pinching pennies on paper and printing? Restaurant veterans say any negligible savings are erased by the fact that customers spend less when they order from QR menus.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer Street Hospitality founder John McDonald, who uses paper menus at the splendid new Mexican bistro Bar Tulix, as well as Lure Fishbar and Bowery Meat Company, estimated that a medium-size restaurant might save $5,000 a year with QR codes. That\u2019s peanuts compared to what they could end up losing: McDonald found that his customers spend 15% to 20% more when ordering from paper menus.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1330957883-copy.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Here's a secret \u2014 it's enough with the QR codes.\" class=\"wp-image-22523232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1330957883-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1330957883-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1330957883-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Here\u2019s a secret \u2014 it\u2019s enough with the QR codes.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The spending gap is probably because print menus let customers \u201cview the whole canvas\u201d at a glance, rather than having to poke through categories one at a time on QR, he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot imagine any savings that would convince anyone to want to just do code and not the physical reading of a properly designed, in-hand menu,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n<p>The strangest menu policy might be at stylish Macdougal Street wine bar Niche Niche. A friend was stumped when he was told that food was only shown by QR code \u2014 even though printed wine lists were on the tables.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought It was meshuganah,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they wouldn\u2019t explain why.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was so annoyed, he didn\u2019t stay to try either the wine or the food. Niche Niche didn\u2019t get back to us. They didn\u2019t even send a QR code.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/03\/stop-using-qr-code-for-restaurant-menu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Why we should stop using QR codes for restaurant menus&#8221; Their fifteen minutes of pandemic fame are up. Remember 2020, when we were thrilled to be dining outdoors after a three-month lockdown? Capturing a QR code and seeing a restaurant menu pop up on your phone almost seemed like fun at the time. Back then,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":457526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/OR-codes.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129880,1545,70344,70509,21774,22512],"class_list":["post-457525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-3-22","tag-coronavirus","tag-coronavirus-in-ny","tag-food","tag-nyc","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}