Advice appreciated

[OptimaL]

Hi there, I was hoping to have a portal type website where customers could find a restaurant to order from for delivery or takeout. The customer would login, search by way of zip code for restaurants in their area, then search for restaurants of the type they're looking for (ie:Thai, steakhouse, Tex-Mex, etc...) and then be able to peruse the menu and call in their order (later to be changed to emailing in their order)
I'm thinking that php would be the best way to go about it because of all of the potential it has in terms of databases and upgrading possibilities.

However, while I'm learning php I would like to at least start out small and slowly grow into what will hopefully be a fully functional php site.

I've given alot of thought to various different ways to go about it on a temporary basis.

#1. Webrings: The only bad thing I can figure out about this is that it's hard to direct people to exactly the city or type of restaurant they're looking for without having to "scroll" thru the entire ring.

#2.Simple HTML which I would simply link a page with any restaurants menu to it. Only problem with this is that it could become far more work then I anticipated VERY quickly.

I'm also looking into database templates now to see if there's any potential there. If anyone has any suggestions on what they think would be a good way to set something up like this it would be greatly appreciated. I want to know all the options I have before I make a decision on which way to go.

Thank you ever so much in advance. Opti.

[danmccarthy]

As someone who taught himself the basics of PHP and MySQL in just a couple weeks, my suggestion would be for you to buy a PHP/MySQL book (I used Kevin Yank's "Build Your Own Database Driven Website", but there are many great books on this topic), and just start experimenting. If you start off with PHP, it'll be much easier to expand as you learn, and as your site grows, than if you start with an HTML site and then try to switch over.

Best of luck!