Wine Advisor.

Client & context

A US client wanted to help restaurant guests choose wine with confidence. Many diners don't know which wine suits their meal and don't want to ask; restaurants lose sales and guests get a worse evening.

The challenge

The guest experience had to be instant: no app to download, no account to create, and a recommendation in a few taps at the table. For restaurant owners, it had to be easy to set up with their own wine list and menu.

What we built

We built a mobile web app opened from a QR code printed on the restaurant's menu:

• QR entry - scanning the code opens the restaurant's own Wine Advisor in the phone's browser.
• Guided selection - a short sequence of questions about taste preferences and the dish ordered.
• Recommendation - the best-matched wine from that restaurant's list.
• Restaurant set-up - admin panel for the wine list and menu.

Process & timeline

Our designers and developers delivered the project within stringent timeframes, in 10 weeks, testing the flow on real phones in restaurant conditions.

Results

Wine Advisor is offered to restaurant owners who want to bring mobile technology into the dining experience, and is used in several American states.

Restaurants could offer wine guidance at every table without extra staff time, and guests could choose with more confidence.

At our current rates, a build of this scope would cost about £12–25k — an estimate from the feature list, not the original invoice.

If we built it today

Today we would keep the no-download QR flow and add a simple dashboard for owners showing which wines are recommended and chosen, plus integration with the restaurant's POS so the list stays in sync with stock. A first release of a product like this typically takes 6–8 weeks; our rates start from £49/hour per developer, and £65–£70/hour for a full team with QA and product ownership. Discovery starts from £3,000.

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