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This & That Cafe Website

Proving that restaurants don't need complicated websites - just fast, honest ones that answer customer questions immediately

This & That is a Manchester institution, famous for its "rice and three" curry dishes. Operating since 1984, it's a beloved part of the Northern Quarter's culinary landscape.

This & That's website homepage. The cafe is easy to miss, so the photo shows the alley visitors need to find as its header image. There are two main links, "Home" and "Menu", and we can see TripAdvisor reviews and the start of a description of the business

From domain disaster to digital success

When I started working with This & That in 2016, their website had expired and been claimed by domain squatters who put up a spammy landing page. I helped them reclaim their domain through Nominet, which built trust, then set up a new site mirroring their old content.

The site costs just £10/month - qualifying for my "no support" hosting package because changes are so infrequent. This reflects the business perfectly - they haven't really changed since the 1980s, and neither has their website approach. Sometimes the best digital strategy is keeping things simple and reliable.

Website approach

I maintain a simple, fast-loading static website that focuses on what visitors need most. The menu is immediately accessible - unlike many restaurant sites that hide menus in PDFs or behind multiple clicks. On This & That's site, the current menu and prices are right there on an HTML page that loads instantly on any device.

Site traffic numbers are always high with lots of people googling the menu and landing on it immediately. This is much faster compared to sites that make customers navigate complex interfaces just to see what's on offer.

The site has gradually expanded over the years - adding a vegan menu page, reviews sections, more contact links - but very slowly, which mirrors how the business operates. Changes happen in less than 24 hours when needed, but they're rare because the business itself rarely changes.

Everything is designed for clarity and ease of access, especially for mobile users who might be looking up the cafe while walking around Manchester.

Technical details

The site is built as a static "Jekyll" website that achieves perfect Lighthouse performance scores. It's fully responsive, working beautifully on everything from small phones to large desktop monitors. The site includes minimal JavaScript for essential functionality like the Google Maps embed and privacy-preserving analytics via GoatCounter.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I quickly added integration with Deliveroo to help the business continue serving customers during lockdowns. I track the site's search engine rankings using SerpBear to ensure it maintains visibility for key search terms.

Social media management

I handle their Facebook page, posting once or twice a month - no overwhelming daily updates that restaurants often feel pressured to do. The best performing content is when celebrities visit the cafe - these posts get massive engagement and bring in new customers.

I've set up Google Alerts so whenever someone reviews This & That or mentions them in an article, I know about it straight away. I share these on social media and occasionally copy the best ones over to the website, which keeps everything looking fresh without constant work.

When This & That get approached about partnerships or online listings (which happens a lot to successful restaurants), they forward me the emails and I tell them whether it's worth doing or just someone trying to get money out of them. This saves them from getting ripped off by digital marketing companies.

Why this works

The site reflects the business perfectly - very simple, straightforward, honest, and rarely changing. It's super reliable, like the cafe itself. This consistency has been running successfully since 2016, providing exactly what visitors need without unnecessary bells and whistles.

This & That's online presence maintains their reputation as a no-nonsense, quality-focused establishment that's all about the food. The website doesn't try to be flashy or trendy - it just works, loads fast, and gets people the information they need.

For restaurants that focus on quality over gimmicks, this approach proves you don't need to spend thousands on complicated websites that require constant updating. Sometimes the best digital strategy is reliability and simplicity.

Source code

The complete source code for this project is available on my Git forge. If you'd like a site like it, you can clone the repo - but I'd advise starting from the newer Chobble Template instead.

Is your restaurant website slow, expensive, or constantly breaking? Tired of digital marketing companies trying to upsell you services you don't need? Contact me to discuss a simple, reliable website that actually helps your business instead of creating more work for you.