Why Restaurants Still Need a Dine-In Business

Never has the restaurant business seen a bigger transformation than the great delivery shift during the Pandemic. During this time, many restaurants closed their dining rooms completely in order to safely provide meals to hundreds or thousands of locals quarantined at home. Delivery and online ordering have become the norm that led to the rise of Ghost Kitchens; restaurant brands that exist only as a name, kitchen, and delivery fleet without dining space at all.

But what about dine-in business?

Should short-staffed local restaurants reopen the dining rooms and take walk-in orders? 

Today, local restaurants need both delivery and dine-in business to thrive. Let’s dive into the why and how.

Walk-In and Take-Out Drink Order

Many local restaurants survived lockdowns by providing carry-out alcohol – something that grocery and shopping delivery services can’t provide. As doors re-open, you don’t need a ton of staff to open the bar and provide drinks to your customers. Drinks can be easily ordered through a digital menu and delivered to customers with a smile; and that signature ambiance of your restaurant.

Provide a few bar snacks on the menu and your restaurant is halfway to reopening the dining room.

Creating the Dining Experience for Your Loyal Locals

Should you reopen the dining room for tabled guests? If you have the staff, the answer is yes. Your loyal local customers are still craving somewhere away from home to have dinner. Get back to that place where you are the venue of a historic first date, where old friends meet, and where new business partnerships are forged over plates and napkins.

This is your chance to recreate your restaurant dining experience and build a stronger relationship with your dine-in customers.

QR Menus Make Dine-In Business a Breeze for Reopening Restaurants

The traditional dine-in model might not work for your staff or your sanitizing requirements, but QR menus are an answer to both problems. A QR code menu is a virtual menu found by scanning a QR code at the table. Customers scan with their phones, then complete their orders through a virtual menu that creates an e-ticket.

Short Staff? No Problem

We know that most restaurants are dealing with short staff after pandemic cuts and job migrations. Fortunately, you don’t need full-service staff to reopen your dining room. With our QR code menus, your staff need only bring out the orders and keep an eye on drinks to provide a great dine-in experience.

Contactless Menu Safety

QR code menus also help your restaurant maintain exquisite sanitized standards. No need to print new menus or constantly sanitize menus between guests. Instead, a QR menu means guests look at their own phones to order – with no shared high-touch objects from one table to the next.

Environmentally Friendly

Lastly, QR code menus help you meet your eco-friendly business initiatives. If you’re aiming to reduce packaging and paper waste, a QR code menu will never need to be thrown out and re-printed. You can simply update the digital menu details and guests will see something new on their next dine-in visit.

E-Tab is a flexible electronic ordering platform for restaurants that isn’t just limited to delivery and takeout orders. QR code menus make it possible to streamline your dine-in guest experience as well – and you should. Embrace the additional business, the drink orders, and the delight on your customer’s faces as they take in your distinct restaurant ambiance, delicious food, and curated dining experience.