With Vox online, date night goes high-tech
Dinner and a movie—it’s such a common plan that it has become a cliché. But when Friday night strikes, you end up playing an hour-long round of “Where do you want to eat?,” searching for movie times and being irritated by the people with whom you intended to have fun.
The redesigned voxmagazine.com is the new way to keep your simple plan from becoming a hassle. The Web site features movie times for Columbia’s three theaters right on its homepage and a searchable database of more than 150 Columbia restaurants. It also provides the content of the printed Vox magazine published by the Columbia Missourian.
Brian Hamman, online managing editor of the Columbia Missourian, said the coolest feature of the site is the database.
“It is by far the most comprehensive guide to Columbia restaurants,” Hamman said. “You can search by how many vegetarian dishes they have, how many TVs, pool tables, what their most expensive dish is, whatever.”
To use this feature, look under “Inside VOX” on the homepage, and click “Food.” Restaurants will appear in alphabetical order with cuisine and atmosphere designations. You can search restaurants by selecting a cuisine type; choices range from “ice cream” to “Thai.” If you’d rather search by atmosphere, your options are “counter service,” “casual” and “white tablecloth.”
You can also narrow your choices by clicking on the “(Seriously) Detailed Search” link. Whether you are searching for something typical, such as restaurants that take reservations, or something ultra-specific, such as free wireless Internet or kids’ menus, you can choose characteristics in up to 16 categories to find the right restaurant.
Selecting any restaurant will bring up information such as the menu’s price range, entertainment options, accepted payment and services, and a place to post comments about the restaurant. A map to the restaurant and a full schedule of its hours also is provided.
If you want to go out for drinks, click “Bars” or “Drink Specials” under the “Food” heading. Bars are listed with number of televisions, pool tables and darts available.
Although it’s helpful for dinner and a movie, the Vox site does not yet have much on the music scene. For now, comomusic.com is a better site to find a list of upcoming shows or to check out local artists. You can also find reviews and pictures from shows that already have happened at local venues. Venues are listed with addresses and phone numbers, and the site provides maps for some.
Jen Moeller, editorial director of Vox, said that music-related database content will be on voxmagazine.com in spring 2007. Much like the restaurant section, the guide to shows and bands will be interlinked for easy searching.
“That’s the next big step,” Moeller said.