I was hoping this trend would go away.

But, I fear the inflationary time we are living are going to give this a boost.  Unless I can convince you- and about a billion others- to avoid places that rely on this.

As I wrote last year, there’s a significant number of restaurants that no longer are printing menus.  Or, hiring enough wait staff.  (Let’s be clear- the pandemic has made hiring wait staff more daunting- and more expensive.)

These folks post a card on their tables with a QR code.  And, expect us- the patrons- to scan the item and choose from the menu that appears on our smartphones.   (The QR code concept was adopted when folks thought we could contract COVID-19 from handling menus. NOT!  COVID-19 is strictly an airborne opportunist.)

To be honest, I am not a fan of folks hovering over the phones at a meal.  And, now with these QR codes, everyone has to be resorting to their phones.  And, not their companions.

The good news?   2/3 of all adults preferred paper menus (National Restaurant Poll).  And, more than 300K folks ‘liked’ the tweet “What do we, as a culture, have to do to kill QR code menus”.  (Admittedly, my generation- old farts- dislike QR codes by the highest number- 80% of us hate them.  Which may be due to the fact that 40% of seniors do not own a smartphone.)

What the QR folks don’t tell you is that the QR menu will let the restaurants change their prices by the day of the week- or how crowded they are each night.  (Yes, I don’t use UBER either, with its surge pricing- and another reason coming right up.)

And, did you realize that once you link up to the QR code, you’ve let that establishment track you (forever)? Just like Uber, these folks will know where you are and where you surf (on the web).

Are you still sure you are willing to play that QR menu game?  I think you should find a better restaurant to frequent.

Share this: