Website displays local menus

Welcome to the Web, may I take your order?

Roommate on the phone? Don't know what to eat? Late night studying has you staring at a blank screen? Try pulling up www.takeoutexpress.com - the Internet site that connects viewers to a multitude of Ann Arbor's restaurants and their menus.

After accessing the site, surfers may choose the type of cuisine they prefer and order from a restaurant on the site.

A menu from the selected restaurant appears. With a swift click of the "submit" button, the order is sent to the restaurant and prepared, said Benny Cheung, president of the Novi-based Take-Out Express.

Students can choose to have their meals delivered, or to pick them up at the restaurant.

"It's an additional way for restaurants to get business," Cheung said.

The Website is free publicity for the restaurants. The site has printable coupons, and the restaurant does not have to pay for advertising this way, Cheung said.

The site boasts its easy use for diners and restaurant owners.

The store is only charged when an order is placed. The customer is not charged, Cheung said.

When accessed it can provide useful information about the menu, phone number and location at no charge to the restaurant, he said.

LSA first-year student Emily Wingfield said she would use the service because she is tired of always ordering from the same menus that are slid under her door.

"I think it would give you more accessibility to more places," Wingfield said.

The company started in February of 1997 by listing restaurants in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. The cities did not respond as expected, Cheung said.

The company selected Ann Arbor for the service because of its reputation for using technology, Cheung said.

He said many businesses and students would find the service to be a great help.

Chris Schultz, an Engineering first-year student, said the Website might benefit him if he did not know a restaurant's phone number.

Otherwise "I might just prefer a phone book," Schultz said.

Cheung said the site receives a good amount of business.

"We've been averaging about 2,000 hits a month," he said.

More than 25 Ann Arbor restaurants are listed on the site, including the various Cottage Inn Pizza locations on campus.

"We have our own Website where you can order," said Bob Bloomer, manager of the Central Campus Cottage Inn on Packard Street.

They have been accepting orders via the Internet for about three years.

We get "a couple per month. We have a few people who that's their main way of ordering," Bloomer said. He said he thinks North Campus receives more orders than Central Campus.

But students without immediate computer access, such as Engineering first-year student Ben Jimines, may find the service to be inconvenient.

Jimines said he probably would not use the service "just because I'm too lazy to do that."

11-03-98