“There should be an app for that!” This is what Victoria Liebrecht said when she wanted to take a break on her return trip from family vacation in France in October 2018.
They didn't want a gas station sandwich, but a normal, nice restaurant near a motorway exit for a relaxed lunch.
Good food is important to Liebrecht, after all, before moving into the event business, she worked for many years in the five-star hotel industry, including as a banquet manager.
And when there was little to do in her core business in times of the pandemic, the idea came back to her mind.
Patricia Andreae
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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It became a family project that she set up with automobile manager Werner Frey and their daughter Friederike.
Almost three years and months of lockdown later, the app with the orange “d”, which is reminiscent of a motorway exit, will be activated on June 21st.
More than 1500 restaurants
More than 1500 restaurants are stored in the app's database.
They can be found in various ways, for example by specifying the total route and also the time after which you want to take your culinary break.
There are also a number of criteria by which you can narrow down your request: Middle-class or upscale, family or dog-friendly, barrier-free, all of this can be selected, and also whether it is German, Italian, Greek or other cuisine should.
If the user enters his route, the restaurants appear along the route.
If he decides on one, he can also call them via the app and ask for a free table.
Liebrecht and her team, which was reinforced by a number of other experts for programming and database construction, selected the locales after extensive research.
So far, they have only been represented in the app with symbol images, because most of them don't know anything about their happiness.
"Only now do we contact the restaurateurs and ask if they want to present themselves with a picture," reports Liebrecht.
For 95 euros a year, the bars can then use the app as an advertising platform.
Although she knows that many restaurateurs have to hold their money together right now, she believes that such cheap advertising is lucrative for many.
In order for her project to pay off, she needs some encouragement.
So far, they have invested a high five-digit amount, says the founder.
At first she does not expect any money from the users.
These are the focus for Liebrecht.
As a professional hostess, she geared the offer primarily to her.
Only those who want to create lists of favorites and store certain routes pay a one-time fee of 4.99 euros.
Consciously avoid oversupply
For those who say that you can now also find places with Google or Trivago, wherever you are, she replies that this often does not work when you are already on the move.
You downloaded and tried out a huge number of apps to find out what you didn't want, says Liebrecht.
"Drive & dine", as the app is called, deliberately wants to avoid oversupply, which Liebrecht sees as the main advantage over other search systems.
So far, she has relied solely on her own criteria, which include good value for money and a nice atmosphere.
Only later does she want to give users the opportunity to rate the premises. But she immediately accepts suggestions for further addresses: "We will keep looking for additional restaurants, because there are still many pearls on the exits."