By Mikal E. Belicove|For Entrepreneur.com|May 10, 2011

How many times have you made reservations at a restaurant only to find the decor disappointing? Maybe you figured a place called “Haute Meal” would feature modern fare and furniture, and instead you find a dark dining room decked out with stained glass, worn red leather booths and pink lighting intended to erase wrinkles and enhance the appearance of the meat course.

Face it. If your patrons have to press their faces against the window to see what your business looks like on the inside, they’re at a disadvantage — and so are you. That’s why Google is now offering to take interior photographs of your restaurant, hotel, retail shop, gymnasium, coffee house or other storefront business and share them with potential customers who are researching your business using Google search and Google Places.

Google-employed photographers shoot these photos using fisheye and wide-angle lenses, and beginning this week, they’ll be snapping immersive 360-degree panoramic views of interiors that can be placed on your business’ Places page. Consumers will then be able to access those views directly from Google Maps via the Street View option. Currently, business owners can upload still photos to their Places page, as can consumers. But panoramic views that allow the Street View to delve inside your establishment are only available if Google shoots the photos and stitches them together for you.

Of course, the best news about all this is…

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