When a user looks up a restaurant, they may be looking up a location en route, trying to find a number to call and make a reservation, trying to scroll through the menu or find reviews. The website needs to be accessible, clear and easy to use. It also has to be visually appealing and give the user a clue as to what kind of restaurant they might walk into.
I looked up some of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis—group restaurants by powerhouses Gerard Craft and David Bailey who have each created several successful, unique restaurants that cater to wide variety of patrons. I looked at these restaurants especially because of the creative challenge that they present (and, for the most part, solve very well) of making distinct sites that can still be tied to the same owner if they so desire (Bailey seems to have gone this route, while Craft really lets the flavor of each restaurant sing). What’s useful, however, is that no matter what restaurant I choose, the information that’s most essential is the same across all of sites.
I wish to recreate the website for one of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis, The Fountain on Locust. The site is actually heinous and offensive.
Given, the restaurant itself is (deliciously) tacky (I mean…Burlesque Bingo), but certainly not offensive. It really does have some of the best ice cream drinks ever and their grilled cheese is to die for. A lot of their pages are superfluous and unnecessary. There is A MARQUEE streaming across the landing page and about 20-30 standing pieces of information. The user has no idea where to look even for the basic, essential details. Streamlining their content and establishing a clear hierarchy will be vital in making a website worthy of the food The Fountain serves.