
Show HN: Create a restaurant website in one click - kirium
http://menupit.com
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CSEThrowaway
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?

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Nadya
There is a demo. Just click the button and get a website! It generated me
this: [https://menupit.com/ypguhv](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.

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ac2u
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.

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kirium
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.

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xZezima
keep up the good work man, u got this

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microsby0
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

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adamqureshi
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.

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kekub
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...

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newscracker
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.

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kirium
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.

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webdva
Great idea and perfect execution of your minimum viable product!

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kirium
Thanks :)

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auct
Add some demo link or screenshot at least

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bausshf
Press the button on the website for the demo ;)

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TheGrumpyBrit
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.

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52-6F-62
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.

