It’s become rather commonplace over the past few years to find coffee shops and cafes that serve up some sort of wireless – free or paid – alongside their more usual fare. I wouldn’t quite put it in the “surprised by its absence” category, at least not nationwide, but it’s not hard to find it. The coffee shop’s close relative the restaurant and/or bar, however, seems to be much slower to catch on. I’ve run into a precious few of those establishments that have available wifi, unless it’s a bleed over from somewhere nearby. This is, I suspect, because eating at a restaurant is regarded as a less solitary endeavour than grabbing a coffee, but I think there’s plenty of opportunity for such businesses to monetize the working lunch and/or quick bite to eat on the way home from work crowds.
Citysearch doesn’t list many potential wifi enabled venues here in Denver, but one they missed as recommended by Raible proved to be a good find today. The Handlebar & Grill does indeed have good food (Southwest salad was very good) and excellent beer (solid selection of microbrews). I guess it’s time to start campaigning on this point to my local establishment, the Wazee Supper Club.
It’s not that I have anything against coffee and wifi, it’s just that I personally prefer beer and wifi 😉
Josh Hallett says:
August 7, 2005 at 2:36 pm
I read an article recently about sports bars offering wifi to cater to the fantasy football geeks.
sogrady says:
August 7, 2005 at 3:03 pm
another great use case, and one i hadn't considered. if i weren't deathly afraid of the restaurant business, i'd be looking for some entrepreneurs that get this to invest in locally 😉
Cote' says:
August 7, 2005 at 5:17 pm
You should check out my friend Josh's free wireless site (http://www.auscillate.com/wireless/denver/) He has it rigged up to be a simple directory for any number of cities. The Austin one is super-packed, and it's often easier to use and has more listings than other sites.
The best part is, unlike citysearch (I'm guessing), you can add in new hotspots as you find them.
Donnie Berkholz says:
August 7, 2005 at 5:36 pm
http://metrofreefi.com/ turns up a few more as well, although it's also primarily coffee shops.
sogrady says:
August 7, 2005 at 5:42 pm
Coté: just checked it out – very cool. unfortunately the Denver listings confirm my suspicion that restaurants and bars are woefully underserved, wifi-wise. i love the wikiish add your own listing, though – i dropped in Handlebar & Grill.
sogrady says:
August 7, 2005 at 10:09 pm
Donnie: love the Google Maps aspect to metrofreefi, Donnie. added Handlebar & Grill over there (though it looks to be moderated).