Boomers Can't Stand This Millennial Restaurant Menu Trend

The Boomer generation, so-called because its members were born in abundance between 1946 and 1964, has been the subject of much cultural commentary. Social media creators often satirize the Boomer stare, a term used to describe the blank or confused expressions sometimes leveled at service workers when asked a question. However, where this post-war generation's behavior really shows up is when food and dining out are at hand. Meat-loving Boomers have a penchant for the classics, which is why one specific Millennial menu trend remains particularly polarizing for them: QR code menus.

These digital interfaces became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as restaurant owners struggled to keep their patrons safe and their businesses afloat. Typically, the QR code is displayed on a poster or table tent, and it invites customers to scan it with their phones, which takes them to a website with the menu. The reasons Boomers hesitate to embrace this technology are multifaceted (and pretty valid, actually).

First, navigating these platforms requires many people to use their phones in a new way, which can be uncomfortable (and some don't even have a phone to use for scanning). Second, the screens of most phones are quite small, or at least smaller than your typical paper menu, which can make reading the text a challenge. Finally, Boomers, on the whole, approach dining out as an opportunity to connect with friends and family, and bringing out our phones can feel as though it's defeating that purpose.

While Boomers often raised the Millennials who first popularized QR codes, Gen Z represents a second generation of digital-first diners. This cultural gap is nowhere more apparent than in the dining discrepancies this youngest group brings to the table — many of which, much like the QR code menus of their predecessors, continue to baffle Boomers. For example, Gen Z diners don't engage the waitstaff with small talk as much before ordering, preferring to exchange pleasant but brief greetings and then get on with it. Boomers, on the other hand, have more of a penchant for chit-chat, and may consider their younger dining companions withdrawn or discourteous.

Gen Z might be less inclined to chat, though, because its members are scrolling away, texting, or even posting content via their phones. Some Boomers don't even bother bringing their phones into the restaurant (or they leave them at home), much less sitting at the dinner table with them out, which many find rude. Finally, if there is something wrong with their meal, Gen Z is more likely to just eat it, even if it's the entirely wrong dish (though they might draw the line at Boomer-favorite offal, if they've never tried it). On the other end of the spectrum, Boomers typically have no issue sending a plate back to the kitchen, sometimes for even the most trivial reason.