Why don’t you list chain restaurants?

November 19, 2009 – 8:00 am

Chain restaurants (franchises) typically have their own marketing departments or spend considerable coin on external marketing agencies. Independent restaurant owners generally do not have the marketing dollars to dedicate to this.  We believe the deciding factor for online exposure should be the quality of the food and service rather than the online marketing budget.

By Diningverse | Posted in Patron FAQs | Leave a Comment

Why are some restaurants not listed?

November 18, 2009 – 8:00 am

When deciding how to populate Diningverse, we chose to let our patrons suggest and recommend their favorite restaurants, after all, they are the ones using Diningverse to find great local restaurants. Diningverse is literally being populated by the Diningverse community. So if you don’t see your favorite restaurant listed, go ahead and suggest it.

By Diningverse | Posted in Patron FAQs | Leave a Comment

Is Diningverse a restaurant directory?

November 17, 2009 – 8:00 am

Diningverse is MUCH MORE than the usual restaurant directory. You can find detailed information about the best local restaurants including Menus, Specials, Photo Galleries and more. Best of all, you can keep track of the restaurants your friends recommend, let your friends know which restaurants you like, create your own restaurant directory and keep it handy or send it to your friends, stay on top of what’s happening in the restaurants within your area, and much more.

By Diningverse | Posted in Patron FAQs | Leave a Comment

How do I find a specific restaurant I’m looking for?

November 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

Just use the Area Chooser and Area Explorer.

Diningverse Area Chooser

Diningverse Area Chooser

The first one gets you to the right local area where the restaurant is located.

Diningverse Area Explorer

Diningverse Area Explorer

The second one helps you find the restaurant profile.

If this is not helpful enough, here is some more in depth info.

By Diningverse | Posted in Patron FAQs | Leave a Comment

Restaurants not using Diningverse must be crazy!

November 14, 2009 – 10:58 am

The statement in the headline is pretty strong. I know. But anyone ignoring the data posted below surely must be crazy.

… 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions.
~ JC Williams Group

… 87% trust a friend’s recommendation over critic’s review
~ Marketing Sherpa

… 3 times more likely to trust peer opinions over advertising for purchasing decisions
~ Jupiter Research

… 1 word-of-mouth conversation has impact of 200 TV ads
~ BuzzAgent

This is the exact reason Diningverse exists. We wish that restaurants start understanding this and try Diningverse out.

By Diningverse | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Add item variations to your menus

November 9, 2009 – 8:00 am

Do you offer a half-rack or ribs or a cup of soup? Do your patrons get the luxury of adding a slice of cheese to their burger or ask to take off the fixin’s from their turkey club?

No problem! Add item variations to your menu items in a snap. It’s all automated and couldn’t be easier to use. Include the adjusted price or show that they should add or subtract a few cents.

Item Variations on the Menu

Item Variations including prices

You can add multiple item variations to any item on your menu. The variations, together with the price are automatically added to the menu your patrons see on your Diningverse restaurant profile.

To add an item variation, just start editing the menu item in the Restaurant Editor, scroll down and click the Add variation link.

Add Item Variations to a menu item

Add Item Variations in the Restaurant Editor

Input your variation and the price. You can continue to click the Add variation link to add additional variations. When finished, simply click the Save changes button.

Here is a short video to give you a better idea of how all this works.

Hope you like it. Please give us your feedback.

Thank you for using Diningverse!

By Diningverse | Posted in Features, How To - for Restaurants | Tags: , , , , | Leave a Comment

More beautiful and easier to use Restaurant Editor

November 4, 2009 – 10:02 pm

The Restaurant Editor got some new clothes. And it’s not just looks that improved. We have worked hard to make the user interface more intuitive and easier to navigate. The new Dashboard provides quick access to all parts of the restaurant profile and features a pop-up video featuring the Restaurant Editor walk-though.

 

Restaurant Editor Dashboard

New Dashboard in Restaurant Editor

If you’re using Diningverse for more than one restaurant, managing multiple restaurant profiles is now easier than ever. Just click the ‘down-arrow’ next to the current restaurant name and you’ll see a list of profiles you can choose to edit.

 

Multiple restaurant profiles selector

Choose the restaurant profile you want to edit

In the previous version of the Restaurant Editor, all the ‘basic details’ were displayed on the same page. Now we have re-organized the information in a more intuitive way into sub-sections so that you’re editing the exact information you need.

 

Info sub-sections

General Info sub-tabls

It was possible to maintain multiple menus for a while but now it’s even easier. We have re-designed the menu editing screen slightly to make it a little more intuitive. We’re planning more adjustments in the near future so stay tuned.

 

Menu editor screen

Manage multiple menus

Another improvement we have made:

  • Add new restaurant profile quicker and easier
  • Review all your billing details on one comprehensive screen
  • Manage your account details at any time

We hope that you enjoy the re-design. As always, we’re looking for your feedback so that we can continue improving Diningverse for you.

Thank you for using Diningverse!

 

 

 

By Diningverse | Posted in Features, How To - for Restaurants | Tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

Mary Fed got some September magic

October 12, 2009 – 8:00 am

Our September Magic Diningverse Monthly Conquest was a success. Our patrons left many recommendations for many restaurants.

The randomly chosen winner is Mary Fed. As promised, she will receive a $50 dining gift certificate to a restaurant of her choice listed on Diningverse. Mary chose Bayfront Grille located at Sheraton Erie. Interestingly enough, she left her winning recommendation for this very same restaurant. Now, that’s one loyal patron!

Our congratulations goes out to Mary and we hope that she’ll leave many more recommendations for her favorite restaurants on Diningverse.

Stay tuned for more exciting contests (or should I say “conquests”?) coming your way very very soon.

By Diningverse | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The winner of NomTest at ErieBlogs

October 6, 2009 – 7:23 am

We are excited to announce the winner of NomTest organized by Diningverse in cooperation with ErieBlogs. The short contest ran during the second week in September and generated great interest.

The winner of the contest is Mike Sopp. Mike chose to receive his $50 dining gift certificate for Steel City Sandwich Co.

$50 dining gift certificate to Steel City Sandwich Co.

$50 dining gift certificate to Steel City Sandwich Co.

Steel City Sandwich Co. received a free upgrade to full restaurant profile as a part of the contest.

Once again, congratulations to you Mike. We hope that you’ll leave a positive recommendation for Steel City on Diningverse.

A big thank you goes to Mike Richwalsky at ErieBlogs for agreeing to team up with us and facilitate the NomTest at ErieBlogs.

The results of our own “September Magic” contest will be posted here shortly.

By Diningverse | Posted in Contests | Tags: , , | Leave a Comment

Restaurant managers get a Free trial for a whole month

September 21, 2009 – 8:24 am

Restaurants can now sign-up for a new Diningverse full restaurant profile or upgrade their existing basic profile to a full restaurant profile and pay nothing for a whole month.

It’s very simple, restaurant owners/managers should check on Diningverse whether their restaurant has been already suggested by Diningverse patrons and their Basic profile added. They can browse for their restaurant name in the local area where their restaurant is located. While on the Basic profile page, simply click the link below ‘this is a basic profile’ sticky note and arrive on the Upgrade page.

In case the restaurant is not yet listed on Diningverse, restaurant owners/managers should just sign-up for a restaurant manager account and add their restaurant profile directly.

The Free Month trial will start automatically for every full restaurant profile. The restaurant will not be charged anything for the first full month and the full profile can be cancelled (or ‘downgraded’ back to basic profile) at any time during the trial period. After that, should the restaurant manager decide to keep the full profile, Diningverse will charge $79/month. There is no set-up fee, no contract, no obligation. “If you like it, keep it. Otherwise, cancel or downgrade at any time.”

By Diningverse | Posted in Branding and Marketing, How To - for Restaurants | Tags: , | Leave a Comment