Tokyo Shokudo Website

Inspiration

I (Joey) actually work at Tokyo Shokudo Plano as a server part time, so I'm there all the time. One thing I kept noticing was that customers would come in and mention they had trouble finding our hours or specific location info online. The national website just isn't built for any one location because it's too general. People would show up at the wrong time or not even know what was on the menu before coming in. There was actually one time we had the restaurant blocked out for a private party and Google didn't update it, so people came there disappointed that we weren't open for the public. I figured since I was already learning web development, why not build something that actually solves a real problem at a place I work at? It felt like the perfect project because I already knew the restaurant inside and out from the menu, the hours, to the vibe so I didn't have to guess at anything.

What it does

It's a clean, modern website built specifically for the Tokyo Shokudo Plano location. You can browse the full menu organized by category, find the exact address and hours for the Plano location, learn about the restaurant, and get in touch through a contact form. There's also a direct link to their online ordering system so customers can place orders right from the site.

How we built it

We kept the tech stack simple and focused. We used React with Vite for the frontend, React Router for navigation between pages, and plain CSS with custom properties for all the styling. No backend, no database. Everything is static and runs entirely on the frontend. We pulled real menu data, photos, hours, and location info directly from the restaurant to make it as accurate as possible.

Challenges we ran into

Honestly a lot of the early struggle was just getting the development environment set up and figuring out the Git collaboration workflow as a team. Getting everyone working off the same repo without stepping on each other's changes took some figuring out. On the design side, it was tricky finding the right balance between looking modern and still feeling authentically Japanese because we didn't want it to feel like a generic restaurant template.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that this actually looks like something a real business could use. Using the restaurant's actual photos and real information instead of placeholders makes a huge difference and it feels like a real product, not a school project. The navigation is smooth, the layout holds up across different pages, and the overall design has a clear identity that fits the restaurant's vibe.

What we learned

This project taught us a lot about how to structure a multi-page React app properly from scratch with component organization, routing, shared styles, and how to manage a codebase as a team. We also got a lot more comfortable with Git as a collaboration tool rather than just a place to back up code. And honestly, we learned that design decisions are just as hard as the coding itself.

What's next for Tokyo Shokudo Website

We'd love to add a photo gallery with real shots from the restaurant, and maybe a seasonal specials section that highlights limited menu items. Down the line we've talked about adding a reservation or waitlist feature and potentially reaching out to the actual restaurant to see if they'd want to use it for the Plano location. That would be pretty cool to see something we built actually in use.

Built With

• css
• git
• html
• javascript
• react
• react-router
• vite