[chunkyslink]

>> Over the last few weeks I've spent countless hours, now lost forever, plumbing the depths of restaurant Web hell

I'm sorry but the author of this article has obviously missed the following sites built by the UK based company Engage Interactive. These guys have nailed the UK market and make awesome restaurant websites for some of the biggest chains / names.

www.strada.co.uk

www.bellaitalia.co.uk

www.caferouge.co.uk

www.giraffe.net

They feature exactly what you want, and they do it well. All of these sites make you want to eat in the Restuarants.

They also do www.pocketdiner.co.uk which redirects mobile traffic to a mobile version of the sites.

The culture at these restaurants is nothing like what is being described in the article. So all together I'm not sure where the author is coming from.

[mannepanne]

Thanks for noticing! My name is Magnus Hultberg, I work at Livebookings and collaborate with Engage around reservation services and Pocket Diner.

The sites you list above are in my opinion really great examples of what restaurant websites could and should be. There are also other agencies in the UK delivering really well such as Ignite Hospitality and Evolving.

[ZoFreX]

Pocket Diner is the wrong way, IMO, to go about things. It's not really that hard to make a single site that works well on all devices, this is exactly what I meant by spinning more money out of clients by selling them different versions for mobile.