Show HN: Create a restaurant website in one click

by kirium • 8 years ago

55 17 8 years ago

I like the idea. A few thoughts:

- The "sign up for free" button takes me to an inescapable box which demands my phone number. Why can't I sign up using email?

- The cancel button on the sign up screen doesn't work.

- The Terms of Service and Privacy Policy links on the sign up screen don't go anywhere useful.

- I'd like to know more about the "optional extra services" and how much they cost before I sign up. I always suspect the worst when I'm pricing info is hidden behind a paywall.

52-6F-62• 8 years ago

Yeah I tried it out as well. It might be important to note (for user's sake) that if you try to go back from the sign up screen for any reason your work is lost.

Otherwise this is quite polished, and I think it's a great idea. There are a lot of small restaurants and shops that would benefit a lot from this, especially the free version.

kirium4• 8 years ago

Thank you for your feedback! We'll work on that.

kekub• 8 years ago

Great idea. My workaround is to use the portals of online delivery services. However even those are not available in my parents town.

I see a lot of monetarization potential in stuff like custom domains, online orders, etc...

CSEThrowaway• 8 years ago

I love this idea. However, I think it is crucial that you have some sort of demos available for people to look at on the front page.

Edit: You should also allow users to change fonts / text colors, as well as section background colors. I would be very annoyed if every single restaurant website looked exactly the same. I'd also recommend allowing them to upload their logo as an image.

Also, let them download their menu as JSON maybe?

Nadya• 8 years ago

There is a demo. Just click the button and get a website! It generated me this: https://menupit.com/ypguhv The "in one click" is an enticing enough reason to see if it was _really_ one click to get a site. It was, sans editing the menu. With a button I can click and edit things on it. I put "Hello CSEThrowaway" in the banner as the subheading. Not sure if it's publicly available since saving requires me to sign up though.

@OP

This would actually be amazing for the several dozen restaurants near me that don't seem to have any online presence at all - which surely hurts their business as people don't know what is on the menu without going in person. It's dead simple to get up and running and looks nice enough as a default. I'm not sure about the competition in this area (or competition like the easy "build-your-own-sites" like Wix or Square(something)) but at the right cost (subscription model? bandwidth/traffic metered?) this is something I could see businesses going for.

One super major flaw though. Other than creating a header graphic with a logo - there's no way to slap a logo anywhere. Nothing businesses love more than plastering their logo on as many things as they can. ;) I would suggest centered above the "Menu" header would be a great spot, without changing the design in any significant way.

newscracker• 8 years ago

What are the optional services and what’s the pricing? Are they available now or is it just something not yet finalized?

I really have a strong dislike for any service that doesn’t have a pricing link on the homepage.

kirium4• 8 years ago

Optional services is still in the pipeline, and this release is to see if there is a demand out there - and we'll iterate on that. What the restaurant pages show now will continue to be free.

kirium4• 8 years ago

Thanks for your feedback, guys! Much appreciated, and something concrete for us to work on.

This is our first release of the site, and it's still an MVP with lots of features and improvements in the pipeline. We have seen how restaurants struggle to get their information out there and be visible, and are working for a very easy to use solution.

xZezima• 8 years ago

keep up the good work man, u got this

auct• 8 years ago

Add some demo link or screenshot at least

bausshf• 8 years ago

Press the button on the website for the demo ;)

webdva• 8 years ago

Great idea and perfect execution of your minimum viable product!

kirium4• 8 years ago

Thanks :)

microsby0• 8 years ago

Very cool idea, I worked for a site that worked with merchants and their menus were the worst part about it. There is no standard menu structure, a lot of merchants have a variety of mandatory and optional selections based on an item. You want a burger? Ok, you must pick a temperature and you can select from 3-5 toppings, some of those toppings are extra cost, etc. This is a cool idea, just wanted to give you a heads up

ac2u• 8 years ago

This is very cool.

I actually wanted to build something very similar a year ago.

However, the frustration that was driving it wasn't that I need to make these menus, but that as a visitor to restaurant websites I hated the experience.

Too many restaurant owners are commissioning sites with all the bells and whistles and forgetting the customer that just wants to quickly see one page with

- Location - Map - Menu - Phone number

Anything that stands in the way of the above is another chance for a customer to get frustrated and try somewhere else. I certainly often visit restaurant websites with the intention just to double check the menu and phone number and spend my money, but the website makes me work for it.

If that's covered, knock yourself out with extra pages with silly galleries and blog posts and the story of how the restaurant was founded.

If your service is one step in there being more restaurant websites that stop scaring customers with money away, then kudos to you.

adamqureshi• 8 years ago

Dang! very useful. In NYC: Queens. Manhattan. Brooklyn. Bronx. But you need feet on the ground knockin on doors. Mom and pop: Pizza shops. Spanish food spots. Food Carts. Gyro spots. ethnic spots. Pakistani food. Indian. Nepal. Korean. etc.. Only problem is YELP. They all use yelp. Good lucky though.

Show HN: Create a restaurant website in one click

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