Can you handle the heat? Choose UrgentEats today and support your local eateries!
Inspiration
We have all experienced firsthand the effects COVID19 pandemic on our local community, especially upon the restaurant industries. One National Restaurant Association survey shows that likely 50% of Texas’s restaurants will be facing shutdown in the next six months. Even some of the most popular local eats will not be reopening. Specifically, those of us at UT Austin have seen some of our favorite restaurants, such as Mango8 and Fricano’ Deli, ultimately close because of COVID related financial difficulties. And so we created UrgentEats to help patrons make more conscious decisions and support their favorite local restaurants.
What it does
UrgentEats will have struggling restaurants ranked in categories of Hot, Medium, Mild based on the percentage of revenue loss they have faced since COVID shutdowns began in March. UrgentEats is unique to other restaurant listing sites because we emphasize restaurants that are facing the most urgent and severe struggles and are on the brink of bankruptcy instead of simply listing all local restaurants. In this way, users can support and uplift these businesses of our local community.
How we built it
We used Visual Studio Codes to collaborate on the project. Then we were able to use Bootstrap to create a web page and used HTML/CSS to style and design the user interface to make user friendly and welcoming. Additionally, we used Google Maps API to create the map showing the location of each restaurant listed on the page.
Challenges we ran into
When working on the design, we ran into CSS style problems, but we were able to figure it out by looking at tutorials. Additionally, we were having trouble with the Google Maps API, but we were able to read the documentation and use that to our advantage to show users the locations of restaurants.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were able to implement the Google Maps API, which for most of us was the first time using an API. Taking advantage of Bootstrap pages instead of starting from the ground up was also a fresh and exciting concept. We also were extremely blessed to have such reliable teammates who were endlessly supportive and understanding of each other which led to the continuous flow of countless innovative ideas.
What we learned
Through developing UrgentEats, we learned how to utilize GitHub as a static website host. More specifically, we learned how to deal with and prevent merge conflicts through the use of branches which is an important skill to have since GitHub is used throughout the industry to promote collaboration.
What's next for UrgentEats
In the near future, we hope to fully publish UrgentEats to save local restaurants from the brink of bankruptcy and assist these restaurants in recovering from losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also would like to incorporate a reward and point system to build a stronger bond between businesses and consumers. Hopefully, UrgentEats can truly cause a lasting impact on the local eatery community and play a part in helping them thrive in the future.
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