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We have a Restaurant and Take-Out Facebook page to support local eateries, and people almost always post their meals, describing them in detail, without mentioning cost; everyone comments how good it looks and asks for more information about the food, but never the price. Guess we're not supposed to care; it's crass.
If there is another thread about this, please let me know. I looked but didn't see anything after scrolling for several pages.
A friend emailed the name of a restaurant he wanted to try after the pandemic slows enough. I went looking online and although it was not a restaurant I am interested in due to the type of food, I noticed there were no prices for anything from apps to drinks. Now, I have not been to a restaurant in 2 years due to Covid but I have ordered online for delivery and have never seen this. From looking around online it seems this is not unusual in places like Japan and Europe. This seems to be common in pricier places. I do admit I don't frequent expensive restaurants.
I am curious if anyone experienced this and what you think about it? Thanks.
If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it. That's the way I look at it. With anything if they don't show me the price, then I assume I can't afford it, and look elsewhere. If the prices are good, they probably aren't going to hide them.
I've seen some places that don't price their higher-end meat entrees because they vary based on the market which I understand and don't have a problem with, but to not price anything on the menu would be annoying.
OP is talking about an online menu.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia
It should be absolutely zero hassle to keep it. They hve to update the database anyway to generate their in-store menus and for the order entry system. The website should pull from the same source.
Yeah from what I know a lot of restaurants are a lot more low tech. Looking around at a handful of local places websites that's what I see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by villabella22201
Yes, to add to the grip of no prices on menus... Never take food off another person's plate and please get rid of the "small plate" offerings, what a nightmare. How many times have I gone home hungry and spent all my money for so little food???
So don't eat at small plate restaurants. Do you do no research where you go?
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere
We have a Restaurant and Take-Out Facebook page to support local eateries, and people almost always post their meals, describing them in detail, without mentioning cost; everyone comments how good it looks and asks for more information about the food, but never the price. Guess we're not supposed to care; it's crass.
I was taught that it IS crass to ask someone what something cost them. Especially strangers. As for cost, do your own research.
Especially with takeout/online ordering platforms, you can figure it out yourself.
Yeah from what I know a lot of restaurants are a lot more low tech. Looking around at a handful of local places websites that's what I see.
The low-tech easy way would be to simply present the menu as a photo. For the online menu just link to a photo of the menu. To update, just upload a new photo with the same filename. Takes but a minute, uses technology everyone knows, and is guaranteed mistake-free.
Yes, I usually do this and have no problem. It was this restaurant my friend sent me the link for that had no prices and I really had never seen this and found it kind of off putting. I did end up digging around and finding out some prices that customers posted along with their food.
As for ‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it’, to my regret years after, that was how I felt when asked “how much is it to whereverâ€, when I drove a London taxi.
If I was sitting on a taxi stand reading the paper and someone asked ‘how much?’, I knew that if I guesstimated £12.00 and the meter ticked up £12.20 maybe 100 metres from their destination there’d be exaggerated sighing from the back and they’d cry their eyes out while counting out the exact fare, no tip.
As for ‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it’, to my regret years after, that was how I felt when asked “how much is it to whereverâ€, when I drove a London taxi.
If I was sitting on a taxi stand reading the paper and someone asked ‘how much?’, I knew that if I guesstimated £12.00 and the meter ticked up £12.20 maybe 100 metres from their destination there’d be exaggerated sighing from the back and they’d cry their eyes out while counting out the exact fare, no tip.
Yes, that was helpful when I visited Paris. My vegetarian daughter and I got to our airbnb at dinnertime and went walking around the neighborhood trying to find a place for dinner. We looked at the posted menus at three or four places, all of which had some version of Lamb I, Lamb II, Lamb III, and Chicken, until we spied an Indian restaurant that listed a choice of three different three-course specials, one of which was vegetarian.
We went inside and began to try to order in our limited, atrocious French when the nice Indian lady said in a perfect British accent, "Do you speak English?" It was a good meal!
Family members, little kids can get away with this. But that crap goes out the window with strangers.
If I wanted to see cud chewing, I'd go to a farm.
Try going to a Chinese/Japanese restaurant and have all silverware removed. Make everyone use chopsticks. No more food "stealing".
Yeah from what I know a lot of restaurants are a lot more low tech. Looking around at a handful of local places websites that's what I see.
So don't eat at small plate restaurants. Do you do no research where you go?
I was taught that it IS crass to ask someone what something cost them. Especially strangers. As for cost, do your own research.
Especially with takeout/online ordering platforms, you can figure it out yourself.
Yes, I do my research and after being burned once with the small plate fiasco, I always check and do not go to these restaurants unless they offer other things.
I was taught that it IS crass to ask someone what something cost them. Especially strangers. As for cost, do your own research.
The point of the page is to share useful information about food options in town WITHOUT having to "research" it. If the ingredients, taste, and servings sizes are relevant, so is the price.
The question wasn't whether or not it's crass to ask -- one shouldn't HAVE to ask on an information-sharing page -- the implication of not posting price is that it's crass to care.
I, for one, care about bang for my buck. Sorry, not sorry.
Since the pandemic started all food prices have become volatile and changing almost daily. For example look at hamburger meat, before the pandemic in our area hamburger was $2,99 lb now it runs between $6.99 and $8.99 lb. Tomatoes on the vine were $1.29 lb, now $1,29 lb. Right now pork products ham & sausage are difficult to find. Prices fluctuate so often restaurants can't keep up with costly web site pricing so the best thing is to eliminate them altogether.
I've seen in some restaurants menus the old prices covered over with stickers showing their current price. Can't blame them, they have no control over the prices of the products they buy.
Also minimum wage prices have gone up considerably in many areas, effecting restaurants and adding cost to doing business.
Our local family diner, the owner I know, says it's a crazy world out there right now. You don't know one day from another what the prices are going to be and the supply chain is broke and many popular food items are hard to get sometimes.
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No more food "stealing". 
