ronnie_suburban wrote:I was mainly referring to printed/printable coupons that end up in the local ad flyer or get distributed via an on-line consolidator. IMO, they have negative connotations but again, this is just my take and may not reflect reality.

=R=

I tend to agree with you. I also have a rule that I won't visit any restaurant that leaves an ad on my door. It isn't so much that I associate these ads with bad food (which it probably is), but that I resent these being left on my door and, inevitably, littered about the neighborhood.

If I applied that rule, I wouldn't be able to go to Semiramis or Spoon Thai.

ekreider wrote:If I applied that rule, I wouldn't be able to go to Semiramis or Spoon Thai.

That's strange. I live a couple of blocks from both and have never gotten a flier from them. Lucky me.

ekhan wrote:That is a great idea, and we are now pounding the pavement in Evanston. Our resources are limited though, since the site is free. Would anyone be willing to help get pictures and specials from each of the restaurants? We are hoping to include all of the north and northwest suburbs in the site.

This, I'm afraid, speaks to the doom that is your website's fate. It is useless unless you get real content, and you don't have the resources to get real content. And getting it is barely half the battle - the real challenge is in maintaining it.

Kennyz wrote:...getting [content] is barely half the battle - the real challenge is in maintaining it.

That's such a hugely important point to remember that I'll quote it again:

Kennyz wrote:...getting [content] is barely half the battle - the real challenge is in maintaining it.

Back in the day, I built a website that compiled bars' food & drink specials around the north side (Lakeview/Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, Old Town, and River North, mostly). Dynamic (PHP) pages, full search functionality, built on top of a huge MySQL database populated with data for around 100 bars.

Guess how long the data remained current? One month.

After I realized I'd have to go out to all those bars and gather all of that data all over again, I decided the site was more effort than it was worth.

In hindsight, if I'd been a real go-getter, I would've coded an admin interface and talked the bars into entering the data themselves

ekhan wrote:Do you have any interest in a site where you can see all of the specials in the participating restaurants in that town? ...I don't think that Metromix or anyone else has ever done this.

Yes they have, and in a much more robust and user-friendly way than your site.

I respect your enthusiasm, and I think you did a wise thing here by seeking feedback before taking this too much further. If you're just considering this a fun little hobby, I say go for it. If you're thinking it will be some kind of business success, I'd suggest scrapping it.

Yes, it is more of a hobby at this point, and it is difficult to maintain. We will have to see if we can train restaurants to enter their own data. Also, what are the sites that offer restaurant specials in one place? Please let me know.

When you say "specials," do you mean discounts, like coupons? Or do you mean food items that are "daily specials"?

The former is somewhat interesting. The latter seems like a lost cause.

I guess that high end restaurants do not need to use coupons, because they cater to a wealthier clientèle. The lower and mid-level restaurants probably have a greater need for more business.

ekhan wrote:Yes, it is more of a hobby at this point, and it is difficult to maintain. We will have to see if we can train restaurants to enter their own data. Also, what are the sites that offer restaurant specials in one place? Please let me know.

Metromix, among numerous others. You go to the Events page, then filter by Dining. It used to be much better than it is now - I think they just gave up on all the work it takes to maintain it. It's still substantially more useful than yours though. You might say an "Event" is not the same as a "Special," but that would only be meaningful if your site had a narrower definition of the word Special. As it is though, it appears that you just include whatever limited info you can find, from "free pool" to "$14.95 ribs" - which is pretty much the same as what Metromix does with their "Events".

Sorry ekhan - I don't mean to pile on... but I really don't think you're on to anything here.

gotta say that I agree with the naysayers here. I keep getting approached by companies that are doing, essentially the same idea, but using the iPhone and other fancy cell phones as the platform rather than a traditional website.

these iPhone apps allow users to sign up to the 'feed' of specific restaurants, or to specify a certain geographic area, and then they recieve instant notifications about the specials. everything's customizable, so people can opt in or out of whichever restaurant's specials they want. some of them are also tied into GPS locators, so if you're driving by, say, Pete Miller's on Tuesday evening, the program might shoot you a quick message letting you know about that day's specials as long as you're in the area.

these companies get restaurants to participate by touting all the great features and infinite customization that's possible, and so the restaurants do the leg work by emailing the specials of the moment.

this seems like the future to me, not web-based platforms that look like something from 10 years ago.

I would like to see the iPhone app- I believe that another gentleman mentioned it as well. Our main goal is to create a portal where all of a town's restaurant specials and coupons can be found in one place. Phone integration is interesting though- I would like to see how it works.

well, go to the app store and download one of the hundreds that are available and see!

Our main goal is to create a portal where all of a town's restaurant specials and coupons can be found in one place.

just curious--why is this your main goal?

Because it does not exist at a local level. I know that everyone says that it does, but that is only for Chicago- not any of the suburbs. By the way, are Edzo's specials streamed through the Foodie app?

I'd also suggest that your site is in desperate need of an editor, or at least some effort in proofreading. But I won't suggest that, because it would really just be lipstick on a pig.

ekhan wrote:Because it does not exist at a local level. I know that everyone says that it does, but that is only for Chicago- not any of the suburbs. By the way, are Edzo's specials streamed through the Foodie app?

I think you're mistaken that this doesn't exist. Metromix allows for filtering by specific suburbs, and I don't have an iPhone or Droid or whatever, but I'm guessing that there are dozens of these apps that allow people to sort by specific location. This level of customization is what these phone-based apps do best.

And, no, I'm not working with anyone to broadcast Edzo's specials via websites or apps. Yet. I do it via Twitter and Facebook.

If I can go to the Reader, to Time Out Chicago, to Yelp and Zagat and Metromix, and to this forum, not just for basic information but for useful, independent comment from people who don't have a vested interest in the success or failure of the restaurant being reviewed, why do I need your website?? Simply listing the daily specials isn't enough -- if the restaurant has its own site, I can get that from them. The coupons just turn me off (coupons cheapened Marshall Field's, remember? Which is part of how it came to sell itself first to Dayton-Hudson, which became Target Corp., then to Macy's). I wouldn't want to eat at any restaurant that sent me a coupon, unless I'd already eaten there and liked the food anyway ... in which case, it'd be the food and not the coupon that brought me there. So no coupons.

Besides, another poster was right: it's not just getting the info right in the first place, it's maintaining it over time -- and you can't count on the restaurants to do that for you. It just won't work. Wearing my journalist hat for the moment, I can tell you from having worked with newsletters and magazines for a few decades that the comparison to newsletters is apt in this respect:
1) you don't start a newsletter unless you can either give people valuable information that they can't get anywhere else in the way you're giving it to them, or else you do it better than anyone else does it;
2) you don't start a newsletter and get people depending on it, then fall down on the job and only publish or update it intermittently -- you have to be regular, be timely, and be consistent, or your readers will get pissed at you and stop reading or relying on you, and you'll be worse off than if you hadn't started the newsletter in the first place; and
3) your reputation rests on timeliness and accuracy, and you can't delegate that to anyone else. If you start this website, you are, in effect, the chief editor, and the buck stops with you. Period. Either own it, or don't do it.

Sorry for the tough love, but you did ask. And either you do this for the benefit of the users, offering something they really need, or you don't bother with it at all.

-- webdiva

I counted about 83 restaurants on your site for Evanston, out of, what I believe is easily 110+, in business. I'm not sure why you chose to include some and not others. But it's in no way as comprehensive as, say, Metromix. A good friend owns a restaurant here, with specials that change weekly - you don't cover its specials, because you don't even acknowledge the restaurant's existence.

I admire your intentions, but as others have said upthread, unless something about your site changes fast, I don't think you have the resources to pull it off. It's a great domain name, though - I'll bet you could make some decent change selling it to a much larger operation.

Please let me know what what restaurants you are talking about, as we would be like localplatter.com to be as complete as possible. Also, I am interested in your friend's restaurant- I would like to add them especially if they offer coupons or specials.

ekhan wrote:Please let me know what what restaurants you are talking about, as we would be like localplatter.com to be as complete as possible. Also, I am interested in your friend's restaurant- I would like to add them especially if they offer coupons or specials.

Frankly, I'd hope you'd find about it on your own. To create a site as ambitious as you describe, you shouldn't count on mining LTH for data.

nr706 wrote:

ekhan wrote:Please let me know what what restaurants you are talking about, as we would be like localplatter.com to be as complete as possible. Also, I am interested in your friend's restaurant- I would like to add them especially if they offer coupons or specials.

Frankly, I'd hope you'd find about it on your own. To create a site as ambitious as you describe, you shouldn't count on mining LTH for data.

I agree and if the information's already here, what's the point of us regurgitating it merely so someone else can post it again somewhere else? If the Evanston/Wilmette site has to rely on LTH for its information, it speaks volumes about its viability and usefulness. This is why I suggested upthread doing your own legwork and creating something that's unique and not dependent on "the kindness of others."

I don't intend to sound mean but I'm trying to provide useful, realistic assistance.

=R=

Just stumbled across this thread. As background, I grew up in Wilmette (1965-1994), spent the last nine of those years as graduate student and faculty at Northwestern, and while I now live on the other side of Chicagoland, I am in Wilmette and Evanston at least once per month.

Evanston has exploded to where I can't keep track. But Wilmette? One can literally identify every restaurant in Wilmette with 35 minutes of two people driving in a vehicle. When we lived in Wilmette, it was not particularly difficult to know every restaurant in town, especially with Wilmette's strenuous liquor license situation.

If you really want this to be about Wilmette, for example, for goodness sake stop trying to put monetization first. Start with explaining to people what is special about those restaurants, and why we should go there. I'll pick a place at semi-random: The Ridgeview at Lake/Ridge has been there, owned by the same family, for literally as long as I can read. Yet I never think to go in there, and I pass it by at least once a month, because I'm going to stop at Poochie's or Hackney's on my way home instead if it is dinner time, or maybe splurge calorie-wise at Walker Brothers'. Go make the case as to why I should change my mind (if I should, that is).

Don't try to be a directory. To quote the social media author Chris Brogan, be a "trust agent." Go shoot video, ask customers for testimonials, have it be about the restaurants. Go find out which Chicago media and food personalities live in Wilmette and ask them if you can get 50 words from them on their favorite Wilmette restaurant. If you make the case sufficiently enough, I don't need to save $3 to go there.

And then and only then should you be worrying about monetization.

Alright guys, I have done the legwork, and I believe that the restaurant list for Evanston on http://localplatter.com is now complete. I will work next on getting some pictures of the exteriors and interiors of the restaurants. Also, we will be giving away gift certificates for some of the Evanston restaurants from our site.

Evanston's not complete. You're still missing my restaurant, for one. Beyond that, I didn't check. Also, those stock photos you're using are weak. Not using photos would present better.

I agree - definitely not complete. I noticed a number of restaurants missing (several of which have been commented upon here on LTH), at least one that's been renamed and under new ownership for well over a year, a restaurant management group listed as a restaurant, and numerous typos (I'm sure the owners of "Noddle Garden" will be thrilled). If you don't have the resources to do it, then don't do it - or at least don't try to claim to be doing it comprehensively.

ekhan,

A tough love for you:

You haven't done the legwork. A simple Yelp search will show you tons of places you've missed.

You're even missing the Davis street location of Davis Street Fishmarket, a long-time Evanston stalwart.

Addis Abeba?

Noyes Street Cafe? (seriously dude, this place is practically an Evanston institution)

Kingston Grill?

There's a ton that doesn't work with your site, the biggest problem being the fact that your data is far from complete.

Gathering and maintaining data like this is a very big undertaking that can't be done as a hobby or even a side project. Even minor errors quickly erode user confidence in your listings and send them elsewhere. There are plenty of established companies that quickly and easily send users to complete and up-to-date listings.

You have admirable enthusiasm, but your result is far from professional quality for many different reasons. As a long-time consumer of web-based restaurant data, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. I don't think you're even close to providing a valuable service that can't already be found elsewhere, faster, better, and easier.

Best,
Michael

Wow, what a gold mine of advice. Why are you all giving it away for free? To what end? Did it occur to you that this person is turning around laughing to her colleagues and saying "Ive stuck it rich...a whole bunch of opinionated foodies and I can pick their brains for free"? Heck with the consultants, bankers, focus groups, etc.

Why bother?

Just my $0.02.

Thanks for letting us know that we were missing some Evanston restaurants. Actually, restaurant owners may enter their restaurants themselves from the site. Additionally, restaurants may send their own pictures, and we will put them on the site.

We originally wanted to create a restaurant directory that was specific to each Chicago suburb, because we couldn’t find anything that we thought was comprehensive- I guess I need an Iphone. Anyway, several months ago restaurant owners started asking if we could list their specials and coupons as well. We began listing the specials and coupons, and restaurants told us that they were getting more business. The directory also has been useful for us for finding places to eat with coupons and specials that we like in the towns where we live and work. Anyway, that is our reason for being, and hopefully other restaurants would be interested in taking part. As far as my resources to perform such a task, I run a business, and I have its resources at my disposal. I think that for business owners, there is a fine line between a business and hobby, though localplatter.com is completely free.

champs2005 wrote:Wow, what a gold mine of advice. Why are you all giving it away for free? To what end? Did it occur to you that this person is turning around laughing to her colleagues and saying "Ive stuck it rich...a whole bunch of opinionated foodies and I can pick their brains for free"? Heck with the consultants, bankers, focus groups, etc.

Why bother?

Just my $0.02.

Good point. Maybe we should charge people to read LTH?