Order from this online menu, on your smartphone while sitting in the restaurant. Or call a waiter (with a bell icon) See what your dish will look like, and what it will cost. Get extra interesting information, even play a special "restaurant game" with other diners, until the food is there. (Oh, and they tell you an estimate of how your order is advancing). Rate your waiter(s). Give them thanks. Sign the guestbook. Stay in touch, get recipes or give recipes.-- pashute, Nov 08 2007 http://www.uwink.com/ Restaurant with a touch-screen on every seat. (Think Pong tournament.) Not wireless, but similar issues, opportunities as this post. [jutta, Nov 10 2007] Yelp Reviews for uWink in Mountain View, CA http://www.yelp.com...uwink-mountain-viewInteresting. [jutta, Nov 02 2008] At a restaurant I was in a while back, the waitstaff used PDAs on a Wi-Fi network to take orders (I think it was a graphical-based system, with a table/seating plan as the top level). It wouldn't be very difficult to extend the system so people could put their own order into it. [+]-- neutrinos_shadow, Nov 08 2007 (-) I already sometimes feel like I'm surrounded by half-conversationing zombies staring at their iPod, iPhone, or blackberry. This would just make things worse by moving even more of the interactions from a perfectly nice physical space into virtual space.
You're in a restaurant (or, as I like to call it, "The Happiest Place On Earth"). You're with your friends. There is food on the tables around you; food being carried around; food being prepared in the kitchen. Real food. Use your sense of smell. Smile at someone and ask "that looks delicious - what is it called?" If it's inedible, they'll tell you.-- jutta, Nov 08 2007 I gave this one a plus despite the social problems. I'm talking cool factor here ;)-- xxobot, Nov 09 2007 Pretty cool :)-- Noexit, Nov 12 2007 And you could tip the server over SMS and ensure that you never have to talk to anyone.
Not to mention, the overall bad manners of even pulling your phone out over dinner, gives this idea a big aquatic bone.
A small screen on each table that the establishment set up, so I don't have to inflate my cell bill or drain my battery (bluetooth) would be a more elegant way to pull this off.
I guess I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't have a crackberry and finds typing an SMS harder then talking.-- fancypants, Nov 12 2007 Being the literal guy I am, I read your headline as "Bluesecondth."
I'm torn. I really resent how electronic doodads have infiltrated our culture and are now substituting for actual person-to-person interaction. For that, I'd give it a (-), and it's a pretty strong one.
But your concept is pretty good - Bluetooth connectivity so it doesn't fill up the carrier bandwidth, and it's cheap. Implemented well, it could make the restaurant's service faster and/or more efficient. And in contrast to my earlier statement, your suggestion of an eatery-specific intercustomer game is socially positive. That gets a (+).
Embrace the LED-illuminated zombieness! Interconnectivity is your friend. Don't be afraid.
In spite of the phone, (+).-- elhigh, Nov 14 2007 I could stand outside the diner and bluetooth prank order food to unsuspecting tables.
Plus all the BT enabled phones running in one place... sounds like BT highjack heaven!-- Giblet, Nov 15 2007 Prank-proofing is the other half of this halfidea.
Jutta, I'm afraid I wouldn't like to see such a restaurant let alone eat in one. I prefer family and friend occasions eating together intimately, and even listed an HBIdea of a natural restaurant. But it seems like a good business, if any HBer is in the need for one.-- pashute, May 30 2008 I always wonder when I see 2 people sitting at a table in a restaurant and both talking on a cellphone, if they're talking to each other.-- theGem, Nov 02 2008 [+] I'll bet this kind of restaurant could do reasonably well, not just for the efficiencies, but precisely for the social issues that everyone here is boning you for. It certainly isn't a restaurant for everyone or every occasion. But there would be a strong niche market, I have no doubt. Some would go just for the novely; other because they are socially inept; others because they are in a hurry. All kinds of reasons. You don't need to appeal to everyone to be successful.-- wuj3888, Nov 03 2008 bah [-]-- FlyingToaster, Nov 03 2008 aargh! chaos. Let waiters keep their jobs. computers are infesting everything.-- williamsmatt, Nov 05 2008 Now what if you simply had an 8.9" screed at each table, swiveling (like old Star Trek central comm screens that pop out of the center of the table) with a color menu, replacing the old big plasticized menu? The swivel screen would record what table position was ordering based on a simple sensor showing where it was pointed, and touching the menu would order.
Another place to touch would send a "page" to other diners, asking for opinions on specific dishes, allowing them to interact with you. Example: Touch [here] for opinions on this item. If a fellow diner has had the fish & chips and likes it or not, he may respond to you with a + or - (sound familiar?)
Colorful menus of menus is more likely to succeed than Bluetooth capable ordering, and still allows you to play interactive games while you wait for an ACTUAL waiter to bring your meal.-- Silence, Nov 05 2008 //send a "page" to other diners// yeah that's what I want when I'm eating: "hey what do you think of the spam?"-- FlyingToaster, Nov 05 2008 random, halfbakery