What is RUNIN Out
Contact: Chito@runinout.com
RUNIN Out is a restaurant and dish search engine for everyone who likes to dine out. Our mobile website features restaurant’s dishes and track users’ preferences for food so that we can provide focused recommendations to users and tailored marketing analysis to restaurants.
Our users can post pictures, rate dishes, write reviews and share their experiences with others. The more information our users provide, the more specialized we become. Whether you are going out with friends, family, colleagues or even on a date RUNIN Out will exhaust all resources to find the perfect dish for you
Q: How do you use RUNIN Out
Search Box
RUNIN Out employs the same type of faceted search technology that E-Commerce sites like Zappos and Amazon uses. Type in whatever you want: Steak, Sirloin, Meat, Rare, even your neighborhood or Zip Code, and RUNIN Out will find the right dish that you are looking for.
RUNIN Out is constantly compiling a large database of restaurant and dishes. We also offer cutting-edge faceted search capability. This means that you can select and filter specific criteria within multiple categories.
EG: Under the category, Cuisine, you select: Chinese, French and Lebanese. Under the Neighborhood criteria, you select: Adams Morgan, Falls Church and Rockville. Under the Taste criteria you select: Spicy, Baked and Sour. Under the Food Mood criteria, you select: Romantic, Adventurous, Cultural. The list goes on to include Price, Rating, Food Type, Ingredients, Foodies Then using these facets and constraints, we will provide you with all the results that best match the criteria.
The results are provided based on the latest info first. EG: if there are two dishes or restaurants with the same results, the one that is the more recently added or has the newest review is shown first.
Menu Bar
You can also use the Menu bar and drill down to your selection for Cuisine, Food Type, Neighborhood. The Food Mood and Date terms are designed to pique your creative, more adventurous spirit -- we are open to suggestions on how we can even make this work better for you.
Views Page
Dish Page: You can also find the latest entries, the most popular dishes, what's trending and the cheapest eats.
Restaurant Page: From the Restaurant page, you can find what's trending, most popular and the most romantic restaurants. Each Restaurant Page provides an interactive display of dishes as well as a synopsis of the restaurant, and user reviews.
On Site Navigation:
Each selection displays several Food Tags: Restaurants: Cuisine, Food Type, Neighborhood, Food Mood, Date Dish: Cuisine, Food Type, Ingredients. By clicking on any of these Food Tags, you are provided a view of other restaurants and/or dishes that share the same features.
At the Restaurant
RUNIN Out is designed for user interaction at the restaurant. Many restaurants are provided with a QR code that links directly to their restaurant page. Or you can just easily search for the name of the restaurant where you are provided an interactive view of all the featured dishes.
Then just pare down your choices by adding keywords: Eg: Chicken, Appetizer, Spicy, etc. Once you find the dish that interests you, click on it to read more about it such as a user review, rating, Foodie and specific ingredients.
If you are not completly satisfied, click on the "You Might Also Like" link which will take you to more choices from that particular restaurant that may work better.
Q: How does RUNIN Out remember user’s preferences.
This is completely up to you. You create your own profile for cusines, dishes, restaurant preferences and ingredients. Moreover, your profile is further enhanced through reviews, ratings and social media interaction, ie. Facebook Likes.
Q: How will this info help the user?
The more we know YOU, the better we can provide customized recommendations to YOU, not just in the Washington, DC area but also in other cities when we expand. Say you visit Kansas City on a business trip, RUNIN Out will transfer your foodie profile to that city and make customized recommendations based on your existing preferences.
Q: Should RUNIN Out only be used when you are getting ready to dine out?
We hope not. RUNIN Out is a social media site, designed for the customer. Customers are expected to post pictures, write reviews, build their profile and share their experiences with others just like you would with other social media sites like Yelp or Foodspotting.
Q: Will restaurants have access to their own restaurant page?
Yes, with a premium account restaurants will be given full access to their page and can control which dishes to showcase. Restaurants can also update their pricing and post coupons and discounts. Restaurants however will not be able to remove or edit reviews.
Q: Where do you get your photos?
Three primary sources: from the Restaurant, from food bloggers an from wonderful people like you. And of course, we all enjoy eating out, too.
Q: Isn’t it bias if the restaurants provide you with photos?
We are an online menu – our goal is to display pictures of the top dishes and drinks so that the user can be afforded comprehensive and user-friendly display.
We encourage pictures from customers also and believe they provide a diverse mix of pictures and character to our display.
Q: Why should users post pictures on your site?
Posting pictures on RUNIN Out will enhance the user’s profile so that we get to know what your favorite dishes, cusines and ingredients are.
Q: Is RUNIN Out similar to Foodspotting?
Although users can post pictures on our site, we are primarily an online menu for customers. We highly encourage users to continue posting their pictures but also consider sharing them with us.
Q: How do you determine which pictures will be displayed on your homepage?
Our goal is to serve as your online, interactive menu and to provide a comprehensive, seasonal display of the top dishes.
All pictures will be displayed, but the top dishes by rating and season will be featured more prominently. EG: During Valentine’s Day, top romantic dishes will be more prominently displayed.
Pictures that are not featured prominently on the landing page will still be featured prominently in the individual users’ page to provide an interactive display of each user’s favorite dishes.
Q: How do you get feedback about dishes and different cuisines?
From user’s reviews, ratings, customer traffic and social media shares (Facebook, Twitter and Google +)
Q: How are you different from Yelp
We are primarily an online, interactive menu not a restaurant review site. User reviews are limited to 140 characters for dishes and 280 characters for restaurants. We encourage reviewers for more lengthy reviews to continue using Yelp, Urban Spoon or their favorite review site. Still post on RUNIN Out but please be concise and to-the-point.
Q: Will RUNIN Out expand beyond the Washington, DC metro area?
Absolutely! As we gain users and restaurants, we will branch out beyond the Washington, DC metro area.
Q: How do you plan to get the word out?
Restaurants will encourage their customers to visit their restaurant pages. Also restaurants will be provided a QR code so customers can quickly access the restaurant page.
Additonally because RUNIN Out is a social media site where users post pictures and reviews and share their experiences -- word of mouth.
Q: Do restaurants have to participate in order to use RUNIN Out?
Not at all. RUNIN Out will officially launch during the spring of 2012 with approximately a database of 1,000 restaurants in the Washington, DC metro area. Each restaurant page will be packaged with several top dishes for customers to start reviewing. And as the restaurant and users begin to provide us with more photos, our menus become more and more comprehensive.
Our database never stops growing. We will continue to add restaurants and dishes within the DC Metro area as well as expand further outside the city core.
We hope that customers and restaurants work together to post pictures of their favorite dishes.
Q: Why is RUNIN Out so different?
RUNIN Out believes in user experience. We have created the Food Mood category and believe that certain restaurants and dishes will work better for depending on your particular mood or occasion. Many of our pictures include the foodies actually enjoying their meal -- we believe in personalization.
Speaking of occasion, RUNIN Out also believes in romance and have categorized restaurants based on specific dates (Romantic, Platonic, Pre-Theater, First, etc).
Q: Can I request for a particular restaurant to be added?
Absolutely, send your request to chito@runinout.com
Q: Where did you get the name?
The name RUNIN Out started as a running blog. Chito had just retired from the Navy and found himself at an important juncture in life. He started running and blogging, but before long realized that he enjoyed running mostly because he got to meet different people and learn from their life experiences.
It was at this time that the acronym RUNIN was formed.
RUNIN Out is Reflecting on your Food priorities and then Researching your options. Anything is possible.
RUNIN Out is Understanding your choices across all Neighborhoods and Cuisines, even dishes you would never consider eating.
RUNN Out is Negotiating your options to include other People, preferences, prices and Personality.
RUNIN Out is Innovating -- leveraging the social network to make the smartest decision that would make your Mother proud.
RUNIN Out is Networking -- sharing your ideas with others so that they can gain insight from your experiences. Then starting all over again...
Q: Where did the project start?
As a class project in an Entrpreneur class at George Washington University, School of Business. Our classes in Marketing, Finance, and Business Law have greatly contributed to the development of our business plan.