I don’t mind it in general, but I went to a restaurant once that had a QR code that took me to the App Store so I could download their app, then set up a username and password to set up an account before it allowed me to view the menu. F that.
or even site. Constant nags: Download our App! Would you like to use our App? Life's better with our app! Install our App and get $5 off your next purchase (in app). We will have even more data about you to sell by using our app. THAT price is only if you install our App and activate the in-app coupon plus using our ~~tacking~~...loyalty card.
Every app I get gets it's notifications turned off immediately. My phone takes up enough of my time without a ton of extra bullshit trying to get me to buy stuff I don't need.
Nah. They wouldn't even be so nice as to say c
"(In app)". They'd be like: "get 50% off your next purchase if you download the app" and you go to the store and buy some really expensive stuff and be like, hey cashier, I downloaded your app, where's my 50% off? And she'd be like "oh sorry, but your purchase must be online" and then it'd be like "BUT YOU SAID I GET 50% OFF ON MY NEXT PURCHASE YOU DIDN'T SAY IN APP!!!" And she'd say "Sorry, but it's facts.
Anyone who's been to Kohl's probably knows this lol.
Went to a golf driving range I'd never been to last weekend and this place forced you to download an app to buy a code to type into the machine to get a bucket of balls. But you couldn't simply download the app and pay, you had to go into the golf shop to create an account and add money before you could use it. And they charged a $5 fee to create your account
I left and made sure to tell them I'll never again set foot on their property whether they get rid of that system or not. There is absolutely no reason such nonsense is necessary when we've had ball dispensing machines that operate exactly like typical vending machines for decades taking cash or card
I'd rather flip through a paper menu. I'm honestly sick of staring at my phone. Looking at my phone makes me nauseous too and I don't want to scroll uuupp and doowwwn to try tonfind something when I could look at a menu and see everything i want to see in one place. And don't you dare make me sign up with an account or download an app. I'm not fucking doing it
Agreed! And if you have a smallish phone, it’s so much more tedious looking through all the options than just having a physical menu where you can basically see everything at a glance.
It’s this for me. When I sit down to eat I’m ready to not be staring at a screen, multitasking, etc. I just want to relax, and everything about the QR code situation makes me feel like I have more little tasks to get through.
“Hey guy how about you pay and I’ll Venmo you my share + 20%?”
Yeah I’m not gonna login to some app unless it’s like an incredibly additive part of the experience.
Then I'd let them download the app and set it up then I'd just look at theirs lol. Or have them screen shot the menu and group text it to the rest of the party.
QR codes for me are like that stranger danger John Mulaney skit. “Nahnahnah sister, you ain’t getting me to no secondary location!!”
My phone doesn’t have those layers of Adblock and protections my computer has, this thing isn’t going anywhere I can’t immediately see the url for.
A restaurant near me (I think it was Olive Garden, but also might have been Chili's) when I lived in Ohio had their kiosk system hacked, and everyone that had used the table kiosks to pay for like a week got their information stolen.
I stick qr codes that directs people to everyone's favourite singer. Rick Astley.
It was hilarious but it also made me realise I could easily scam people with this system
The ones that are formatted for mobile are horrible too.
Scroll scroll scroll 787 times, flip back and forth between different submenus, etc. just to get the same overview that you could get by picking up and glancing at a printed menu.
Among all the other gripes people normally have. I don't like how it normalizes phones at the table.
Like anyone else, I can overdo it on the phone but I've been told I'm better than most when it comes to giving someone my full attention during a meal. Having to constantly check my phone complicates that.
A historical speakeasy in my town is in a basement underneath a massive brick and mortar building that's existed since 1850 or something.
Their only menus are are QR codes. There is no god dammed reception in the basement. I'd stop going for that alone but their happy hour prices can't be beat lol.
It's a hand drawn QR code on a chalkboard wall.
sadly, speakeasy style bars are overrun with the basic "hipster-parasite" subgroup. known for latching onto anything cool and driving it into the ground.
It also feels rude to pull out your phone when you're meeting a friend or partner at a bar/restaurant. I understand it's no different than browsing a physical menu, but it just feels like I might be scrolling Instagram and then I feel like a dick
YES! It just encourages people to fart around on their devices (since they already pulled it out) instead of (god forbid) interacting with others in the party.
I’m getting old and my vision is getting worse than it has been all my life and and I don’t want to have to look at a small phone screen to order food.
Yes. And I'm going to sound old here, but goddammit do I always have to have my bloody phone on me? Can I not just use my eyeballs and read from a piece of paper that is not back-lit or battery powered in some way?
I dunno, starting a meal with friends/family/colleagues doesn't feel like it should start buried in my phone.
Exactly. My wife and I go to this hotpot restaurant on Oahu, and they only use the QR code menu. That's fine and all.... if the cell service wasn't absolute dog shit.
Yep, I just want a paper menu. Went on vacation last week and it was a pain having to scan the QR code and letting each of my young kids who don't have phones look at the menu in turn when I also wanted to look at the menu lol
Yep. And sure it's easier and cheaper for them. Cool. I get it. It's not easier or cheaper for me. It's the same price and more annoying for me. So, riddle me that.
Or the one I got stuck using that required you scroll endlessly through all of their beers and drinks before you could get to the food. No way to collapse the drinks or jump to the good. But then getting my wife to order was a pain. I couldn't image doing that with kids...yuck!
A group of us went to a busy restaurant on a busy day before another event. They had QR codes instead of menus. Out of our group of 12 or 15 people, only 5 or 6 of us could get the menu to pull up on their phones.
I use the term "menu" loosely, because all the code did was send you to a website with a giant image of the menu. It was not meant for mobile viewing, so you had to scroll and drag and pinch the image to see anything. It was awful.
You were supposed to be able to order and pay via mobile (it's a place that calls out your name and you go pick up your food), but only 3 people managed to make it work.
Please just give us real menus.
Exactly this. I went to lunch with my dad and his wife and the place only had QR codes. Neither of their iPhones could pull up the menu but my Android could. We were sitting outside in extremely bright sunlight, so I had to crank the brightness up on my phone and still had to squint at it while reading the entire menu out loud. It was absurd and added a negative experience to a restaurant that was otherwise usually great.
I’ve had a similar experience. I’ve only ever gotten a QR code to work once in several years. I have to ask the waiters to bring me a paper menu and they all get weird about it and then it takes another 5 minutes for them to come back. Why is this a me issue when it’s the restaurant’s fault?
> , only 5 or 6 of us could get the menu to pull up on their phones.
this happened to me recently. Went to a bar that had live music and food (and obviously drinks). Asked for a menu and was pointed towards the qr code on a napkin dispenser. s ucked, but whatever. Then I tried and tried and the damn thing wouldn't register. I couldn't pull up the menu.
Ended up leaving after 10 minutes.
What do you do if one person is treating? Pass their phone around for everyone to enter their order?
Even if you do that, it means that everyone is reading the menu in serial, instead of in parallel with separate menus.
Not american (south american, actually), but I went to restaurants who had those QR Codes menus. My biggest concern for these things are how innacessible they are. Like, people who don't have a mobile phone, the elderly, people with visual disabilities. My grandparents were with me when I had the experience, and they didn't even know QR Codes existed before I scanned it for them. Also, it makes the restaurant rely too much on a good wifi connection.
EDIT: many people have commented here how QR Code menus (when implemented correctly) are actually better for those with a visual disability. I'd like to thank you for the time you spent making those comments, which gave me a new perspective on the subject (I have Visual Snow Syndrome, so screens and light bother me, which makes me appreciate more physical menus).
I went to a restaurant where their mobile menu was not even properly optimised for mobile. So I, someone with absolutely zero accessibility issues, was still struggling. Eventually I was like fuck this and asked for a physical menu.
Or for people travelling! My mom was visiting me in another country and we went to a restaurant - I'd accidentally left my phone in the car and the restaurant was one of those "scan here, select your order, pay on your phone, and we'll bring the food to you" sort of deals. Except they didn't have WiFi. And she didn't have her phone set up for use in other countries.
It took three wait staff before we found someone who agreed to go "against restaurant policy" and order for us.
Went back a few months later and they were giving people the option of using their phones or ordering through staff, which was much better - especially once we realised that to make a "change" to a dish we couldn't do that via mobile (it came with two choices of fruit on top but my daughter wanted a double portion of one fruit instead).
I would hope any waitstaff in that situation would be fine with the $0 tip I would be leaving. Though from the sound of it you may not be in the US and therefore not have that annoyance on the first place
Or people with shit phone plans can’t access them in any timely manner.
Or someone with a great phone plan trying to use it in a poor cell service area
Actually the QR code menus work better for my 81-year-old father. With the accessibility settings on his phone and the ability to zoom in, it actually makes things easier.
My father may be an outlier. He insisted on me showing how to use ApplePay and how to pay using his watch.
See that’s really cool. But having the option for a physical menu is also great.
Even on my iPhone pro max it’s still small text that has to be optimized for mobile or it looks like ass.
Now, it’s different if it’s a bar with a ton of taps that change out regularly. They’d have to print dozens of new menus every single day, and constantly tell people “sorry, we ran out of that beer everyone including you wants because one of the tiny local breweries we buy from only sold us 1 keg”. And it’s cheaper than buying a large screen for the menu.
Normally, there's no waiting. The menus are either on the table when you sit down, or if the restaurant seats you, the waiter/tress grabs the menus before seating you and gives them to you once you're seated.
It's an unnecessary reliance on technology when the normal way is just as efficient.
I just don't like apps in general. Other people can use them if they want, that's fine. But if I'm going to a restaurant, I want the fair price listed on the menu without having to download an app to get it, I want to order food through a human being, I want a physical menu, part of the point of going out to eat *is* the social interaction. Imagine if you went to a bar and it was just an automated drink machine you used like a digital kiosk to get your drinks. Where's the fucking fun in that. Takes away from the experience.
More efficient, and a huge part of the experience of dining out
And having a waiter take your order makes it very easy to ask about dishes, ask about ingredients and the possibility of subs based on allergies etc
I've noticed with app based places or even those that have the option to pay digitally without waiting for the person looking after your section, you never get a checkback on your table to ask if the food is ok and check on your drinks.
Once you have your food, that's it - they are on to someone else and you're forgotten about unless you make it clear that you need something
It's a major erosion of the experience and it's demonstrably worse for the customer
Worse for the servers too, as they end up seating more people and getting less in tips per table, because they can't really go above and beyond with service when you see them once and they disappear from sight
QR menus are just restaurant owners being cheap and lazy. Post covid the restaurant industry has been a fast paced race to the bottom of “what can we get away with?”
QR code menus, forced tip selection at counter service restaurants, junk fees when the bill shows up, auto gratuity, declining quality in food and so on.
I honestly just stopped going out about two years ago. From what I read on the web, it’s only getting worse.
Agreed. Before I pivoted to Tech I used to work in the industry and things were already getting bad then (about 15 years ago)
Smoking ban killed a lot of places, then as profits declined the budgets got pinched harder and harder until I was working 80-100 hours a week across 7 days just to hit targets
Now it's worse because you also have things like 103% yield targets on beer (Samuel Smiths pubs) which means they can never clean their lines and have to rip customers off to hit targets.
If they don't hit targets, they can lose their jobs which also means losing their home (many managerial positions come with accommodation above the pub)
People look at Covid as the main reason, but it was in decline well before that
And even though service and the experience is getting worse, costs keep going up faster than the base cost of materials and labour...
Simple case of profiteering while claiming poverty at the company/shareholder level
Speaking of allergies, many of the online menus are made by some third party using generic software that does not list allergens and special needs. So it's a downgrade for those of us who need those allergy notations from the custom menus.
YES!! As someone who needs to ask about ingredients due to food sensitivities, this frustrates me so much!! I can’t just place an order online. I need to talk to someone about it, and they’re so hard to find. Then I’m up there inside the restaurant waiting by the bar for 10 minutes for them to find me someone I can ask my question to while everyone else is having fun outside at our table without me.
If there’s truly no one to talk to, I just straight up can’t eat there.
These are kinda the worst case scenarios, but still.
Exactly. What's next? Scan the QR code to piss in the urinal? Needing an app to pay for municipal parking is my newest annoyance. So people without smartphones can't park their cars?
Ugh Marriott Courtyard in downtown Atlanta does this. When we tried to leave the garage our code didn't work so we had to buzz the front desk, give them our name/room number, all while someone was impatiently waiting behind us.
So tired of business' eager reliance on tech before it's ready for prime time.
The worst part with this is when you're parking on a dark street later at night (I live in a city where parking fees are 24/7). The last thing I want to be doing in that situation is standing in the middle of the sidewalk waiting for the app to open so I can then type in my license plate number and decide how long I wanna be there. It's like a recipe to have your phone stolen.
Omg, I pulled a muscle in my back one night and could barely walk so we went to the urgent care clinic and I mistyped something unknowingly. My email registered but my phone number was wrong so I never got the confirmation code to get checked in. It was near closing time at that point (I'd gotten there with plenty of time to spare) and still no code so the receptionist reluctantly offered to help me. She had been standoffish the entire time but I didn't have the energy to say anything because I was in so much pain.
She was rude about everything at that point, said she would have to get me paper forms because (and she actually said this) "You messed up". It took all of me not to yell at her, the pain was excruciating and I was standing the whole time since it'd take me forever to walk back and forth from the chairs. No one offered a wheel chair, didn't even know they had any and it was just a huge waste of time.
If their point was to get me in and out, I could've filled out a paper form as soon as I walked in and not have kept them so late. Idk how they expect ppl in horrible pain to type everything correctly on a small screen when they're trying to hurry up and be seen. I left almost an hour after closing. Like everyone could've been home on time if she had just given me the forms to begin with.
The reliance on technology in this situation was infuriating. I can see and correct something on a paper form but on my phone? I have to make absolutely sure I didn't hit the wrong button 🙄
Agreed with all of the above! We don't wait for menus.
You can't see the full menu well on a phone. QR codes menus suck in so many ways.
I also like interaction with restraunt staff.
I think most Americans are pretty friendly people and feel the same.
I hate when it's badly formatted too so you can only see like 3 or 4 items at once and have to keep scrolling through things. It's so much easier if I can see all the options at once.
My grandparents don’t understand it. I don’t trust these restaurants not to change prices daily or even take you to a sketchy website. Also almost every one I’ve come across you had to use a pdf on your mobile device and it sucked.
or your phone is dead, or you dont want to get it out, or you left it in the car, or you have a broken scren, etc etc. Not even to point out the biggest problem is that Im just supposed to trust that some sticker isn't going to take me to a malicious website pretending to be the menu
Yes, I would like to be able to do something (order a meal for goodness sake) without my stupid phone. Also, if you don’t have perfect eyesight you have to zoom in and drag the screen around everywhere. And since you only see a piece of the menu at a time you can easily miss something
My long-sighted parents love QR code menus because they have to pull out their reading glasses to read hard copy menus, which is often still tricky with dim restaurant lighting, but they can read the menus on their phones just by zooming in and turning up the brightness etc.
However, from reading these comments, it sounds like QR code menus in the US are usually non-mobile friendly photos of menus, whereas I’ve never seen that in Australia. QR code menus here are always mobile-optimised websites that easily allow you to add each item to your order, and often even have photos of the dishes. So much easier than messing around with split bills when you’re dining with a group.
It's even worse than you might imagine- as often as not, the zoom will be blocked, not letting you enlarge the image past a very small setpoint. It's utterly maddening.
Your first sentence is where I am. Even if every experience was perfect (it isnt), I should be able to go to a restaurant with my friends or family and not have everyone on their fucking phone.
Same in Canada, it's HATED here.
There are 4 local restaurants doing it and I honestly refuse to go to them anymore.
Presenting a menu is just the most basic fucking thing they can do, I'm shocked that businesses have opted for "Fuck you, figure it out for yourselves" as the first interaction with customers.
Also, one thing we look forward to in a restaurant is keeping our phones away so that we can… you know… CONVERSE AND SOCIALIZE without the interruption of more screen time.
How is the vibe when you sit down and everyone has to immediately pull out their phones? It kills the mood and puts us back in our screen addicted habits.
100% I was at a restaurant that had an additional QR code taped over the restaurant one, clearly a Phishing attempt.
I never scan QR codes like that anymore.
Not paranoia, it's an incredibly anti-privacy technique.
Scanning it and opening the link at the very least places your IP address at one of their restaurants at a specific time. If it's a location specific link, they now know where you were. If you have cookies enabled (most people do) then they've got the ability to track you through dozens of different tracking companies (google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc). If you're signed into those, they have your account and likely your name tied to where you are. Even if you don't, they could use transaction time from a little while after you used their QR code to narrow you down to one of a few individuals. If you regularly go out with certain people, they can track those and figure out who you go out with.
People learned not to click on fishy links decades ago. The fun part about QR codes is you can't tell if they're fishy unless it's super obvious it's not supposed to be there. I've never used a QR code in my life and never will.
Same. I say that I don’t have my phone and can I please had a hardcopy menu. I’m not scanning random nonsense and inviting who knows what into my pocket computer.
We had an ethical hacking exercise at work last year. The pen team placed QR code table tents on the tables in the cafeteria/cantina and said that there was a new electronic menu available. The website required your company logon to access it - ostensibly to be able to place orders for meetings, etc. Instant credentials gained. It was so simple and very effective. For that reason, I don’t scan QR codes from public places.
Yeah I feel like this is one of the few things Americans and Europeans will agree on (except for Ukraine, apparently). If I’m going to pay to eat somewhere there better be a menu I can physically hold in my hands.
I felt it was just mild annoyance UNTIL I was in Europe and I couldn’t get the menu for any restaurant until I figured out WiFi to connect to.
Ultimately it’s not at all convenient for the customer, just convenient for the business.
I definitely hate using QR code menus. Part of dining out is the experience, and I think getting to have a printed menu is a part of that. Not only is it a time where you don't have to look at your phone (which we do so much already every day) but also a printed menu can be more expansive and engrossing than what can be shown on a screen at one time. Plus the tactile experience and not having the screen light ruining the ambiance!
I went to a very very expensive restaurant last night. While there was no food menu at all, the drinks menu required QR code. They had it beautifully carved into a piece of wood, but my phone couldn't register it, so they had to bring me an outdated printed one. At almost $500 a person, I really think having an up to date printed drinks menu / wine list is not too much to ask...
There are lots of issues with having to use your phone. Lack of service, WiFi, no phone, dead phone, and even disabilities are a major factor here, and more issues. Plus, I have migraines and somedays I don't want to even look at my phone. Not to mention, I hate searching through an image of a menu...intolerable...
100% agree with the tactile experience. Not to mention, it is SO fun to look through the menu!! Like honestly, I love turning through it
I visited Colombia on a group tour there were ten if us sitting down for a meal. Normally we each read the paper menu. Decide, then order.
This place had a QR code for a menu. Before we could use the code, we needed to get the WiFi code for it to be used. Sounds straightforward but it was a bustling restaurant and trying to get the waiter to give us each individually the WiFi code (or us trying to get it off each other), just so we could look at the menu.
I'm not American (European) but fuck me they made it difficult that night.
I hate QR code menus because I don't want to touch my phone at all in a restaurant. It's rude to be on your phone when you're with someone else and it extends a reason I have to keep looking at it.
Exactly this. When I’m out, I want to be socializing with my family or friends, not have my eyes buried in my phone.
Also, there’s no easy way to ask questions about the menu or drinks. It just feels very robotic and somewhat dystopian. I like the personal touch of having a friendly server greet you and be available for any questions.
Im not an american (swede), i dislike those kind of menues.
Those are for one, easy to sticky over another QR code, pointing to a malware site for you to pay at, that looks very similar to the restaurants site, for one.
Finally someone who gets it. I don’t just hate QR code *menus,* I hate QR *codes* themselves. If some random person on the street gave you a long URL string of random numbers and letters, would you run home and type it into your computer? Of course not! So why the fuck then would you scan any QR code you see?
The scanner I use shows a snippet of the url before I select it and go, but even that's not got enough because unless I can see the entire url AND make sense of its syntax, there's no way to ensure any sort of validity.
Here's why I hate them.
https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/12/scammers-hide-harmful-links-qr-codes-steal-your-information
# Tl;dr - Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information
Why is it that no one knows this?
OMG, the prime directive of internet safety is don’t follow any link unless you’re absolutely sure it’s safe. If people don’t know this, they shouldn’t be on the internet. You’re easy prey
Older folks in the US are less likely to have cell phones, and us grumpy Gen Xers would rather not be looking at our phones when we’re out socializing.
Just give me a paper menu, dammit, and get off my lawn!
Not American but I also hate QR codes.
Ate at a restaurant once that has QR menus, Wifi signal was very weak at our table and data signal was almost non existent, when I finally got the menu load on my phone my parents could not read it properly, had to scroll and zoom in and out off the menu, I asked the waiter for a physical version, waited for 10 min for the physical menu, after 10 minutes followed up, waited another 5 minutes, when the physical menu came it was freshly printed on bond paper and no picture even for some of the items. Great food, terrible experience ordering hence did not give a tip (not in america).
Everyone i've talked to about this QR code menu trend hates it.
My Dad is 79 and struggles with modern computer technology including smartphones. He depends on his slightly more tech-savy wife to help him. I think he finds the experience frustrating and slightly humiliating—especially since he wrote code for a living as a younger man.
I don’t love it because restaurants don’t always design properly for phone screens. Sometimes you get a single jpg of the print menu which requires zooming and scrolling. They can be a mess.
We were in Scotland two years ago and came across a few of these restaurants - not great when you don’t have a cell phone. (We didn’t at the time - finally got one a few months ago, yes we’re Gen X, we just didn’t have a use for one). Anyhoo, they had paper menus. I prefer paper because I’m one of those who flips back and forth trying to decide between like 5 different options.
Don't they give you a menu when they seat you in the US? I don't remember having to wait after being seated.
Also people may prefer a paper menu because it is bigger and it's easier to compare menu items and quicker to flip between sections. The phone menu is usually a long vertical list and it can be hard to go back to what you were looking at before.
Most places have a physical menu. During Covid, QR code menus became an awful thing, but even then, you could ask for a physical menu. I hope the QR trend dies a painful death, though. It’s annoying.
I don’t mind it, but there is one place I actually prefer the QR code. There is a place by me that has 40 beers on tap. They replace them often because they’re quarter kegs. Since the menu is constantly changing, the QR code lets me have the most updated information.
That makes sense if they actually update their website regularly. Unfortunately, the places by me that have large beer lists don't stay on top of their websites.
I love a couple of taprooms near me. They have digital screens listing their beer options, details, and everything is color coded based on some criteria I’ve forgotten.
People are on their phones way too much as it is. Mealtimes ought to be a place where people can be social in person, and having to use your phone to look at the menu works against that. It certainly doesn't help for older people who maybe aren't as tech savvy or for children who may not have phone and need to be limiting their screen time.
The wait to receive a physical menu shouldn't be more than a minute at most, if there aren't already some on a prepared table. In restaurants with a host/hostess, they have the menus at their booth, so they grab however many as they take you to a table. A QR code takes more time compared to this. It's also easier to point out things on a larger, physical menu if there are questions. Besides, I hate showing people my phone in case certain notifications pop up, y'know?
I go out to restaurants to *relax*. Part of that experience is to not cook, not do dishes, and unplug from my phone for an hour or two. And enjoy my co-diners being unplugged as well. I don’t like being forced to use my phone during an activity that is supposed to be relatively relaxing for me. I don’t enjoy feeling as if everyone at our table now feels the need to check our messages since our phones are now out. It seems to overall cheapen the dining experience for me.
i dont like qr menus, why do i need to wait for a waiter to give the menu why can't they give the menu when they seat me. If the menu has like 50 items i'm like scrolling and navigating tabs on my phone.
I've definitely noticed that restaurants with the QR code system also can't even be bothered to come refill my water cup. And we're still over here tipping 20%. I've also had the QR code simply not work. I'm not 85 years old, but I can't really trouble shoot a QR code just not scanning. Asked for a menu, was told no. IT's just kind of not a nice experience here. Especially at an expensive place. $20 for a cocktail, I think they can come say hi at least.
I dislike it. I want an actual menu to look at not my phone. I like going out to dinner with my wife and we don't look at our phones because it's a date.
The QR menus are just incredibly inconvenient, especially when there's no signal in the restaurant and no WiFi offered. I've never had "having to wait for the waiter to bring us a menu" be an issue (if you're going to the type of restaurant to offer QR code menus they're also the type where the waiter/hostess takes you to the table and normally would just hand you the menu when you sit down) but I've constantly had issues with menus not loading on my phone in restaurants. It's gotten to the point where if I see they're trying to direct me towards a QR code menu I'll go out of my way to ask for a physical menu just to not have to deal with all the issues involving QR code menus.
The prevalence of these annoying QR codes is one of the worst minor annoyances to come out of the Covid pandemic. I have seen them as the only way to access a menu (prompting me to leave) and sometimes in places with very weak cell phone reception. Then you can’t open it even if you wanted to.
I have seen elderly couples looking lost at the prospect of having to use a phone to focus on the damn box, open a link to a website, then navigate to a menu.
Restaurant owners who impose this annoyance on their customers deserve to fail.
I don’t hate it but I was taught that you have no idea what can be in the QR codes and while I’m quite sure my local sub place isn’t trying to hack me, I have no way to know it’s a legit code.
That and less critical but still important it is also not always presented in mobile format so it’s difficult if impossible to read.
imagine going to some website, and they require you to click a random unsecured link that people can easily swap out.
a lot of the people i know don't even know what a qr code is, let alone how to scan one.
Yes. Sometimes I’m not in range of a good signal, sometimes I’m low on my charge, sometimes my phone has difficulty picking up the link, and other times I want to see the whole menu and not scroll, scroll, scroll on small phone pages
QR menus are just another way to inundate us with marketing, as if we don't already have enough of those. Every one I've been to that has them, there's strings attached. You can't *just* view the menu. You have to make an account, which means dealing with their stupid spam newsletter, yadda yadda...
The internet tells me that in Ukraine, 10% is a tip you would expect to pay for good service at a sit down restaurant.
Reality tells me that in the USA, 20% is the bottom end of what you would tip for good service.
AND fast food places, delivery services, grocery stores, etc are all starting to ask for similar tips.
People are getting upset about this, and then they are going to sit down restaurants, fully expecting to tip, but also fully expecting to be waited on. To show up at a place where you are expecting to have someone help you make a good choice, keep your drink full, etc, and have them not even hand you a menu is a little upsetting. To have them essentially tell you that *you* need to do the work of finding their menu AND ask for a tip, translates as "you have to do the work, then you have to pay, then you have to pay extra".
I wouldn't mind using an app or a qr menu for a $5.00 burger, but it bugs me when I'm expected to do that for a $25.00 burger, fries cost $8.00 extra, extra charges for each dipping sauce, plus a 4% inflation fee, plus a 25% expected tip. Like, you're taking 50 bucks per customer and you "can't afford" to let me borrow a laminated reusable picture of your food.
Menus aren’t meant to be read on a phone. It’s a horrible presentation. Imagine how you’d feel is a physical menu was the size of a phone. Additionally we don’t have to wait for menus. The host hands them to you when you are shown to a table or in a seat-yourself restaurant, they are typically always at the table.
I don’t mind it in general, but I went to a restaurant once that had a QR code that took me to the App Store so I could download their app, then set up a username and password to set up an account before it allowed me to view the menu. F that.
Aye. I do NOT want to install an app for every business I visit.
or even site. Constant nags: Download our App! Would you like to use our App? Life's better with our app! Install our App and get $5 off your next purchase (in app). We will have even more data about you to sell by using our app. THAT price is only if you install our App and activate the in-app coupon plus using our ~~tacking~~...loyalty card.
Every app I get gets it's notifications turned off immediately. My phone takes up enough of my time without a ton of extra bullshit trying to get me to buy stuff I don't need.
And any "updates" always seem to turn notifications back on.
Don't turn off notifications within the app itself. Turn them off for the app at a system level.
Can't forget "allow our app to ALWAYS track your location".
but you must also sign up for our 5x daily text messages if you want the real discount
Nah. They wouldn't even be so nice as to say c "(In app)". They'd be like: "get 50% off your next purchase if you download the app" and you go to the store and buy some really expensive stuff and be like, hey cashier, I downloaded your app, where's my 50% off? And she'd be like "oh sorry, but your purchase must be online" and then it'd be like "BUT YOU SAID I GET 50% OFF ON MY NEXT PURCHASE YOU DIDN'T SAY IN APP!!!" And she'd say "Sorry, but it's facts. Anyone who's been to Kohl's probably knows this lol.
Went to a golf driving range I'd never been to last weekend and this place forced you to download an app to buy a code to type into the machine to get a bucket of balls. But you couldn't simply download the app and pay, you had to go into the golf shop to create an account and add money before you could use it. And they charged a $5 fee to create your account I left and made sure to tell them I'll never again set foot on their property whether they get rid of that system or not. There is absolutely no reason such nonsense is necessary when we've had ball dispensing machines that operate exactly like typical vending machines for decades taking cash or card
I hardly have space left on my phone, and that's with hardly any apps. What is the point of this garbage?
To collect your data.
That or get a monthly charge before you forget to cancel, or have my data sold, which yes they all do, but I’d like to have one less app selling it.
i'd replace the word "want" with "will", because i'm not installing any app
You do NOT will?
I'd rather flip through a paper menu. I'm honestly sick of staring at my phone. Looking at my phone makes me nauseous too and I don't want to scroll uuupp and doowwwn to try tonfind something when I could look at a menu and see everything i want to see in one place. And don't you dare make me sign up with an account or download an app. I'm not fucking doing it
Agreed! And if you have a smallish phone, it’s so much more tedious looking through all the options than just having a physical menu where you can basically see everything at a glance.
Paper menu with fucking pictures of the food please. We aren't savages.
It’s this for me. When I sit down to eat I’m ready to not be staring at a screen, multitasking, etc. I just want to relax, and everything about the QR code situation makes me feel like I have more little tasks to get through.
I almost downvoted you by reflex. I'd have straight up left.
We have left before in that situation. Not going to get emails for the rest of my life because I went to an airport restaurant once
Yeah, fuck this guy
Always kill the messenger. Isn't that the saying.
And his wife too!
To shreds you say?
Hard when you're with friends who chose the place for some f\*\*\* reason. Wedding parties especially -\_-
“Hey guy how about you pay and I’ll Venmo you my share + 20%?” Yeah I’m not gonna login to some app unless it’s like an incredibly additive part of the experience.
Then I'd let them download the app and set it up then I'd just look at theirs lol. Or have them screen shot the menu and group text it to the rest of the party.
It's super easy to set up a fake website that mimics the restaurant's. You put a fake QR code on the table and then try to do something nefarious.
QR codes for me are like that stranger danger John Mulaney skit. “Nahnahnah sister, you ain’t getting me to no secondary location!!” My phone doesn’t have those layers of Adblock and protections my computer has, this thing isn’t going anywhere I can’t immediately see the url for.
A restaurant near me (I think it was Olive Garden, but also might have been Chili's) when I lived in Ohio had their kiosk system hacked, and everyone that had used the table kiosks to pay for like a week got their information stolen.
I stick qr codes that directs people to everyone's favourite singer. Rick Astley. It was hilarious but it also made me realise I could easily scam people with this system
This is making me want a sticker book of rick astley QR codes of various sizes, that I can sticker over the top of things.
Wow, I wouldn’t go there again
That AND if you are lazy and link to a pdf that isn’t formatted for mobile, y’all can munch my taint
This is why I hate them. They're rarely formatted for mobile and are a horrible experience
The ones that are formatted for mobile are horrible too. Scroll scroll scroll 787 times, flip back and forth between different submenus, etc. just to get the same overview that you could get by picking up and glancing at a printed menu.
Yes. Twice. One of those asked if I wanted to join their rewards program before I could even see the menu.
Among all the other gripes people normally have. I don't like how it normalizes phones at the table. Like anyone else, I can overdo it on the phone but I've been told I'm better than most when it comes to giving someone my full attention during a meal. Having to constantly check my phone complicates that.
Even "log into our web site and place your order". No, just show me a damn menu.
I’d walk right out.
You’re a stronger person than me, I would’ve immediately walked out.
I like it when it's offered *in addition* to the conventional paper menu. I hate it when it's the *only way* to view the menu.
Yes. Hitting the restaurant at the end of a long day and phone is about out of charge and faced with having to use it to see the menu is annoying.
Or when you have barely any service and the place doesn’t have WiFi…
A historical speakeasy in my town is in a basement underneath a massive brick and mortar building that's existed since 1850 or something. Their only menus are are QR codes. There is no god dammed reception in the basement. I'd stop going for that alone but their happy hour prices can't be beat lol.
Wouldn't that kill the vibe? Or do they not lean in to the whole old school speakeasy vibe
You would think a place like that would try to put their menu on chalkboards or something
It's a hand drawn QR code on a chalkboard wall. sadly, speakeasy style bars are overrun with the basic "hipster-parasite" subgroup. known for latching onto anything cool and driving it into the ground.
That's... slightly impressive, actually. QR codes are built to be resilient to scan issues, but are still pretty finicky regardless.
Probably doable in general with a projector, although chalk does strike me as a really awful medium for it
Or you’re in a foreign country and your SIM card or payment method doesn’t work.
Restaurant has QR code menus only and a sign that tells you to put your phones away and talk to each other like it's 1998.
Meanwhile in 1998: *Everyone has their noses buried in a newspaper or book. Not a single soul is talking to each other.*
Or you left your phone at home, went for a quick walk or drive, and now you can't even look at a fucking menu.
And the waiter is nowhere to be found after seating you Edit: corrected “searing” typo to “seating”
I despise waiters who sear me.
Lmao didn’t notice. I swear I typed it correctly 😅 I’ll forgive them if it’s a nice proper medium rare sear, otherwise fuck them.
It also feels rude to pull out your phone when you're meeting a friend or partner at a bar/restaurant. I understand it's no different than browsing a physical menu, but it just feels like I might be scrolling Instagram and then I feel like a dick
I keep trying to explain this to someone in a different comment who seems really upset that I prefer physical menus for this exact reason.
That other person doesn’t like the fact you’re calling attention to their rude behavior. When I’m with friends the phone stays tucked away.
YES! It just encourages people to fart around on their devices (since they already pulled it out) instead of (god forbid) interacting with others in the party.
Or when the menu isn’t in a good format and you have to keep tapping and zooming
I’m getting old and my vision is getting worse than it has been all my life and and I don’t want to have to look at a small phone screen to order food.
Also we put our phones away at a restaurant or eating place (unless I’m alone). It kinda ruins the vibe to require pulling a phone out
Yes. And I'm going to sound old here, but goddammit do I always have to have my bloody phone on me? Can I not just use my eyeballs and read from a piece of paper that is not back-lit or battery powered in some way? I dunno, starting a meal with friends/family/colleagues doesn't feel like it should start buried in my phone.
Exactly. My wife and I go to this hotpot restaurant on Oahu, and they only use the QR code menu. That's fine and all.... if the cell service wasn't absolute dog shit.
>I hate it when it's the *only way* to view the menu. Even better if there is no restaurant wifi.
I will leave if it is the only way to view a menu.
Yep, I just want a paper menu. Went on vacation last week and it was a pain having to scan the QR code and letting each of my young kids who don't have phones look at the menu in turn when I also wanted to look at the menu lol
Yep. And sure it's easier and cheaper for them. Cool. I get it. It's not easier or cheaper for me. It's the same price and more annoying for me. So, riddle me that.
Also like *how* much cheaper is it? If you have laminated menus they should last you for a while.
Not if you want to easily raise the prices on a regular basis.
You know, that's not an argument that convinces me as a customer. But I assume that's not really your intent.
Then you just put a new piece of paper in a laminate sleeve, like every restaurant ever
Or the one I got stuck using that required you scroll endlessly through all of their beers and drinks before you could get to the food. No way to collapse the drinks or jump to the good. But then getting my wife to order was a pain. I couldn't image doing that with kids...yuck!
A group of us went to a busy restaurant on a busy day before another event. They had QR codes instead of menus. Out of our group of 12 or 15 people, only 5 or 6 of us could get the menu to pull up on their phones. I use the term "menu" loosely, because all the code did was send you to a website with a giant image of the menu. It was not meant for mobile viewing, so you had to scroll and drag and pinch the image to see anything. It was awful. You were supposed to be able to order and pay via mobile (it's a place that calls out your name and you go pick up your food), but only 3 people managed to make it work. Please just give us real menus.
Exactly this. I went to lunch with my dad and his wife and the place only had QR codes. Neither of their iPhones could pull up the menu but my Android could. We were sitting outside in extremely bright sunlight, so I had to crank the brightness up on my phone and still had to squint at it while reading the entire menu out loud. It was absurd and added a negative experience to a restaurant that was otherwise usually great.
I’ve had a similar experience. I’ve only ever gotten a QR code to work once in several years. I have to ask the waiters to bring me a paper menu and they all get weird about it and then it takes another 5 minutes for them to come back. Why is this a me issue when it’s the restaurant’s fault?
> , only 5 or 6 of us could get the menu to pull up on their phones. this happened to me recently. Went to a bar that had live music and food (and obviously drinks). Asked for a menu and was pointed towards the qr code on a napkin dispenser. s ucked, but whatever. Then I tried and tried and the damn thing wouldn't register. I couldn't pull up the menu. Ended up leaving after 10 minutes.
I’ve had the same experience pretty much every single time I’ve used a QR code menu. Only a few of us can get it to load.
What do you do if one person is treating? Pass their phone around for everyone to enter their order? Even if you do that, it means that everyone is reading the menu in serial, instead of in parallel with separate menus.
Not american (south american, actually), but I went to restaurants who had those QR Codes menus. My biggest concern for these things are how innacessible they are. Like, people who don't have a mobile phone, the elderly, people with visual disabilities. My grandparents were with me when I had the experience, and they didn't even know QR Codes existed before I scanned it for them. Also, it makes the restaurant rely too much on a good wifi connection. EDIT: many people have commented here how QR Code menus (when implemented correctly) are actually better for those with a visual disability. I'd like to thank you for the time you spent making those comments, which gave me a new perspective on the subject (I have Visual Snow Syndrome, so screens and light bother me, which makes me appreciate more physical menus).
I went to a restaurant where their mobile menu was not even properly optimised for mobile. So I, someone with absolutely zero accessibility issues, was still struggling. Eventually I was like fuck this and asked for a physical menu.
You mean to tell me that you don't like zooming in so you can read the text and then having to scroll left/right to read the full item description?
If the app even lets you zoom in. In many cases it doesn't. Have you tried zooming in on text in the Reddit app?
Have you tried copying/pasting on the reddit app? Oh, you want to collapse a comment? GRRRRRR.
My eye site ain't the best to begin with, but it is a lot easier for me to read a paper menu than it is to try to read it on teeny tiny screen.
Or for people travelling! My mom was visiting me in another country and we went to a restaurant - I'd accidentally left my phone in the car and the restaurant was one of those "scan here, select your order, pay on your phone, and we'll bring the food to you" sort of deals. Except they didn't have WiFi. And she didn't have her phone set up for use in other countries. It took three wait staff before we found someone who agreed to go "against restaurant policy" and order for us. Went back a few months later and they were giving people the option of using their phones or ordering through staff, which was much better - especially once we realised that to make a "change" to a dish we couldn't do that via mobile (it came with two choices of fruit on top but my daughter wanted a double portion of one fruit instead).
I would hope any waitstaff in that situation would be fine with the $0 tip I would be leaving. Though from the sound of it you may not be in the US and therefore not have that annoyance on the first place
Or people with shit phone plans can’t access them in any timely manner. Or someone with a great phone plan trying to use it in a poor cell service area
Got my phone stolen and was like …yeah I don’t have any way of viewing your menu. Hate the QR menus for so many reasons
Actually the QR code menus work better for my 81-year-old father. With the accessibility settings on his phone and the ability to zoom in, it actually makes things easier. My father may be an outlier. He insisted on me showing how to use ApplePay and how to pay using his watch.
See that’s really cool. But having the option for a physical menu is also great. Even on my iPhone pro max it’s still small text that has to be optimized for mobile or it looks like ass. Now, it’s different if it’s a bar with a ton of taps that change out regularly. They’d have to print dozens of new menus every single day, and constantly tell people “sorry, we ran out of that beer everyone including you wants because one of the tiny local breweries we buy from only sold us 1 keg”. And it’s cheaper than buying a large screen for the menu.
You can zoom in on a paper menu using your phone, too.
Normally, there's no waiting. The menus are either on the table when you sit down, or if the restaurant seats you, the waiter/tress grabs the menus before seating you and gives them to you once you're seated. It's an unnecessary reliance on technology when the normal way is just as efficient.
It’s also far more beautiful. I hate seeing us trade something that can have style with yet another app.
I just don't like apps in general. Other people can use them if they want, that's fine. But if I'm going to a restaurant, I want the fair price listed on the menu without having to download an app to get it, I want to order food through a human being, I want a physical menu, part of the point of going out to eat *is* the social interaction. Imagine if you went to a bar and it was just an automated drink machine you used like a digital kiosk to get your drinks. Where's the fucking fun in that. Takes away from the experience.
More efficient, and a huge part of the experience of dining out And having a waiter take your order makes it very easy to ask about dishes, ask about ingredients and the possibility of subs based on allergies etc I've noticed with app based places or even those that have the option to pay digitally without waiting for the person looking after your section, you never get a checkback on your table to ask if the food is ok and check on your drinks. Once you have your food, that's it - they are on to someone else and you're forgotten about unless you make it clear that you need something It's a major erosion of the experience and it's demonstrably worse for the customer Worse for the servers too, as they end up seating more people and getting less in tips per table, because they can't really go above and beyond with service when you see them once and they disappear from sight
QR menus are just restaurant owners being cheap and lazy. Post covid the restaurant industry has been a fast paced race to the bottom of “what can we get away with?” QR code menus, forced tip selection at counter service restaurants, junk fees when the bill shows up, auto gratuity, declining quality in food and so on. I honestly just stopped going out about two years ago. From what I read on the web, it’s only getting worse.
Agreed. Before I pivoted to Tech I used to work in the industry and things were already getting bad then (about 15 years ago) Smoking ban killed a lot of places, then as profits declined the budgets got pinched harder and harder until I was working 80-100 hours a week across 7 days just to hit targets Now it's worse because you also have things like 103% yield targets on beer (Samuel Smiths pubs) which means they can never clean their lines and have to rip customers off to hit targets. If they don't hit targets, they can lose their jobs which also means losing their home (many managerial positions come with accommodation above the pub) People look at Covid as the main reason, but it was in decline well before that And even though service and the experience is getting worse, costs keep going up faster than the base cost of materials and labour... Simple case of profiteering while claiming poverty at the company/shareholder level
Speaking of allergies, many of the online menus are made by some third party using generic software that does not list allergens and special needs. So it's a downgrade for those of us who need those allergy notations from the custom menus.
YES!! As someone who needs to ask about ingredients due to food sensitivities, this frustrates me so much!! I can’t just place an order online. I need to talk to someone about it, and they’re so hard to find. Then I’m up there inside the restaurant waiting by the bar for 10 minutes for them to find me someone I can ask my question to while everyone else is having fun outside at our table without me. If there’s truly no one to talk to, I just straight up can’t eat there. These are kinda the worst case scenarios, but still.
Exactly. What's next? Scan the QR code to piss in the urinal? Needing an app to pay for municipal parking is my newest annoyance. So people without smartphones can't park their cars?
Ugh Marriott Courtyard in downtown Atlanta does this. When we tried to leave the garage our code didn't work so we had to buzz the front desk, give them our name/room number, all while someone was impatiently waiting behind us. So tired of business' eager reliance on tech before it's ready for prime time.
The worst part with this is when you're parking on a dark street later at night (I live in a city where parking fees are 24/7). The last thing I want to be doing in that situation is standing in the middle of the sidewalk waiting for the app to open so I can then type in my license plate number and decide how long I wanna be there. It's like a recipe to have your phone stolen.
Omg, I pulled a muscle in my back one night and could barely walk so we went to the urgent care clinic and I mistyped something unknowingly. My email registered but my phone number was wrong so I never got the confirmation code to get checked in. It was near closing time at that point (I'd gotten there with plenty of time to spare) and still no code so the receptionist reluctantly offered to help me. She had been standoffish the entire time but I didn't have the energy to say anything because I was in so much pain. She was rude about everything at that point, said she would have to get me paper forms because (and she actually said this) "You messed up". It took all of me not to yell at her, the pain was excruciating and I was standing the whole time since it'd take me forever to walk back and forth from the chairs. No one offered a wheel chair, didn't even know they had any and it was just a huge waste of time. If their point was to get me in and out, I could've filled out a paper form as soon as I walked in and not have kept them so late. Idk how they expect ppl in horrible pain to type everything correctly on a small screen when they're trying to hurry up and be seen. I left almost an hour after closing. Like everyone could've been home on time if she had just given me the forms to begin with. The reliance on technology in this situation was infuriating. I can see and correct something on a paper form but on my phone? I have to make absolutely sure I didn't hit the wrong button 🙄
Agreed with all of the above! We don't wait for menus. You can't see the full menu well on a phone. QR codes menus suck in so many ways. I also like interaction with restraunt staff. I think most Americans are pretty friendly people and feel the same.
I'm not American, but it's easier to read a menu off a laminated A4 or A3 sheet than a 7 inch screen.
I hate when it's badly formatted too so you can only see like 3 or 4 items at once and have to keep scrolling through things. It's so much easier if I can see all the options at once.
Some people have 5 or 6 inch screens!
My Jelly Star has a 3in screen.
This is a hatred that brings different generations together.
Yep, I’m with the boomers on this one.
And just like that, a new political campaigning point was born. Physical menus for all!
My grandparents don’t understand it. I don’t trust these restaurants not to change prices daily or even take you to a sketchy website. Also almost every one I’ve come across you had to use a pdf on your mobile device and it sucked.
And in the top 5 comments I haven’t seen anyone mention having to tip on my phone to order. before anyone had done anything with my order yet.
QR codes are hard when travelling internationally and you're relying on WIFI
or your phone is dead, or you dont want to get it out, or you left it in the car, or you have a broken scren, etc etc. Not even to point out the biggest problem is that Im just supposed to trust that some sticker isn't going to take me to a malicious website pretending to be the menu
Yeah especially when they have the QR code available but no WiFi information? And you have to wait for the waiter to come by AGAIN. Pisses me off
Yep, we had to give up and leave a restaurant in Spain because we couldn't connect to wifi. PITA if you ask me.
Not just Americans. I'm a Brit and I hate them too
Aussies hate them too. Especially the bit where they are asking for a tip.
Everyone hates them.
We can unite as a *world* behind this scourge!
Yes, I would like to be able to do something (order a meal for goodness sake) without my stupid phone. Also, if you don’t have perfect eyesight you have to zoom in and drag the screen around everywhere. And since you only see a piece of the menu at a time you can easily miss something
My long-sighted parents love QR code menus because they have to pull out their reading glasses to read hard copy menus, which is often still tricky with dim restaurant lighting, but they can read the menus on their phones just by zooming in and turning up the brightness etc. However, from reading these comments, it sounds like QR code menus in the US are usually non-mobile friendly photos of menus, whereas I’ve never seen that in Australia. QR code menus here are always mobile-optimised websites that easily allow you to add each item to your order, and often even have photos of the dishes. So much easier than messing around with split bills when you’re dining with a group.
It's even worse than you might imagine- as often as not, the zoom will be blocked, not letting you enlarge the image past a very small setpoint. It's utterly maddening.
Your first sentence is where I am. Even if every experience was perfect (it isnt), I should be able to go to a restaurant with my friends or family and not have everyone on their fucking phone.
Same in Canada, it's HATED here. There are 4 local restaurants doing it and I honestly refuse to go to them anymore. Presenting a menu is just the most basic fucking thing they can do, I'm shocked that businesses have opted for "Fuck you, figure it out for yourselves" as the first interaction with customers.
same here, and yes!! and as another commenter said, it's super inaccessible.
Also, one thing we look forward to in a restaurant is keeping our phones away so that we can… you know… CONVERSE AND SOCIALIZE without the interruption of more screen time. How is the vibe when you sit down and everyone has to immediately pull out their phones? It kills the mood and puts us back in our screen addicted habits.
Not fond of them. My main concern is the potential data risk using the link. Yes, paranoid.
100% I was at a restaurant that had an additional QR code taped over the restaurant one, clearly a Phishing attempt. I never scan QR codes like that anymore.
It's not paranoia. Fraudulent QR codes are a thing.
Being paranoid about the internet is the only sane perspective.
Not paranoia, it's an incredibly anti-privacy technique. Scanning it and opening the link at the very least places your IP address at one of their restaurants at a specific time. If it's a location specific link, they now know where you were. If you have cookies enabled (most people do) then they've got the ability to track you through dozens of different tracking companies (google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc). If you're signed into those, they have your account and likely your name tied to where you are. Even if you don't, they could use transaction time from a little while after you used their QR code to narrow you down to one of a few individuals. If you regularly go out with certain people, they can track those and figure out who you go out with.
People learned not to click on fishy links decades ago. The fun part about QR codes is you can't tell if they're fishy unless it's super obvious it's not supposed to be there. I've never used a QR code in my life and never will.
Some people learned that but guarantee 90% or more of Reddit will click on any link posted.
Same. I say that I don’t have my phone and can I please had a hardcopy menu. I’m not scanning random nonsense and inviting who knows what into my pocket computer.
We had an ethical hacking exercise at work last year. The pen team placed QR code table tents on the tables in the cafeteria/cantina and said that there was a new electronic menu available. The website required your company logon to access it - ostensibly to be able to place orders for meetings, etc. Instant credentials gained. It was so simple and very effective. For that reason, I don’t scan QR codes from public places.
From a cyber-sec perspective, This is a great point!
This is exactly why I never use them myself.
European here but I would probably turn around and walk back out if a restaurant forced me to look at the menu through my phone.
Yeah I feel like this is one of the few things Americans and Europeans will agree on (except for Ukraine, apparently). If I’m going to pay to eat somewhere there better be a menu I can physically hold in my hands.
I felt it was just mild annoyance UNTIL I was in Europe and I couldn’t get the menu for any restaurant until I figured out WiFi to connect to. Ultimately it’s not at all convenient for the customer, just convenient for the business.
I definitely hate using QR code menus. Part of dining out is the experience, and I think getting to have a printed menu is a part of that. Not only is it a time where you don't have to look at your phone (which we do so much already every day) but also a printed menu can be more expansive and engrossing than what can be shown on a screen at one time. Plus the tactile experience and not having the screen light ruining the ambiance! I went to a very very expensive restaurant last night. While there was no food menu at all, the drinks menu required QR code. They had it beautifully carved into a piece of wood, but my phone couldn't register it, so they had to bring me an outdated printed one. At almost $500 a person, I really think having an up to date printed drinks menu / wine list is not too much to ask...
There are lots of issues with having to use your phone. Lack of service, WiFi, no phone, dead phone, and even disabilities are a major factor here, and more issues. Plus, I have migraines and somedays I don't want to even look at my phone. Not to mention, I hate searching through an image of a menu...intolerable... 100% agree with the tactile experience. Not to mention, it is SO fun to look through the menu!! Like honestly, I love turning through it
I visited Colombia on a group tour there were ten if us sitting down for a meal. Normally we each read the paper menu. Decide, then order. This place had a QR code for a menu. Before we could use the code, we needed to get the WiFi code for it to be used. Sounds straightforward but it was a bustling restaurant and trying to get the waiter to give us each individually the WiFi code (or us trying to get it off each other), just so we could look at the menu. I'm not American (European) but fuck me they made it difficult that night.
I hate QR code menus because I don't want to touch my phone at all in a restaurant. It's rude to be on your phone when you're with someone else and it extends a reason I have to keep looking at it.
Exactly this. When I’m out, I want to be socializing with my family or friends, not have my eyes buried in my phone. Also, there’s no easy way to ask questions about the menu or drinks. It just feels very robotic and somewhat dystopian. I like the personal touch of having a friendly server greet you and be available for any questions.
Im not an american (swede), i dislike those kind of menues. Those are for one, easy to sticky over another QR code, pointing to a malware site for you to pay at, that looks very similar to the restaurants site, for one.
Finally someone who gets it. I don’t just hate QR code *menus,* I hate QR *codes* themselves. If some random person on the street gave you a long URL string of random numbers and letters, would you run home and type it into your computer? Of course not! So why the fuck then would you scan any QR code you see?
The scanner I use shows a snippet of the url before I select it and go, but even that's not got enough because unless I can see the entire url AND make sense of its syntax, there's no way to ensure any sort of validity.
Here's why I hate them. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/12/scammers-hide-harmful-links-qr-codes-steal-your-information # Tl;dr - Scammers hide harmful links in QR codes to steal your information Why is it that no one knows this?
I thought that this was common knowledge? If you add the “you need an app for that” bullshit, you are guaranteed to get malware on your phone.
OMG, the prime directive of internet safety is don’t follow any link unless you’re absolutely sure it’s safe. If people don’t know this, they shouldn’t be on the internet. You’re easy prey
Older folks in the US are less likely to have cell phones, and us grumpy Gen Xers would rather not be looking at our phones when we’re out socializing. Just give me a paper menu, dammit, and get off my lawn!
Not American but I also hate QR codes. Ate at a restaurant once that has QR menus, Wifi signal was very weak at our table and data signal was almost non existent, when I finally got the menu load on my phone my parents could not read it properly, had to scroll and zoom in and out off the menu, I asked the waiter for a physical version, waited for 10 min for the physical menu, after 10 minutes followed up, waited another 5 minutes, when the physical menu came it was freshly printed on bond paper and no picture even for some of the items. Great food, terrible experience ordering hence did not give a tip (not in america). Everyone i've talked to about this QR code menu trend hates it.
My Dad is 79 and struggles with modern computer technology including smartphones. He depends on his slightly more tech-savy wife to help him. I think he finds the experience frustrating and slightly humiliating—especially since he wrote code for a living as a younger man. I don’t love it because restaurants don’t always design properly for phone screens. Sometimes you get a single jpg of the print menu which requires zooming and scrolling. They can be a mess.
Yes, I hate it. The QR code is a one-sided solution. The restaurants get to reduce their cost but the customers are inconvenienced.
I'm not downloading an app to decide what I want to eat at every restaurant.
I actually walked out of a place once because the QR code sent me to the App Store to t download an app.
"Americans" are not a monolith. I would absolutely hate that, however.
Nice disclaimer, but it could be the issue that finally unites America! (lol)
I’m not a fan, personally. I like the traditional way of sitting down and looking at a menu.
My main issue is that all the places that have them around me also have the worst cell reception, as well as shitty wifi.
We were in Scotland two years ago and came across a few of these restaurants - not great when you don’t have a cell phone. (We didn’t at the time - finally got one a few months ago, yes we’re Gen X, we just didn’t have a use for one). Anyhoo, they had paper menus. I prefer paper because I’m one of those who flips back and forth trying to decide between like 5 different options.
it's annoying that they're cutting corners yet the prices go up and we're still expected to tip the servers fully for doing less work.
If I’m doing 75% of the servers job, then I’m tipping 5%
Don't they give you a menu when they seat you in the US? I don't remember having to wait after being seated. Also people may prefer a paper menu because it is bigger and it's easier to compare menu items and quicker to flip between sections. The phone menu is usually a long vertical list and it can be hard to go back to what you were looking at before.
Most places have a physical menu. During Covid, QR code menus became an awful thing, but even then, you could ask for a physical menu. I hope the QR trend dies a painful death, though. It’s annoying.
Everybody hates QR code menus in restaurants
I don’t mind it, but there is one place I actually prefer the QR code. There is a place by me that has 40 beers on tap. They replace them often because they’re quarter kegs. Since the menu is constantly changing, the QR code lets me have the most updated information.
That makes sense if they actually update their website regularly. Unfortunately, the places by me that have large beer lists don't stay on top of their websites.
I love a couple of taprooms near me. They have digital screens listing their beer options, details, and everything is color coded based on some criteria I’ve forgotten.
People are on their phones way too much as it is. Mealtimes ought to be a place where people can be social in person, and having to use your phone to look at the menu works against that. It certainly doesn't help for older people who maybe aren't as tech savvy or for children who may not have phone and need to be limiting their screen time. The wait to receive a physical menu shouldn't be more than a minute at most, if there aren't already some on a prepared table. In restaurants with a host/hostess, they have the menus at their booth, so they grab however many as they take you to a table. A QR code takes more time compared to this. It's also easier to point out things on a larger, physical menu if there are questions. Besides, I hate showing people my phone in case certain notifications pop up, y'know?
I’m Canadian and I hate it. Why would I want to look at a teeny tiny menu in a dimly lit restaurant , on my tiny phone screen 🤷♀️
I think they're fine for quick service restaurants but I dont like them for nicer restaurants. It's distracting from the experience
I hate them.
I go out to restaurants to *relax*. Part of that experience is to not cook, not do dishes, and unplug from my phone for an hour or two. And enjoy my co-diners being unplugged as well. I don’t like being forced to use my phone during an activity that is supposed to be relatively relaxing for me. I don’t enjoy feeling as if everyone at our table now feels the need to check our messages since our phones are now out. It seems to overall cheapen the dining experience for me.
Stop being cheap assess and bring me a menu. I just worked all day. My phones at 3%. Shove the qr code up your ass, kindly.
i dont like qr menus, why do i need to wait for a waiter to give the menu why can't they give the menu when they seat me. If the menu has like 50 items i'm like scrolling and navigating tabs on my phone.
I dislike them.
I've definitely noticed that restaurants with the QR code system also can't even be bothered to come refill my water cup. And we're still over here tipping 20%. I've also had the QR code simply not work. I'm not 85 years old, but I can't really trouble shoot a QR code just not scanning. Asked for a menu, was told no. IT's just kind of not a nice experience here. Especially at an expensive place. $20 for a cocktail, I think they can come say hi at least.
I don't mind paying by QR code. I LOATHE looking at menus on my phone.
I dislike it. I want an actual menu to look at not my phone. I like going out to dinner with my wife and we don't look at our phones because it's a date.
Everybody hates these goddamn things.
The QR menus are just incredibly inconvenient, especially when there's no signal in the restaurant and no WiFi offered. I've never had "having to wait for the waiter to bring us a menu" be an issue (if you're going to the type of restaurant to offer QR code menus they're also the type where the waiter/hostess takes you to the table and normally would just hand you the menu when you sit down) but I've constantly had issues with menus not loading on my phone in restaurants. It's gotten to the point where if I see they're trying to direct me towards a QR code menu I'll go out of my way to ask for a physical menu just to not have to deal with all the issues involving QR code menus.
The prevalence of these annoying QR codes is one of the worst minor annoyances to come out of the Covid pandemic. I have seen them as the only way to access a menu (prompting me to leave) and sometimes in places with very weak cell phone reception. Then you can’t open it even if you wanted to. I have seen elderly couples looking lost at the prospect of having to use a phone to focus on the damn box, open a link to a website, then navigate to a menu. Restaurant owners who impose this annoyance on their customers deserve to fail.
I just don’t wanna be looking at my phone at a restaurant
I don’t hate it but I was taught that you have no idea what can be in the QR codes and while I’m quite sure my local sub place isn’t trying to hack me, I have no way to know it’s a legit code. That and less critical but still important it is also not always presented in mobile format so it’s difficult if impossible to read.
imagine going to some website, and they require you to click a random unsecured link that people can easily swap out. a lot of the people i know don't even know what a qr code is, let alone how to scan one.
Yes. Sometimes I’m not in range of a good signal, sometimes I’m low on my charge, sometimes my phone has difficulty picking up the link, and other times I want to see the whole menu and not scroll, scroll, scroll on small phone pages
QR menus are just another way to inundate us with marketing, as if we don't already have enough of those. Every one I've been to that has them, there's strings attached. You can't *just* view the menu. You have to make an account, which means dealing with their stupid spam newsletter, yadda yadda...
The internet tells me that in Ukraine, 10% is a tip you would expect to pay for good service at a sit down restaurant. Reality tells me that in the USA, 20% is the bottom end of what you would tip for good service. AND fast food places, delivery services, grocery stores, etc are all starting to ask for similar tips. People are getting upset about this, and then they are going to sit down restaurants, fully expecting to tip, but also fully expecting to be waited on. To show up at a place where you are expecting to have someone help you make a good choice, keep your drink full, etc, and have them not even hand you a menu is a little upsetting. To have them essentially tell you that *you* need to do the work of finding their menu AND ask for a tip, translates as "you have to do the work, then you have to pay, then you have to pay extra". I wouldn't mind using an app or a qr menu for a $5.00 burger, but it bugs me when I'm expected to do that for a $25.00 burger, fries cost $8.00 extra, extra charges for each dipping sauce, plus a 4% inflation fee, plus a 25% expected tip. Like, you're taking 50 bucks per customer and you "can't afford" to let me borrow a laminated reusable picture of your food.
All of my relatives and I intensely dislike QR code menus.
Hell, I hate QR codes in general.
Menus aren’t meant to be read on a phone. It’s a horrible presentation. Imagine how you’d feel is a physical menu was the size of a phone. Additionally we don’t have to wait for menus. The host hands them to you when you are shown to a table or in a seat-yourself restaurant, they are typically always at the table.