For years now, I've seen many restaurants rely on an Instagram account instead of an actual website. It's definitely easier for them to create an IG account than to pay someone (or a service) for a website. Also, posting to IG lets them market to their audience (instead of posting it to a website that presumably fewer people visit).
Shame since I often want to view their menu, and IG is really aggressive about not showing you profiles & images unless you login. Viewing their menu on a 3rd party site (Google Maps, Yelp, delivery services, etc) is subpar and often out of date.
So it sounds like the restaurants are overestimating how well an instagram account responds to their needs. Maybe they do need to invest in a more traditional web page after all. I'll happily disregard any restaurant that forces me to log on whatever platform to view their menu.
But by catering to the Instagram crowd, they drive more engagement from the people on that platform. Maybe they are leaving money on the table, but if they are happy with the current performance, then that is their decision.
Shame since I often want to view their menu, and IG is really aggressive about not showing you profiles & images unless you login. Viewing their menu on a 3rd party site (Google Maps, Yelp, delivery services, etc) is subpar and often out of date.