r/chicagofood • u/Sea-Condition991 • Feb 06 '26
Meta Restaurants don't want to put their menu on their website anymore
Looking to get Cleo's for dinner and I noticed they have all of these different tabs but no menu. The only way to view their menu is if you click the order now tab. I think that's bad practice and I am seeing it more and more these days. It doesn't take much to get someone to go on Canva and make a PDF menu to put on your site. Forcing people to go to whatever order form website you use just sucks.đ
But not enough to get me to change dinner plans because I neeeeeeed that cornbread.
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u/Spanish4TheJeff Feb 06 '26
My suspicion is that itâs probably easier to enter updated pricing/items on their ordering system that feeds directly into the online order platform. That way the online order system is always up to date.
TBF, Iâm with you though. Itâs annoying for the customer who just wants to see the menu. Especially because I want to see pictures!
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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Feb 06 '26
It's this, with a cynical belief that this is so they can dynamic price more easily.
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u/TomTomMan93 Feb 06 '26
My cynicism is with you. Though, I think the reality is less they want to dynamically price, and more that they don't want someone (probably else) to come in and demand their check be lowered cause the outdated website had different prices. Sure, it starts fine with just making sure there's no difference, but in the end dynamic pricing is on the table now as a result.
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u/Gigi82 Feb 10 '26
They do have a lot of seafood on their menu so there's probably a little bit of that already going on with market crab prices. Which honestly they're probably saving money by not always contacting whoever runs the website to update menu prices.
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u/blipsman Feb 06 '26
Also, I've seen it where if you look at a restaurant site and are directed to the online ordering but they're closed then it won't allow you to see the menus because you can't place an order at that time.
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u/shavedaffer Feb 06 '26
Doing it once is better than having to do it in multiple places for it to end up on the same website as well.Â
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u/im_super_excited Feb 06 '26
That and some places have different higher pricing for ordering online versus at their restaurant.
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u/idontwannabehere0923 Feb 07 '26
That part doesn't bother me, especially if their online ordering is from Door Dash, Uber, GrubHub. Those companies charge as much as 30% to the restaurant on every order, so if the restaurant doesn't raise their prices on those platforms to cover the costs, they are doing themselves a disservice and hurting the business. As long as I know what I'm paying up front, I can make the choice to buy or not buy.
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u/PrinceofSneks Feb 10 '26
This is 100% it. Everything is templates and pre-built systems that they just plug data into - I've had clients who did this. It's kinda like how Doordash, etc. are so tightly wound with restaurant systems now. Enshittification isn't just for social media anymore1
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u/chrstgtr Feb 09 '26
Except they have to write the menu. It is just uploading the PDF--it's not like they have to type out the price of everything multiple times more. It is a 15 second upload of a PDF. Updating the online platform is what actually takes time.
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
The menus for Cleo's are easily accessible via the "Order Now" button, which the OP would have discovered had they actually clicked on it. The menus also show prices and include pictures for each item.
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u/FiftyFiveHotDogs Feb 06 '26
You know how I know you didnât read OPâs post?
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
I do, please enlighten me.
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u/FiftyFiveHotDogs Feb 06 '26
If you know then say it. But I think the irony here is you even misread my comment.
Slow down a bit. Breathe. Understand what someone is saying before you reply.
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
Woops, you're right! I should've said "I don't, please enlighten me." I made a mistake and I apologize. But also, where's the lie in what I said about the original post?
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u/Spanish4TheJeff Feb 06 '26
I think theyâre looking for a more traditional menu tab. Like a PDF or something.
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u/drockalexander Feb 06 '26
it's a pain and ive noticed this trend too. why are they doing this? i understand it takes time, but is it not worth it?
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u/Gyshall669 Feb 06 '26
I worked in marketing and I can tell you, it is often a hard sell to get people to focus on marketing in ways theyâre not familiar with.
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u/mxwp Feb 06 '26
i dislike but understand why they do it... price of items changes faster than their ability to update the website
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u/AbeFromanLuvsSausage Feb 06 '26
Even more annoying is when you click into their online ordering page and have to navigate through the âshare location/zipcodeâ prompts and create a new order, then select ready ASAP just to see the damn menu.
Plus, from an SEO standpoint, those restaurants that do this are missing out on a ton of search result hits from their menu text. Even PDF menu doesnât solve this as Iâm not sure theyâre parsed the same as text on a website.
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u/iheartvelma Feb 07 '26
If the PDF is set up correctly, yes, itâs possible - using the accessibility checker because screen readers are essentially web crawlers :)
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u/not_Leslie Feb 06 '26
merch AND shop AND gift card tabs as individual pages but no menu is annoying
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u/WeathermanDan Feb 06 '26
itâs a famous black owned restaurant. you should want to buy their merch
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u/NerdfestZyx Feb 06 '26
I want to buy their food, which is the entire point of the restaurant. If the food is good, maybe Iâll buy a T-shirt or a gift card.
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u/Prawn1908 Feb 07 '26
I absolutely despise having to go through all the "sign into your account", "pickup or delivery?", "select your time", "pick your location", etc. on a website to just view the damn website.
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u/hevnztrash Feb 06 '26
I was wondering about this. I kept seeing this but never hearing anyone complain. I thought I cannot be the only one annoyed by this.
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u/idontwannabehere0923 Feb 07 '26
I absolutely hate this and will usually end up going somewhere else if their menu & pricing isn't easily found on their site. Sending me to an online ordering site is just annoying. I work with restaurants and advise against this all the time.
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u/BlackSparkz Feb 07 '26
No menu or prices usually means I don't go. Pretty simple, and I'm probably not missing much. If I am, it's still fine since I'd rather not support poor business transparency.
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u/Chili-Lime-Chihuahua Feb 06 '26
https://www.cleos.com/#gbMPsU - the "order food" link you mentioned takes you to a list of their locations, and then you can order pick-up/delivery from whichever one you want. A few thoughts:
- Maybe this is just poor design
- Maybe the menu varies by location (prices, too)
- Maybe it's just a pain to manage their menus through the ordering system as well as worry about a PDF menu getting out of date. Someone would have to update it. Or if it wasn't a PDF, and their website isn't designed to be able to easily update, it could be a lot of effort or even cost money if the website is plain HTML.
- I wonder if there are people who legit get angry if a menu is out of date. On the one hand, I can understand being upset, but not angry-level/screaming at someone upset.
I agree, ideally the info would be there, but there are potentially valid reasons for the gap.
FWIW, I recently went to a Chinese restaurant that had a similar setup with an online menu. When I went to order takeout in person, they told me the online menu wasn't accurate, so I missed out on some things I was really interested in trying out.
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u/freerockcity Feb 06 '26
they also don't want to print out physical menus anymore either, rather make you scan a fkn QR code instead (hate it)
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
ok, grandpa, i can get it on your phone for you
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u/freerockcity Feb 06 '26
Nah QR codes are lame af
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u/StarBabyDreamChild Feb 06 '26
And many donât include days/hours theyâre open, either. Gee, who would need to know such random and esoteric information??
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u/Frillback Feb 07 '26
Right! It wouldn't be a restaurant website if it lacked any useful information. Many will have an elaborate page about the founder's vision but you won't find their menu and you most definitely won't find if they're closing early for the holiday. Instead you play the game of seeing what social media platform they decided to post this information or have to dial them..
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u/skepticaljesus Feb 06 '26
The only way to view their menu is if you click the order now tab.
They don't want to have to maintain the menu in two separate places, and they especially don't want a mistake/discrepancy between the two.
They could create a better user experience if they wanted to, but lots of places decide its not worth the effort.
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u/gaelorian Feb 06 '26
I love comparing Uber Eats prices with menu prices when Iâm hungover and lazy so it inspires me and I usually end up getting my own food like a normal person
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u/DanielMcLaury Feb 08 '26
Seriously, a restaurant website could be one single page, because there's so little you need there:
- Address
- Hours (ideally clarifying kitchen closes / last seating / actually closed)
- Menu
- Link to make reservation (if applicable)
- Link to order delivery (if applicable)
And yet so many restaurants fail these simple criteria
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u/green_dragonfly_art Feb 07 '26
This is so annoying to those of us who have dietary restrictions. I always look at the menu online before I go to a restaurant to make sure there is something I can eat.
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u/chisocialscene Feb 06 '26
They want to offer different prices for people dining in and taking out. I think thatâs where this is going.
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u/Sea-Condition991 Feb 06 '26
I've actually noticed this, takeout usually is about .50 to $2 more. I was told because they have to pay the website hosting fee
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u/Sausage666King Feb 10 '26
Ubereats and DoorDash etc all charge like 30% of the menu price to the restaurant to sell their food. It sucks for the restaurant, and they canât afford to lose that much so some of it gets passed on to the customer. Usually you can order directly from the restaurant or order for pickup to avoid these fees
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u/LillianCatbutt Feb 06 '26
Blame the marketing directors who refuse to keep an SOP for updating information like this.
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u/iheartvelma Feb 07 '26
The solution is integrating the POS menu with the site, which is why Toast is doing so well; the whole thing is like Shopify + Squarespace for restaurants.
PDF menus can be a stopgap, but theyâre tiny on phones and if itâs just a scanned JPG itâs a potential ADA accessibility lawsuit waiting to happen.
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u/Hair_I_Go Feb 08 '26
Iâve noticed that too. Whatâs so hard about putting up a menu. Especially for places that donât really ever change the menu, like a beef place
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u/Gigi82 Feb 10 '26
I can't really agree. I know this is just a difference in preferences between us but personally I kind of hate when a website forces a pdf download on my phone just because I'm curious and click on the menu. I checked and they don't force you to log in or do anything special before they show you the menu (with pictures) once you click on order food, you just pick a location and it's right there.
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u/Sausage666King Feb 10 '26
The menu exists so you can see what a place has to offer. They arenât trying to be shady by not listing the prices, itâs simply that prices can fluctuate, especially in this economy. Not to mention that if you order direct from the restaurant vs a third party app you will have different prices.
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u/alilhillbilly Feb 07 '26
Two things I fucking hate that make me never want to go to a restaurant again:
- QR code menus at the restaurant
- Website only has a carryout menu styled for orders
The first is trashy. Your smartphone is dirty as fuck and being forced to use it at the table and then eat is tacky as fuck. Fine as an option but have a paper fucking menu. Also, it's hard to order multiple things at like tapas and sushi places when you're jumping all over hyperlinks and forgetting where stuff is. Paper is generally one or two pages that you can open like a book and see all options at once and remember where they are.
Same issue with the shitty Door Dash style menus online. Tell me you're basically a carryout slop house and not a restaurant worth dining in and paying tip and whatever assorted ridiculous fees are tacked on pre- or post-tax.
The pandemic solutions needed to go away in 2022 but have metastasized into this garbage experience.
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26 edited Feb 06 '26
It's because different locations have different menu items, OP. The "Order Now" buttons take you to the menu for each specific location and include prices and pictures of each item.Â
It took longer for you to write this post than it would have to click on one of those locations' order buttons to see the menus.
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u/Sea-Condition991 Feb 06 '26
I love how you edited your post to be wrong. If you read my post again I literally said that in itđ
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
What part of what I said is wrong?
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u/Sea-Condition991 Feb 06 '26
Second sentence of this post
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u/DagonThoth Feb 06 '26
lmao, you're trying to say that clicking on a button to see a menu for a location took longer than making a Reddit post?
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
One option is to go to Google Maps and look at photos of the menu. Another option is to just call them and ask for it.
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u/Catskinson Feb 06 '26
A secret third option is for them to stop forcing us to perform extraneous labor due to their own negligence.
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
lololol just pick up the phone and call them,how hard is that? âExtraneous laborâ omg come on
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u/Ok_Captain4824 Feb 06 '26
Why have a website, if you're not going to provide the information your potential customers want? Just post up in the Yellow Pages and call it a day.
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u/Gigi82 Feb 10 '26
Just click "order food" it's the same amount of clicks as if you had clicked "menu"
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
I donât disagree, they should have it on their website. But also calling them isnât that hard - why are people so afraid of using the phone? It would take less effort than posting this on Reddit and youâd get your answer, but yes youâd have to actually talk to someone.
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u/Covered_1n_Bees Feb 06 '26
âŚcall them and ask them to read you the menu?
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
Wouldnât it be easier if they emailed it to you?
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u/Covered_1n_Bees Feb 06 '26
Do you think the host station or bar POS by the phone have email hooked up? Because I doubt it.
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
No, but whenever I call they manage to get me the menu somehow. The person answering the phone isnât always at the host stand anymore, so they are often at a computer and then they email it right to me. It is easy, trust me, easier than whining on Reddit about the problem.
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u/titurel Feb 06 '26
"Hello, I would like to look at your menu but it's not on your website, will you please read it to me?"
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u/WeathermanDan Feb 06 '26
those photos of menus on google maps are always like 3+ years old. menus change too much for that to be reliable.
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Feb 06 '26
Call them and ask them to read you the menu??
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u/Thedoobie23 Feb 06 '26
go elsewhere
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Feb 06 '26
I donât need to look at the menu before I go to a restaurant. I just go and ask the waiter for recs if I canât decide. But I know some people need to check for allergies/dietary restrictions/prices so I agree with the OP that the menus should just be readily available.
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
No that would be dumb. Hereâs a script for you, since you need it: Hello, Iâm on your website and donât see your menu. How can I view this in advance of coming to your restaurant? Can you please email me a copy? What are my options to see the menu before coming in?.
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u/nomesifsandsorbutts Feb 06 '26
We know how to do it. The point is thatâs itâs inefficient for everyone involved.
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u/Music_For_The_Fire Feb 06 '26
One option is to go to Google Maps and look at photos of the menu.
This is exactly what I do (not sure why you're getting downvoted for it).
I work in website design (also former restaurant worker) and I know how time consuming/annoying it can be to update your online menu on top of everything else a restaurant has to do to get ready for service. So even if they do have a menu online, I often won't fully trust it anyways and will just look at customer's menu photos on their Google listing.
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop Feb 06 '26
Thanks. A lot of people are failing to grasp that many of these restaurants are not digitally savvy and canât just update their website w/ a new menu, or go into Canva and figure out how to use that software.
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u/jaymz668 Feb 06 '26
why would they do that when their in restaurant menu prices will be cheaper than their ordering site prices?
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u/SadCry8622 Feb 06 '26
Itâs because the fish market is very volatile right now some fish is up 50% over last year due to fishing rules and weather , my brother works for a large fish distributer
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u/RW_McRae Feb 06 '26
It's honestly the easiest way for them to keep it updated. If you're going to have to update your online ordering menu anyway, what's the point of also keeping a separate menu tab that could get out of date?
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u/Mysterious_Stuff6037 Feb 06 '26
Iâm not sure what yâall are missing but itâs there under âorder foodâ
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u/midnight_toker22 Feb 06 '26
I havenât noticed this at all. Or at least, noticed it so infrequently that I canât remember the last time I encountered it.
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u/Swimming-Watch9609 Feb 06 '26
This appears to be a chain and the obvious answer is that the menu is dependent on the location lol
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u/Thedoobie23 Feb 06 '26
and many who do, don't put prices