We all enjoy finding a delectable dining experience when we decide to cruise the town in search of the next eatery to please our pallets. But how do we search for this wonderful new place to indulge our cravings? At Elevare, we had a different kind of craving to satisfy. What restaurants had the best digital presentation of their food.
We decided to put our digital search skills to the test, searching restaurants around the nation to find the best online experience that satisfied our craving for a beautiful restaurant website. In the end, we found 9 stunning examples of what we thought a restaurant website should be.
From our research, we have to admit that most restaurant websites we found weren’t very exciting and didn’t provide clear information like directions or what’s on their menu. A shocking amount of restaurants still don’t even have a website! A great restaurant website should entice you to head straight to the restaurant to devour their delicious-looking food.
How We Chose the Top Restaurant Websites
While there are some fairly decent looking restaurant themes, we wanted to reward the eateries who created a custom website from scratch that is just as unique as their restaurants.
To the best of our knowledge, every restaurant website we choose is custom-made and utilizes the best practices of UI/UX design. The criteria we used to evaluate the sites include consistent branding, clear messaging, a custom, non-themed design, and typically was not a major chain. Here are our top 9 restaurant website picks in no particular order.
Yeah Burger
The first thing you notice about Yeah Burger’s website is the inviting images of their food in an artistic way. The sliding background is fun and interactive but doesn’t overpower the site. The text is still easy to read and the site is easy to navigate. The color scheme and images are warm and inviting and almost make you feel like you’ve walked into one of their restaurants. The whole site showcases their philosophy of “Keepin’ It Real”.
This website has inviting images of their food in an artistic way. Image credit: Yeah Burger
Farinella Italian Bakery
Farinella Italian Bakery Pizza & Panini’s website has a fun, family friendly look and almost feels like a carnival. They have very consistent branding throughout and display a great use of a serif font! The red and yellow are powerful, hunger-driving colors that are perfect for a busy Italian restaurant and also ties seamlessly with the colors of America’s favorite food, Pizza! We like that they make it easy to find the directions without even having to click on a seperate link and that you can quickly make a reservation or order online. That why is simple for customers to navigate if they are in a hurry.
A fun, family friendly look and almost feels like a carnival. Image credit: Farinella Italian Bakery
Michi Ramen
A simple, clean website with easy navigation is the crux of Michi Ramen’s website. It displays a great use of subtle colors to put the focus on their food and restaurant information. It’s not too busy or too robust and very clear to see what they offer. We like how they explain how to order your Ramen first to make the menu less confusing for first time visitors. Overall the website is well thought out and very user friendly
A display of great use of subtle colors to put the focus on their food and restaurant information. Image credit: Michi Ramen
Pizza Express
Ok ok, we made an exception here. Though we normally don’t include chain restaurants in our votes, Pizza Express’s website really stood out. It features a great use of simple color schemes. The white space is used very nicely to bring out the direction and flow of the user experience. The social widgets are well-styled and the verbiage is humorous and inviting at the same time. We love that their menu focuses on events like Mother’s Day and fun kid friendly events to show they have a family friendly atmosphere.
The social widgets are well-styled and the verbiage is humorous and inviting. Image credit: Pizza Express
Caravan Restaurants
We are excited to present this in our list. We love the simple design and great use of space. The black and white, almost grunge feel is sophisticated at the same time as being industrial in nature. We have seen this trend in the past couple years, but Caravan Restaurants is one of the best at making it work! We also like that you are instantly directed to pick the restaurant closest to you, so you know are getting the most up to date information such as hours and menu items for that location. That also makes it seem like each location is its own separate restaurant, giving it a more local hometown feel.
The black and white, grunge feel is sophisticated at the same time as being industrial in nature. Image credit: Caravan Restaurants
Little Goat
Little Goat is everything we wanted Flash sites to be back in the day. Though this site is not responsive as far as mobile implementation, we had to give props to the creativity and unique experience this site provides. From the illustrations and animations to the use of bold and light sans-serif fonts in a well-styled and interactive design, this pick is one of our favorite creative sites. Plus if they took that much to craft their website, just imagine how fun-for-your-mouth their food is going to be!
For creativity and unique experience, this site provides a well-styled and interactive design. Image credit: Little Goat
Big Apple Hot Dogs
Flat design, parallax animations, and clever illustrations provide a fun and engaging experience for this New York Style Hot Dog Restaurant name appropriately as Big Apple Hot Dogs. The clever hot dog illustrations also give potentially boring menu descriptions a fun interactive feel to keep people browsing their website. Though the site is quick to browse, we know from development that this site was no easy feat. Tie it in with a seamless, responsive experience, this site is one of our favorites!
Flat design, parallax animations, and clever illustrations provide a fun and engaging experience. Image credit: Big Apple Hot Dogs
Salsa Brava Fresh Mexican Grill
When you think about Mexican restaurants, you usually think of vibrate colors and bold flavors. Salsa Brava’s website captures the essences of a great Mexican restaurant while still maintaining a simple and modern feel. The site is easy to navigate and very user friendly. The top banner pulls you in with delicious images of their food. Their color scheme utilizes red and yellow to make visitors hungry, but are also fun and festive without being too overpowering. Overall their website is fresh and lively just like their food.
The site captures the essence of a great Mexican restaurant while still maintaining a simple and modern feel. Image credit: Salsa Brava Fresh Mexican Grill
Urban Egg Eatery
Fun, inviting, and delicious-looking food make your eyes wide and your stomach growl! Urban Egg’s website has a beautiful and bright color scheme perfect for a breakfast restaurant. It encourages the visitor to wake up and get ready for their day with a meal at this breakfast eatery. The site is easy to navigate and laid out with a nice array of information to help you find just what you are looking for. An updated Instagram feed lets you know this restaurant is upbeat and social. We also like that the main focus of the website is the importance of community and how they donate to local charities and schools. You get the feeling that you will be treated like an important part of their family from the first time you walk into the restaurant.
A beautiful and bright color scheme perfect for a breakfast restaurant. Image credit: Urban Egg Eatery
Top Restaurant Website Takeaways
Searching for the top restaurant websites made it very apparent how important a well-designed website is to the user experience. To make a restaurant website stand out, it should be easy to navigate, have a clean design, bright and beautiful images, and utilize the best practice of UX/UI design, as well as showcasing the most important reason for going to that establishment; THE FOOD! It was even more baffling how many restaurants don’t even have a website.
* Feel like we missed an amazing restaurant website? Send your submission over to info@elevareagency.com.
Want Your Website to Look like One of These?
Elevare designs stunning custom restaurant websites that will set you apart in your industry. From beginning to end, we create a unique and amazing experience for you and your site visitors. If you want a site that’s like none other, look no further! Just fill out the form below to get started with a free 30 minute consultation.
Check out our review of “Our Top 6 Picks for the Best Roofing Websites in 2017“.
