JOURNAL / INDEX · 370 ENTRIES · PAGE 3 OF 31 LAST ENTRY 2026-10-08
THE JOURNAL PUBLISHED FROM LONDON · 51.5072°N 0.1276°W

Everything we learn, written down

Bookings, menus, online ordering, search. Written by the people building the product, between services.

Last published 8 Oct 2026 — the TableSpark team, London
ARTICLES363
FILMS14
TOPICS9

All entries

25–36 of 363 Newest first · Articles Articles ✕

October 2026

2026-10 12 entries
FIG. 26 Menus and allergens
Menus and allergens 2026-10-03

Add Allergens to Your Online Restaurant Menu

A guest with an allergy reads the menu online before ordering. When the allergen sheet sits apart from the dishes, it can be wrong the day a recipe changes.

FIG. 27 Cost and comparison
Cost and comparison 2026-10-03

What a £10 or £25 Deposit Really Leaves You After the Card Charge

On UK cards, the fee on a deposit is a percentage plus a fixed 20p, and the fixed part takes a bigger share of £10 than of £25. The figures are worked here line by line.

FIG. 28 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-10-03

Which Pizzas Belong on Delivery, Collection and Dine-In Before the Order Page Opens

A dish built for the table can turn into a refund after twenty minutes in a delivery box. Sort the menu into dine-in, collection and delivery before launch.

FIG. 29 Search and being found
Search and being found 2026-10-03

A Guaranteed Page One for Your Restaurant: What Google Says Before You Sign

Google says no one can guarantee a top ranking. When an SEO offer promises one, the restaurant, not the supplier, carries the risk of what is done to its site.

FIG. 30 Menus and allergens
Menus and allergens 2026-10-03

Your Menu Names the Dish. The Guest Searches for the Taco

Latin dish names are the menu's identity, but a guest new to the food searches in everyday words. A plain line under each dish closes that mismatch without losing the names.

FIG. 31 Search and being found
Search and being found 2026-10-03

Food Truck Website: Publish This Week's Pitches Where Guests Look

An old post sends guests to the wrong pitch. Weekly hours, dated exceptions and each pitch as an event sit behind one link, and the Business Profile follows by hand.

FIG. 32 Ordering and payments
Ordering and payments 2026-10-03

Ready Bakes Sold Online and Celebration Cakes Taken by Enquiry, on One Bakery Site

Ready bakes that sell out by noon and celebration cakes that need a conversation fail in different ways online. Give each its own lane before the order page opens.

FIG. 33 Building the website
Building the website 2026-10-02

The Five Answers a Guest Wants Before They Arrive, Written in Your Own Words

Five arrival questions belong on the booking page: lateness, the door after nine, parking, dietary notice and the window table. Left unwritten, each costs a call.

FIG. 34 Building the website
Building the website 2026-10-02

Choosing a Takeaway Website Template: Lead With the Menu and the Phone

A takeaway site that leads with a booking form can lose the Friday caller who only wanted the menu and the number. The first screen decides whether they ring.

FIG. 35 Bookings and reservations
Bookings and reservations 2026-10-02

A Bar Takes a Group of Twelve: Seat Them in the Bar Area, Not Wherever Is Free

A booking that says only party of twelve, Saturday at eight, leaves the seating to the door. The cost is a birthday group waiting by the bar while tables are moved.

FIG. 36 Cost and comparison
Cost and comparison 2026-10-02

What a Phone-Order Takeaway Needs From a Website Builder on Day One

Menu, hours and a number to tap go live first. Collection orders come with a move to Full; paying up front by card adds Stripe's fee per order.

FIG. 37 Bookings and reservations
Bookings and reservations 2026-10-02

Cap the Covers on the Night One Person Is Running the Room

Close the diary and you lose guests a lone cook could feed; leave it open and the room books full. A covers cap for one date sits between the two.

The pass · every other Thursday

One short note. No noise.

The best of the Journal plus one thing worth stealing for your restaurant's website — twice a month, unsubscribe in a click.

We'll only ever email you the Journal. Promise.