Answers
Why don't so many cafés have a website?
Cupán Studio sells café websites. We build them for Dublin cafés and send the owner a finished preview, so we have a stake in the answer. Read what follows with that in mind.
Not always. The narrow case for a website is the menu with prices, the hours, whether to book, and accessibility details, all in one place that anyone can read without a login. People in one 2022 Reddit thread gave cost, no time for upkeep, Facebook or Google being enough, a full shop and wariness of salespeople as reasons cafés and restaurants go without. On 20 September 2026 I counted the Google listings of 77 independent Dublin cafés, roasters and coffee carts, and 62 had no site of their own.
Where the question came from
A diner, not an owner, asked it in r/smallbusiness on 11 July 2022. He said he and his wife tend to avoid restaurants without websites because it is hard to tell whether they need to book, and many link to Facebook or Instagram instead. I read it on 5 October 2026: 236 upvotes and 128 comments. The thread is from 2022 and is not about Ireland: it does not say where its commenters are, and several mention US services. My count below is Dublin in 2026. I give both and do not pretend they are the same place.
Why don't so many cafés have a website?
I can only tell you what people in that thread said. It is a set of single comments, from diners, web designers and a few people who run a business. It is not a survey and I have no counts behind it.
What reasons did people give?
These are my grouping of single comments, in no order. I have not counted how often each came up, Some came from people who said they run a restaurant, bistro, bakery or café; many came from diners and people who build websites.
- Cost. One reply, from a deleted account that seemed to speak for a business, said "Too expensive. Too lazy." and that they use Google Maps linked to a reservation app or delivery apps instead.
- Time and upkeep. One commenter said owners are "putting out fires" and have little time for upkeep, and that explaining an inaccurate site takes longer than explaining the menu.
- Facebook or Google is enough. One commenter said Facebook and Instagram are free and easy to manage. Another said Google Business Profile is sufficient in owners' eyes, and may not be wrong.
- Always full. A commenter said a restaurant near them is always full, and the owner gave that as the reason for having no site.
- Wariness of salespeople. One commenter said a website feels overwhelming, and that hospitality owners are used to salespeople pitching an "opportunity" and are sceptical of marketing people.
One café owner in the thread said about half of their business flows through their website. That is one person's claim and I cannot check it. One commenter also said that many places without a site are still in business, so it is less critical than the poster thought.
What do customers say they miss?
The most-upvoted reply asked for the menu with actual prices. Others asked for the things a booking decision needs.
- One commenter wanted the menu and actual prices, and said a Facebook link may ask them to log in.
- Another wanted hours and contact details, with a link to the menu, on one landing page.
- A commenter with a disability said they look at photos of the inside to check there is somewhere to sit, and move on if there is none.
- A commenter whose father is blind said a menu that exists only as a photo on Facebook is a reason he will not eat there. Another commenter added that a screen reader cannot read an image.
- The poster himself wanted to know whether a place needs booking.
One owner in the thread complained that customers found old photos of the menu online, with out-of-date prices. Another replied that those were probably on the Google listing, and that you can ask Google to remove them.
Does a café actually need one?
Not always.
The narrow case for a site is the menu, the prices, the hours, whether to book and the accessibility details in one screen that anyone can read, without a login. If that is not a problem your customers have, you may not need one. Keeping your Google listing right matters either way, and one commenter in the thread pointed owners to their listing to remove old menu photos. I have written how to get your café on Google Maps and how to add a menu to your Google Business Profile.
What we counted in Dublin
On 20 September 2026 I counted the Google listings of 77 independent Dublin cafés, roasters and coffee carts. It is a hand-built list, heavy on the city centre, and not a census. The 77 were a list built for our own outreach, which is a bias, as the guide says. Here is what the website field held.
| Website field, 20 September 2026 | Shops |
|---|---|
| Nothing | 35 |
| 15 | |
| 12 | |
| A site of the shop's own | 15 |
So 62 of the 77 had no site of their own. The full method and its limits are in the Dublin café websites count, and is it normal for a café to have no website answers the nearby question.
Sources
- r/smallbusiness, "Restaurant/Cafe owners, why do you not have a website?", 11 July 2022, read 2026-10-05.
- Cupán Studio, Dublin café websites 2026, read 2026-10-05.
- Cupán Studio, Is it normal for a café to have no website?, read 2026-10-05.
This is a summary of one forum thread and one hand-built count, not advice for your shop. Cupán Studio builds websites for Dublin cafés.
One coffee or café fact a day, drawn. That is what we post on Instagram. @cupanstudio