Phone requirements for Places

More and more often, I find that when a new place opens that would otherwise be a shoe-in for placement on the site as a beer destination, there is often initially (and in at least one place I know of) or even permanently no public listing for a phone number, the owner(s) instead preferring to respond to queries by using social media.

Is the phone number requirement obsolete? Could there perhaps be places added, maybe on an initially probationary basis, without a phone number?

Any thoughts?