History on the Menu: An Examination of the Use of History as a Legitimating Marker of Status in Restaurant Websites on the Internet

Internet websites produced by restaurants present information contained in a format designed to convey an image of the restaurant as the owner(s) see it, and as the owner(s) want it to be viewed by the potential customers. Many of the websites present a history of the restaurant. Included in the history of the restaurant are the awards and good reviews of the restaurant. These markers of success represent both culinary/cultural markers and entrepreneurial/economic markers, with smaller organizations focusing more on culinary terms while larger organizations utilize more economic terms. In the absence of either culinary or economic awards, the history of the restaurant and the owner/creator serves to legitimate the restaurant as a successful organization within the restaurant field of production.