iMenus
by Scott Hardie on November 3, 2012
I think we just experienced the future of restaurants. I thought that once before, and it turned out to be true, but in that case the trend was years late coming to Sarasota after large cultural centers like New York and Los Angeles. We might be a few years behind on this new trend as well, but I still see it becoming commonplace.
The restaurant we tried a few nights ago was Carmel Cafe. The food was ok. The service was mixed. What set it apart was the ordering experience. Each table receives two iPads loaded with interactive menus, featuring full photos and descriptions of every dish and drink. When you want something, you select it on the iPad and the kitchen gets to work. You can order a batch of items at once, like desserts all around, or just one item if you like. A few minutes later, the food shows up at your table. You can view your ongoing check at any time, and pay the bill directly on the iPad when you're done. A waitress still stops by your table every few minutes in case you need anything.
Interacting with a glowing screen instead of a menu or a human server was not especially noteworthy, but the option to order your meal in parts, when you want each part, really made a difference. The occasion for our meal was both a birthday celebration and the last time we would share our engagement with someone new in person, so we really wanted extra time to converse at the table without interruption. The format gave us that. It also helped us take more control of our meal: When Kelly changed her mind on a drink, a new one showed up a few minutes later. When my entree proved unsatisfying, a side dish showed up a few minutes later. This was a great way to dine.
I can see this format working especially well in two kinds of restaurants: Hang-out joints like Denny's and Steak 'n Shake where large groups of young people gather for hours to chat and occasionally order something, and places where tiny portions are the norm like sushi bars and tapas bars where you might want to order a series of small dishes. Our local Denny's already has a doorbell-like button you can press at your table to summon a waiter any time (a feature conspicuously missing from Carmel's iPad), so they've already taken one step in this direction.
There are tangential benefits to the interactive menus, too: Run out of a particular item? Just take it off the menu, or post a "sold out" notice that prevents people from ordering it. Need to clear your supply of an overstocked item in a hurry before another shipment arrives? Just reduce the price and declare it a sale item, instantly. There's potential for prankster kids with programming skills to tamper with your menus, but you could always keep paper menus on hand as a backup.
Though the iPads would probably pay for themselves over the long run because of reduced labor costs, they would still represent a large up-front investment and make a restaurant even less likely to succeed. I wouldn't want to open a new restaurant with the iPad menus, but I sure do want to eat at more restaurants using them.
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Not in My Back Yard
I love Unsolved Mysteries. The show told such interesting stories in perfect bite-size pieces, and knew how to make the hair on your neck stand up. I wish they were more objective in their reporting and didn't rely on pseudoscience as evidence (using psychics to prove ghosts and polygraph results to condemn criminals), but damn they put on an entertaining show. Go »Upstream Color
Every since seeing the strange and poetic Upstream Color, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for something weird and beautiful. After a very limited theatrical release in April, it jumped straight to VOD in May, and now it's on Netflix Streaming and Amazon Instant. Go »Open Letter to the Couple in Post-Op Bay 18 at Lee Memorial
I had a minor surgical procedure yesterday morning. As I laid in post-op for an hour, I could not sleep due to the middle-aged couple in the next bay who were watching and loudly discussing the news. Here are some things that I would like for them to know: - The Uvalde massacre was not faked by Democrats to take people's guns away. Go »Jump to Conclusions
Walking through the store tonight, I came across this product... ...and upon seeing the little girl thinking of all the things she could do with her toy egg, I thought, BACK UP IN YO ASS WITH THE RESURREC-SHUN! Go »Scooter
Headline: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence Yeah, there are complicated legal and political factors involved, but to the average citizen (me) it reads like "President's friend gets out of jail free." Man, I gotta track down George's MySpace and add him as a friend. Go »
