Google is making life a bit easier for those in search of a restaurant's menu. Instead of having to search for a restaurant, follow a link to their site then navigate to the menu section (or download a .PDF of the menu), the search giant has added menus from multiple eateries directly to search results in the form of cards.

Simply search for the menu of the restaurant you're looking for and cross your fingers that it has already been added. It was a bit hit or miss for me at this point but that's likely to improve as more menus are added to the system.

When you do stumble on a hit, you'll find the menu broken down into different categories (appetizers, soups & salads, pasta, etc.). All of the listings I came across featured a description of each item as you'd find in the regular menu while a select few even listed the price - very convenient.

The menu cards show up at the top of the page above the search results and are extremely handy, especially on mobile devices. The service is only available in the US as of writing but again, I suspect this will change over time and more regions will be added.

Urbanspoon and Yelp have been the two main players in the online restaurant information and ratings business for the past several years. It's far too early to know if Google's new service will have a huge impact on either of those two outfits but I wouldn't be surprised if it does. Bon appétit!