A cheeseburger sits in a plastic container. Photo Courtesy of Andy Li, CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, via Creative Commons.
The app allows diners to take pictures of menu items to contribute to a digital menu.
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By Hayden Randolph
TAMPA, Fla. – A University of Tampa alumnus launched a brand new app called MenuSnap and it lets customers contribute to a digital menu.
The app rolled out in Tampa Bay on Nov. 20, but plans to expand into St. Petersburg, Miami, and Orlando over the next few months, founder and developer Brendan Gregory said.
Gregory graduated from UTampa in 2023 with a degree in business information technology. He said the program gave him the tools to shape his success.
“I not only want to make a solution for business, but I want to make my own,” said Gregory.
An avid foodie, Gregory saw a gap in the dining software market. Similar platforms are Yelp and Google Reviews.
Yelp allows users to leave reviews for restaurants, nightlife, shopping, spas and more. Each establishment then gets a rating out of five stars. Customers can use this information to make a decision of where to take their business. Google Reviews allows users to use the website similarly.
MenuSnap takes a different approach with visuals instead of text, Gregory said.
“I’d always find myself on either restaurant Instagram pages or Google reviews,” Gregory said, “and I’m going all over on my phone trying to find a picture of a menu item I wanted to order.”
When users go to a restaurant, they can type in the menu item they are considering ordering. Ideally, the app will have pictures of every menu item at participating restaurants.
Users can upload pictures of menu items to the app and earn “XP.” As users earn points for their uploads, they can move up on a leaderboard. Eventually, the app will have rewards for points such as discounts at restaurants, Gregory said.
“You can go against your friends who have the most points on the app, but we’re in talks with restaurants,” Gregory said. “We’re going to be able to actually roll out tangible rewards for people.”
Gregory has long had a passion for app development.
“Before I even went to school, I always thought an app was a really cool business to start,” Gregory said.
Gregory said he was inspired by the success stories of the tech industry. While Gregory said he learned the ins and outs of software development in his career, developing an app for an IPhone was different.
“The process is pretty tricky,” Gregory said. “You really have to have a foundation of software development.”
There are currently 30 restaurants on the app, including Tori Bar, Mise en Place, Bern’s Steak House, Ocean Prime, and Ulele. Each restaurant has their full menu on the app. Gregory said he sees the opportunity to expand MenuSnap’s reach.
“The infrastructure it’s built on has the ability to scale nationwide,” Gregory said. “I ideally want to see this in some of the biggest cities.”