Restaurant rolls out Braille menus

From: "BlindNews Mailing List" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:04:09 -0400
Daily Pilot, CA, USA
Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Restaurant rolls out Braille menus

By Michael Miller

First Z'Tejas customers to order from the spiral-bound paper say it is easier 
to follow than other comparable menus.

COSTA MESA - Danny Stevens never forgot the moment a few months ago when he 
first considered making the Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill more accessible to the 
blind.

The executive chef of the South Coast Plaza eatery was in the kitchen when a 
server came back and explained to the managers that a blind couple had come in 
with a group of friends. Stevens overheard the exchange and decided to 
introduce himself to the couple, who were regulars at the restaurant. A moment 
later, they put an idea in his head.

"They said, 'It would be nice if you had Braille menus, but we'll still come in 
whether you have them or not,'" Stevens said. "That was the moment it clicked."

On Tuesday, Stevens' dream became a reality, as Z'Tejas debuted a new line of 
menus for visually impaired customers. The menus, at a distance, look like 
large sheets of blank paper joined with a spiral binding, but they contain all 
the same words as the regular menus - and they got a thumbs-up from the 
volunteer staff of the Blind Children's Learning Center in Santa Ana, which 
came in Tuesday morning to celebrate the launch of the new service.

The Learning Center staff visited Z'Tejas with young students to try out the 
menus and do a sensory exercise. Stevens, who has overseen the kitchen for six 
years, laid out small, brightly colored dishes of cheese, peppers, mango slices 
and more and invited the diners to learn their texture and smell. Afterward, 
the restaurant staff took orders from the menu.

Z'Tejas plans to offer the Braille menus at each of its 10 nationwide 
locations. The Costa Mesa restaurant, the only Z'Tejas in California, was the 
first to roll them out.

A number of the volunteers said the menus made ordering food much easier. Alex 
Fletcher, who lives in Orange, said she was accustomed to having her parents or 
friends read the items to her out loud.

"There's not a lot of restaurants that have them," she said. "I think there 
should be more restaurants that do."

Zoila Silbas, a homemaker and Cal State Fullerton student who lives in Santa 
Ana, said the Z'Tejas menu was easier to follow than many.

"I've seen a lot of Braille menus that are all over the place," she said. "This 
one is more straightforward."

A moment later, she ran her fingers along the text and tried to decide what to 
order.

"Everything looks good, sounds good," she said. Then, after a pause: "It feels 
good."

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at 
michael.miller@xxxxxxxxxxxx


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Restaurant rolls out Braille menus

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