Belal.

Software Engineer

Open to software engineering roles and client website projects. Newark, NJ.

The same work, three other ways

github.com/BembabyLinkedInRésumé (PDF)

Client projectLive on the diner's domain

Park West Diner

Designed and launched a custom restaurant website that makes the menu, specials, hours, directions and ordering link easy to find.

Who it helps
Diner guests, mostly on phones, who want to see the menu, check whether it's open, call, get directions or order pickup.
What I owned
Design and front-end development, turning the printed menu into a searchable web menu, an owner update flow for specials and photos, and the launch on parkwestdiner.com.
When
2026
Checked
Public site checked October 14, 2026.
Visit parkwestdiner.com
  • Park West Diner homepage on desktop: the diner's script logo above the line “Classic diner soul. A whole new shine.” with View the Menu and Get Directions buttons.
    Desktop home: the menu and directions are the first two actions.
  • Park West Diner homepage on a phone with full-width View the Menu, Get Directions and Call buttons.
    On a phone: menu, directions and call within thumb reach.
  • The mobile menu page: 349 dishes, an Order on Clover button, a printed-menu PDF link, search and category tabs.
    Menu: 349 dishes from the printed menu, searchable, with the PDF one tap away.
  • Visit page on desktop: weekly hours with today highlighted and an open-now status, beside the address with directions and call buttons.
    Visit: hours with live open/closed status next to directions.

Screenshots of the public site, captured October 14, 2026.

Tech stack

Front end
  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Tailwind CSS
  • WebGL
Hosting
  • Vercel, on the diner's own domain
Hand-offs
  • Clover online ordering
  • Phone and map links

The problem

A busy diner with a large printed menu needed a site guests could use quickly from a phone: what's on the menu, whether it's open right now, how to call, how to get there and where to order pickup.

My scope

I designed and built the site, structured the printed menu for the web, set up the owner workflow for weekly specials and photos, and launched it on the diner's own domain.

Constraints

  • A 349-dish printed menu across many sections had to stay accurate and readable on a small screen.
  • Online ordering already runs through Clover, so the site hands off to it rather than replacing it.
  • The owners need to change weekly specials and photos without a developer or a rebuild.

Approach

  • Phone-first: the first screen leads with View the Menu, Get Directions and Call.
  • The printed menu became structured sections with a category rail and keyboard-accessible search; the original PDF stays one tap away.
  • Hours show a live open/closed status, and the Visit page pairs them with directions and a call button.
  • Order buttons go straight to the diner's existing Clover online-ordering page.

Key decision

Transcribe the menu instead of embedding the PDF

Embedding the printed PDF would have been quicker, but a PDF is hard to read and search on a phone. Turning it into structured data made every dish searchable and linkable, and the printed version is still there for anyone who wants it. Prices are shown as they appear on the printed menu.

Validation

  • The project has unit tests for the open/closed hours logic, including daylight-saving changes.
  • Browser QA scripts cover accessibility (axe), keyboard use, responsive layouts from small phones to wide desktops, and menu prices against the source PDF.

Result

The site is live at parkwestdiner.com on the diner's own domain.

Limitations

  • Online ordering runs on Clover. The site hands off to it, but I didn't build the ordering system.
  • Traffic and sales figures belong to the diner, so none are shown here.

Links