People, I implore you, resist bar code menus. You are paying money to get served. Don’t put up with this crap. In my town, the barcode menu experiment lasted a couple of weeks but customers simply refused to use them and restaurants had to give in. We don’t have to agree to this crap. There’s no reason for it, it’s inconvenient, ugly, and stupid. Nobody is obligated to possess a smartphone. Let’s stand in solidarity with the people who don’t use them.
Bar Code Menus
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Clarissa's Blog 
I’ve only encountered this once. I explained to the manager that I didn’t have a smartphone and couldn’t read the QR codes. She showed me the to-go menu on the chalkboard, which was not the full menu, and then walked away, if I recall correctly.
She had no interest in helping me order. It was a new restaurant for Japanese comfort food, which I love after living in Japan. So she probably saved me a lot of money in the long run.
I had the impression that not having a smartphone was just not something she could process.
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What’s a barcode menu?
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When instead of a menu you get a piece of paper with a barcode. You have to aim your smartphone at the barcode and in theory it takes you to a webpage or opens a pdf with the menu. Of course, it only works on iPhones, or only on certain models, and the letters are tiny, and it shows different menus to different people, etc.
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What’s the point in showing different menus to different people? I never got that. Are there different codes for the different menus or does it just randomly assign one?
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OT: I’ve taken the coward’s way out and decamped to Malta for the Xmas holidays. A bit of a hassle compared to a couple of years ago (last time I did the same thing) but totally worth it, the weather is between 12-16 degrees C – and mostly sunny – Christmas weather that makes sense to me instead of dark and cold….
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I’m so happy for you! It sounds amazing. Merry Christmas! Don’t forget to share what the traditional Christmas meal is on Malta.
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I don’t mind it. Some places I’ve been to encode the location of the table within the QR code, so you can just order without having to talk to to anybody.
I prefer minimal interaction.
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I can’t even figure out how to activate and set up a Smartphone to save my life. The good old flip phones are the only ones I’m capable of navigating
…and flip phones last longer, don’t need constant recharging, BOTH the phones and plans are far less expensive.
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Hear, hear! I have a flip– for every flip that has died on me, my sister goes through at least two smartphones. Battery life is excellent.
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