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Posted

As the mainstream tablet war rages, a similar device battle is heating up in the restaurant industry.

 

Tablets that take orders, entertain guests and accept check payments are coming to a table near you.

 

One company that is selling those tablets, E la Carte, announced on Tuesday that it has raised more than $1 million in funding from prominent investors like Y Combinator, Dave McClure and SV Angel.

 

The company will soon be launching tablets in 20 restaurants on the West coast. It also has a partnership with a large restaurant chain in the pipeline that hasn't been announced yet -- but the fact that Applebee's executives participated in the funding round might provide a hint.

 

Why the interest in providing every table with their own touch-screen tablet? For starters, people buy more food when they can do so instantly, without waiting for service. In the six restaurants that ran a pilot scheme, according to CEO Rajat Suri, customers at E la Carte tables spent 10% to 12% more than those at other tables.

 

E la Carte tablets allow customers to browse a full menu and communicate their orders directly to the kitchen. They come loaded with social games and a calculator for check splits and tips.

 

They also allow customers to email themselves a receipt or instantly sign up for a loyalty club. In high-end restaurants, the tablet can suggest an appropriate wine pairing for a meal.

 

Eventually, E la Carte might offer restaurants the option to compile data about their customers' preferences as they use the device.

 

Some restaurants have attempted similar functionality by loading their menus onto iPads or asking customers to download an app onto their own devices. The iPad's problem in this situation: its minimum $499 price tag.

 

Restaurants that can afford menus that expensive aren't casual restaurants, like Applebee's, where a digital ordering system seems more appropriate.

 

Asking users to download an app like Storific poses the problem that not everybody carries a smartphone. Even those who do might not want to pause and download an app as they sit down to lunch.

 

A dedicated device, which E la Carte plans to install for a price that is "significantly lower" than the iPad, seems to be a more promising way for the tech world to break into the $6 billion U.S. restaurant industry.

 

Other companies are already in this game. Tabletop Media makes a similar tabletop product that it began to deploy in 2008. The company has established customers with chains like Chili's Uno's Chicago Grill, and California Pizza Kitchen and will be in 250 stores by the end of the summer.

 

Both E la Carte and Tabletop Media charge the restaurants a monthly fee to use a network of devices.

 

"It's propelling the restaurant industry into the Internet age," Suri says.

 

source: mashable.com

Posted

I AM -=NOT=- going out of style. You can NEVER get rid of me... I will...always...be your waitress. :).. :/

Stupid tech really is killing jobs...

Posted

I AM -=NOT=- going out of style. You can NEVER get rid of me... I will...always...be your waitress. :).. :/

Stupid tech really is killing jobs...

 

Not really, all its doing is taking orders and paying. So still need some1 to bring to food :).

 

 

But I think it would be cool if they had apps for like the ipad, iphone, android, etc. instead.

Posted

I AM -=NOT=- going out of style. You can NEVER get rid of me... I will...always...be your waitress. :).. :/

Stupid tech really is killing jobs...

Actually, things like these will give me a job. I would be very unemployed if we would go back to the stone age. Or if we say "well, this is sufficient technology, we don't need more".

 

 

 

Not that I like these kind of new technology. A lot better to ask the waiter/waitress/barman to get me something. I can't ask a tablet what a good follow-up is for a Westmalle Triple, but which is not too strong such that I can drink only 2 beer :P

Posted

Yes, I'd bring them their food. but would they leave just as good a tip? Most probably not. The reason I get good tips is cause constantly moving, always checking on them, and they know that most don't check on tables as much. So I get a good tip. If everyone only uses tablets......byebye tip :/

Posted

Well the first to do this would be the 5 star restaurants I'm assuming. So unless you work at a high class establishment Hannah you are probably fine. If you do by chance, you're probably screwed.

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