Josh Hendrickson
Last year, Google announced updated features for the Lens app, including examining menus and offering recommendations. But you had to point your camera at the menu for it to work. Now thanks to updated Google Maps integration, you can get those recommendations from the comfort of your home. Or anywhere else.
For reasons that defy explanation, people like taking pictures of food and restaurant menus. The latter is especially confusing, considering most restaurants offer websites with digital copies of the menus at this point.
But Google is taking advantage of that to provide your recommendations for nearby restaurants. And it’s pretty easy to use too.
Open the Maps app on Android (sorry iOS users, this doesn’t work for you yet), and look for a restaurant that’s piqued your curiosity. If you see a menus tab, tap on that. Chances are, someone has taken a picture of the menu, and that’ll be your next tap. If you see an explore dishes option, Google has recommendations for you. Tapping on it will highlight dishes that have good reviews.
Of course, this won’t work for every restaurant right away. But in a quick unscientific test, it worked for nearly every restaurant near us, including a few locally-owned options. If you ever find yourself torn between two dishes, go ahead and give it a whirl.
via 9to5Google
