Website for small restaurant business

RE: Website for small restaurant business (2010Vision)

Thu, 19 May 2005 15:18:41 GMT

Hey Nectarine,

I will be in SaiGon on June 11,2005. Any chances you spare a few minutes of your precious time for a chat?

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

hey guys, my tomato restaurant is a REAL one. it is located in Saigon where i am living now. Opened this biz last year with a friend. Said I am located in TX does not mean that my business must be there too. anyway, sorry if that made you confused.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Sun, 15 May 2005 20:22:31 GMT

Oh, and thanks for telling me that Publisher and Works are common programs on most PCs. Never knew that...

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Sun, 15 May 2005 20:20:48 GMT

Here's a novel idea: read what I say before you reply to it. That's our original website, which we did ourselves with Dreamweaver. I agree, if I'd paid $1,500 for that, I'd be pissed. But I didn't, so I'm not.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (kareno)

Sun, 15 May 2005 08:31:29 GMT

Scalion, I looked at your site, and for $1500, if ALL you got was content layout and uploading, you got ROYALLY ripped off. There isn't anything on there which couldn't be done with Publisher or Works (common programs on most PC's)

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Fri, 13 May 2005 08:53:40 GMT

I used to play around with websites, and, as I said, my partner and I cranked out out first one without any help. And it wasn't bad. But it's not representative of what I want to project.

I'd be willing to wager that if you showed me 50 websites, half done from scratch by skilled professionals and half by their owners, using templates, I'd be able to pick out the homegrown products a large percentage of the time. When I was looking for a designer, I eliminated half of them because all of their sites looked so similar, and that, to me, meant that they were just plugging new content into old skeletons. They'd had their one or two ideas, and weren't going to consider my little project individually.

And by the time I finished buying all those peripheral programs, and invested the time to learn how to use them, I'd still be an amateur, and still be making a financial mistake. Let me pay someone to do what they're trained to do, so that I can do the same. People pay me a lot of money to use my skills; my partner and I each have spent over 20 years cooking in first-rate kitchens in New York, and it shows.

After all, how would I feel if I heard my clients saying, "Well, I'll just buy a couple of cookbooks and go to the market myself. Who needs to pay all that money to the caterer?" When I see someone working at his craft, chef, dentist, lawyer, teacher, auto mechanic, gardener, taxi driver, I can tell if he's well-trained and good at his job.

The old French chefs had a test for a cook who came to the back door looking for work: they'd give him an onion, some eggs and butter and a saute pan and a knife, and tell him to make an onion omelette. In a few minutes, the quality of the man's work was apparent; there was no debating his skills. Similarly, I knew old carpenters who learned their trade in pre-WWII Europe. When they wanted a job, they'd go to a shop or a construction site and show the foreman their toolboxes. In those days carpenters made their own; they didn't run off to Home Depot. One look, and the foreman knew: cabinet maker, framer, knucklehead.

Sorry about this rant, but it's a pet peeve of mine. You wanna play around with web design, be my guest, by all means. But don't tell me that your product is just as good as a site made by someone who has studied web design, and spends his days crafting beautiful, informative sites, with smooth navigation, that work across all browsers.

So, as the man says, you pays your money and you takes your choice.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (UncleVic)

Thu, 12 May 2005 22:04:00 GMT

I dont know Adjudicator... Dreamworks, FrontPage, HotDog, Publisher or even Word create your websites.. It's then the support software you have in your collection that helps really set off a site. Give me Notepad (Though I'd prefer Word for font control, color and especially the spell check), JASC, Macromedia Flash and Xara 3d.. With that you could create whatever your imagination and patience is limited to! Best way for a rookie to go! Also, there's tons of templates out there you can purchase for under 50 bucks that will make your site look like a million! All you do is add the text... Cant get any more simple than that!

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Adjudicator)

Thu, 12 May 2005 20:25:10 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Scallion1

quote:
Originally posted by kareno

Microsoft Works, Office and Publisher all 'create' a web site from your input data. You don't have to learn HTML language, and you can have a professional looking lay out.

The best site for customers is one they can view, navigate and understand w/out plug in's and additional downloads. Sites also should be able to function the same in all browser applications.

If you're paying someone, especially that large amount , I sure hope they're doing all webmaster work and updating it for you for at LEAST a year and that also should include domain registration and domain housing !!

I have to differ with you there. Nothing I, or any non-professional, makes with Publisher or Office will resemble what I'm looking for. And bear in mind that I'm not, at least in this area of my operation, dealing with an inexpensive retail clientele: our catering business is very upmarket, our clients expect perfection in every aspect of it, and if the difference between a homemade site and a professional one is $1500, so be it. We can make that up with one job we might not have gotten with the old site.
We are, on the other hand, perfectly capable of doing the webmaster stuff ourselves, and registered the domain name years ago.
Two last notes: the site I'm building for another segment of our business is less critical, and we'll do it ourselves with Dreamweaver or, possibly, City Desk. And we looked at several dozen bids for the site, and this was the lowest, as well as our favorite.

I think I will have 2 agree with Scallion1 with this...

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Thu, 12 May 2005 20:19:05 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by kareno

Microsoft Works, Office and Publisher all 'create' a web site from your input data. You don't have to learn HTML language, and you can have a professional looking lay out.

The best site for customers is one they can view, navigate and understand w/out plug in's and additional downloads. Sites also should be able to function the same in all browser applications.

If you're paying someone, especially that large amount , I sure hope they're doing all webmaster work and updating it for you for at LEAST a year and that also should include domain registration and domain housing !!

I have to differ with you there. Nothing I, or any non-professional, makes with Publisher or Office will resemble what I'm looking for. And bear in mind that I'm not, at least in this area of my operation, dealing with an inexpensive retail clientele: our catering business is very upmarket, our clients expect perfection in every aspect of it, and if the difference between a homemade site and a professional one is $1500, so be it. We can make that up with one job we might not have gotten with the old site.
We are, on the other hand, perfectly capable of doing the webmaster stuff ourselves, and registered the domain name years ago.
Two last notes: the site I'm building for another segment of our business is less critical, and we'll do it ourselves with Dreamweaver or, possibly, City Desk. And we looked at several dozen bids for the site, and this was the lowest, as well as our favorite.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (kareno)

Thu, 12 May 2005 12:36:53 GMT

Microsoft Works, Office and Publisher all 'create' a web site from your input data. You don't have to learn HTML language, and you can have a professional looking lay out.

The best site for customers is one they can view, navigate and understand w/out plug in's and additional downloads. Sites also should be able to function the same in all browser applications.

If you're paying someone, especially that large amount , I sure hope they're doing all webmaster work and updating it for you for at LEAST a year and that also should include domain registration and domain housing !!

RE: Website for small restaurant business (jojobeans)

Fri, 06 May 2005 00:21:11 GMT

It looks great, Thanks for the preview.

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

hi all, i have built a website for my small "tomato restaurant" at a free hosting site. I think it is fantastic as I can put pictures of my restaurant in 3D environment (and especially I built it my self)
Pls visit my restaurant at: www.gogofrog.com/userdata/tbusinesst4
have fun and would really appreciate if you have any comments. Thanks,

RE: Website for small restaurant business (tmiles)

Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:06:45 GMT

Guess we scared him (her?) away......

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Gizmolito)

Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:17:51 GMT

"It is located in Saigon where i am living now..."

Wait, you mean Ho Chi Minh City, or District 1, somewhere the Cathedral, right?

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:33:49 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

your site looks great but i would not spend $1500 to get that content. honestly i would rather do it my self. cheers,

you must be joking. the content on your site is non-existent. a wine list that doesn't list wines, no address, no phone number, no actual menu? and that gogofrog thing has the worst navigation i've ever seen. people who live in glass houses, my friend...

RE: Website for small restaurant business (RedGreene)

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:09:06 GMT

nectarine...I believe that scallion1 said he paid $1500 for an updated site but it hasn't been updated yet. The site he provided a link to is his current site that he did himself.

Not to be negative but that free hosting site really bites.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (nectarine)

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 07:45:51 GMT

hey guys, my tomato restaurant is a REAL one. it is located in Saigon where i am living now. Opened this biz last year with a friend. Said I am located in TX does not mean that my business must be there too. anyway, sorry if that made you confused.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (nectarine)

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 07:43:06 GMT

your site looks great but i would not spend $1500 to get that content. honestly i would rather do it my self. cheers,

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Scallion1)

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:06:02 GMT

Slick,
I think the navigation is kind of confusing. And I found it hard to get the information I was looking for. Seems like the designer was more interested in snappy graphics than in the content, which is an attitude that went out of favor years and years ago.
But best of luck. I just spent $1,500 to have someone redo my site. If you want to take a look at what we did by ourselves two years ago: www.greenhillcatering.com is the site. I'll let you know when the new version goes on line.

Bill

RE: Website for small restaurant business ( nvb)

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:33:21 GMT

I appreciate the feedback. Actually, I don't have a lot of options with this site as the templates are the same. It allows me to choose colors, but that's about it. What I was really afraid of was the room concept. Would someone get tired of navigating all the rooms looking at the menu? I'm about half afraid that they would.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Michael Beam)

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 15:03:58 GMT

Interesting site, I like the attempt to do something different and unique. Does it support the concept? Is the food really interesting and unique? The website should "feel" like the restaurant in some way? Does it do that?

Sorry for the concept advice, just giveing you feedback.

I also found the pictures to be a bit "grainy" and therefore hard to get a good view of the food, logo, etc.

RE: Website for small restaurant business ( nvb)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 21:56:31 GMT

Might be SPAM but I bit. This is what I came up with today. Still a work in progress.

http://www.gogofrog.com/userdata/thebbqcorner/

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Michael Hoffman)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:50:56 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Adjudicator

quote:
Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

hi all, i have built a website for my small "tomato restaurant" at a free hosting site. I think it is fantastic as I can put pictures of my restaurant in 3D environment (and especially I built it my self)
Pls visit my restaurant at: www.gogofrog.com/userdata/tbusinesst4
have fun and would really appreciate if you have any comments. Thanks,

Where is your restaurant located? I can't tell from the address or telephone number.

User Name: nectarine
Location: Las vegas, TX
Total Posts: 1

Apparently, Las Vegas, Texas, hasn't even had a building located there since before 1972. In about 1915 there were some 50 residents. It looks as if there are none at this time.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Adjudicator)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 19:37:56 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

hi all, i have built a website for my small "tomato restaurant" at a free hosting site. I think it is fantastic as I can put pictures of my restaurant in 3D environment (and especially I built it my self)
Pls visit my restaurant at: www.gogofrog.com/userdata/tbusinesst4
have fun and would really appreciate if you have any comments. Thanks,

Where is your restaurant located? I can't tell from the address or telephone number.

User Name: nectarine
Location: Las vegas, TX
Total Posts: 1

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Gizmolito)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 19:10:03 GMT

Does your restaurant exist, or was this a fantasy exercise of some type? Or is the name really the "Spam Restaurant?"

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Michael Hoffman)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:50:30 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by nectarine

hi all, i have built a website for my small "tomato restaurant" at a free hosting site. I think it is fantastic as I can put pictures of my restaurant in 3D environment (and especially I built it my self)
Pls visit my restaurant at: www.gogofrog.com/userdata/tbusinesst4
have fun and would really appreciate if you have any comments. Thanks,

Where is your restaurant located? I can't tell from the address or telephone number.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Adjudicator)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:42:48 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Slick

Adjudicator,

That link takes me to the gogofrog main page and not your site. I've been working on one too.

I don't have a site with this place yet. I was pointing out main page for other folks, etc.

RE: Website for small restaurant business ( nvb)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 17:38:54 GMT

Adjudicator,

That link takes me to the gogofrog main page and not your site. I've been working on one too.

RE: Website for small restaurant business (Adjudicator)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:01:14 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by jeepguy

You suck at the internet. Just a green screen here.

It's in "Flash" format, dude. U must be on a "suck"y slow dial-up modem.

Site looks good nectarine. Congrats!!!!!! & welcome to RF.

And Nectarine.... Those are pics of your menu items?????

P.S. I just created my new acct. here. It's free....

http://www.gogofrog.com/index.html

RE: Website for small restaurant business (jeepguy)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:55:03 GMT

You suck at the internet. Just a green screen here.

Website for small restaurant business (nectarine)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 06:28:10 GMT

hi all, i have built a website for my small "tomato restaurant" at a free hosting site. I think it is fantastic as I can put pictures of my restaurant in 3D environment (and especially I built it my self)
Pls visit my restaurant at: www.gogofrog.com/userdata/tbusinesst4
have fun and would really appreciate if you have any comments. Thanks,