[...] national chains like Applebee's and Chili's hope to soon have a server at the ready, perched on every table - a tablet that diners can use to order food, play games (for a fee) and pay or split the bill. "Unfortunately, we're satisfied with digital devices as a babysitter - but now it's a godsend," said Charlie Ayers, the fast-talking former Google executive chef and an early Presto adopter at his Palo Alto restaurant, Calafia, which is popular with families. The tablets' makers say they help customers regain control of the dining experience, adding convenience and saving time. When pitching potential restaurant adopters, they bring up the tablets' other virtues: patrons' bills tend to go up, table turnaround time drops, and customers are more likely to sign up for loyalty programs or complete surveys. On the restaurant's Yelp review page, recent customer complaints focused on inattentive waiters, as if they don't know there's another option. 'Old school' customers"After being seated we proceed to order with our waitress instead of the little electric touch screen box that came with our table since we're old school like that," wrote Trishie L. from Pacifica. Larger companies have more financial flexibility to try new technology, and one big deal can put tens of thousands of new tablets on tables across the country right away. [...] ordering on a tablet is more of a fit for people interested in getting food and getting on with it than those seeking an evening of romance. High-end Bay Area restaurants like the French Laundry and Barbacco have been using iPads for several years, but mostly to let customers navigate their vast and ever-changing wine lists, which were once printed daily. The companies pitch their hardware as low-cost - though neither would specify the terms of their deals - and say restaurants will eventually pay for the devices with increased customer bills, faster turnover and higher gratuity.
Reported by SFGate 4 hours ago.
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