Blog
Guides for real venues.
How to build a real cafe website, rank in Google, run QR menus, and stop paying for plugins.
- News
Google AI Mode restaurant booking lands in Australia, with a catch
Google's AI Mode can now search restaurant bookings in Australia and hand you to a booking page — but it doesn't book the table itself. Here's what to know.
Read - Opinion
Commission-free restaurant reservations: book direct, keep data
OpenTable just tightened its grip on restaurant data. Why more Australian venues are moving repeat bookings off marketplaces and onto their own site, for free.
Read - Guide
How to open a cafe in Australia in 2026. Do it in this order
Opening a cafe in the wrong order means paying twice. The four phases, from concept and site to fit-out and launch, and why phase one is the place not to rush.
Read - Opinion
Cafe business survival in Australia 2026: confidence isn't proof
A Sydney cafe owner who'd never open the same place again is still trading — on cost discipline, not confidence. What the 86% figure can't tell you.
Read - Guide
Cafe website cost in Australia: what you'll actually pay
What a cafe website really costs in Australia once you add the domain, the logo, the renewal fees and the price of every change after launch.
Read - Opinion
Lockout laws are repealed. Your booking page didn't get the memo
The lockout laws are gone after twelve years, but customers still think Kings Cross and the CBD shut early. Here's how to actually fix that this week.
Read - Opinion
Payday super hit cafes in July: cut your tool stack, not your staff
From 1 July, super leaves the account every payday, not once a quarter. Here's why the real lever for cafes isn't staff — it's the tool subscriptions nobody's auditing.
Read - Opinion
Restaurant walk-ins declining in Australia: book ahead is the habit
Fewer Australians walk in off the street. More research for 18 minutes, then book. Here's what the 2026 diner data means for your restaurant's website.
Read - Guide
Food truck website: the schedule page nobody else is building
A food truck's location is its most valuable, most perishable content. Here's why one crawlable schedule page beats Stories, events and Google Business Profile.
Read - Guide
How to get your cafe found on Google, in the right order
The ordered checklist for getting a cafe found on Google: the profile field to fix first, the menu mistake that breaks AI search, and reviews done right.
Read - Guide
Instagram's 2026 algorithm update runs like a search engine
Instagram's 2026 rollout of Your Algorithm and a smarter Search means captions and bios now work like keyword SEO — here's what that means for your website.
Read - Opinion
Banh mi near me: the bánh mì shop's unfair search advantage
Bánh mì shops and other single-item specialists have a built-in edge in local search, but only if they own a website instead of renting one from an app.
Read - Opinion
Restaurant vs pub closures in Australia: it's not about being a pub
Cafes and restaurants are closing at nearly double the rate of pubs in 2026. The real structural gap — and the one part of it you can actually close.
Read - Opinion
Restaurant cash flow in Australia 2026: it's financing, not concept
10.21% of Australian cafes and restaurants are in payment arrears, nearly double the national rate. What the 2026 data means for your cash flow, not your concept.
Read - News
Quandoo is closing down: what your venue must do before 30 September
Quandoo stops taking bookings on 30 September 2026 and shuts down entirely on 31 December. What Australian venues need to export, fix and replace before then.
Read - News
The card surcharge ban and what it means for your menu prices
Card surcharges are being removed from Visa, Mastercard and eftpos terminals from October 2026. Here's what actually changes on your menu, and what doesn't.
Read - Comparison
Website builder for cafes and restaurants in 2026, ranked honestly
Five ways to get a venue online, ranked on update friction instead of sticker price — including the one we build, and where it genuinely loses.
Read - Guide
Google Business Profile's AI menu feature, and its limits
Google Business Profile can now build a structured menu from a photo of your printed one. Here's how it works, and where it still needs a human.
Read - Guide
Google Business Profile vs a website: which do you need first
A Google Business Profile is free and worth having — but it's not yours. What it can't do, and why 2026 makes owning a website matter more.
Read - Opinion
Rent and labour are eating your margin. Don't let marketing follow
Hospitality award wages rose 4.75% on 1 July 2026 — about $18,000 a year for a 10-staff venue. Cutting marketing to cover it is the wrong first move.
Read - Guide
Uber Eats commission: what it actually costs Australian venues
Menulog is gone. Uber Eats and DoorDash now control Australian delivery, and commission tiers can take up to 30% of every order before costs.
Read - Guide
Do you need a website if your cafe has Instagram?
A direct, honest answer for cafe owners: what Instagram's Connected vs Unconnected reach split reveals about who actually sees your posts.
Read - Comparison
Restaurant booking systems in Australia, compared honestly
One booking platform has already left the Australian market — and another is about to. Here's what OpenTable, SevenRooms and the alternatives really cost.
Read - Guide
Google's AI is now choosing where people eat
Google's AI is quietly narrowing search results to a handful of picks. Here's what gets a venue onto that shortlist — and what gets it skipped entirely.
Read - Comparison
QR code menus: PDF vs a real page, which one customers actually use
Diners scan QR codes constantly, but most say they'd rather not. The culprit is usually the PDF, not the code. Here's what changes when you swap it for a real page.
Read - News
The Uber Eats pay rise and what it means for your margins
A draft FWC pay order for Uber Eats and DoorDash drivers is due 10 August 2026. Here's the margin case every Australian venue owner should read before it lands.
Read - Opinion
Why are cafes closing in Australia — and what survivors do differently
10.4% of Australian cafes and restaurants closed last year, the worst of any industry. What separates the survivors, and what you can act on this month.
Read - Guide
Restaurant Website Design
Get a professional restaurant website without an agency or Wix. Menu, bookings, hours and Google info on one page you update from your phone. Free to start.
Read - Guide
How to make a cafe website that actually works in 2026
Skip the WordPress maze, skip the web developer. A clear, opinionated guide to building a cafe website that ranks, loads fast, and updates from your phone — in one afternoon.
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