OMG, this is rad. The People + Technology combo has proven again and again that creativity is reaching new heights. Comodo  a new Latin-American restaurant in New York City, has implemented what it’s calling an “Instagram Menu”, directing patrons to pictures of food posted on the popular photo-sharing site to help them decide what to order.

Intuition plays a big role in this effort. Comodo’s management started noticing that guests were repeatedly snapping pictures of their entrees and uploading them to Instagram, so they decided to capitalize on the trend. The restaurant has embraced the hashtag #ComodoMenu and added it to the bottom of its real-life menu, encouraging guests to add, share and check out photos of food offered at the establishment.

“People love taking pictures of food when they go out, and we wanted to use what was organically happening on social media sites and turn it into a helpful and fun tool at the restaurant,” Comodo owner Felipe Donnelly told Mashable. “We’ve been encouraging guests to post pictures on Instagram to spread the word, and the feedback has been great. Everyone keeps telling us how smart and creative it is.”

This is brilliant, though I need to add that taking action like Comodo did is not for the faint of heart. Crowd-sourcing content can be amazing but it can also be risky as people could use the hash tag to post whatever they want. Including bad reviews. Though, this is a risk that should be taken. The huge buzz generated by this effort plus the transparency it gives to the relationship between Comodo and its regular and new comensales is well worth it. When a brand/restaurant/public figure is willing to put itself completely out there, there has to be a commitment for excellence. And that is what makes of all of this a big success. As long as they can deliver great service and amazing food, this will never hurt them.

Kudos to Comodo!

(via therlb)