Shortly after Teraoka's Deli Touch pen gave a reason to (almost) ignore the wait staff entirely, along comes the 3D Tobidasu table menu to make you order way more food than you likely would otherwise. Developed by TEC, the pop-up menu is designed to be integrated into restaurant tables, and reportedly, it enables patrons to browse the offerings and view individual items in "3D." Granted, the photo above doesn't really capture the effect, but if you look long enough, chances are you'll be salivating in no time.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Hate interacting with humans? Well then we've got the restaurant for you, located in Nuremberg, Germany. The restaurant, called Bagger's, eschews waiters and waitresses for gravity operated ramps that sends food directly to tables. Customers order on touch screens, swipe their cards on built in readers, and wait for their food with a read-out that shows when the food is expected to be delivered. So, get ready to yell at your ordinateur when your fries are late. "Garcon!" ain't gonna cut it in this restaurant.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.

[Thanks, Joe B.]

Although this won't go down as the first restaurant to mix in a little iPod action with the meal, it's fairly safe to say that Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal has melded portable audio with dining like no other. Apparently, the culinary guru "wanted to experiment with using sound to enhance a dining experience," which landed a person with a plate full of silver electronics and tangled white cord to compliment the rest of the Sound of the Sea dish. Aside from the food itself, the iPod was pre-loaded with "soothing sounds of the sea breeze and waves gently caressing the seashore," presumably to further enhance the eating experience. Still, we can't really envision how listening to sounds related to our meal would make things more appetizing -- you know, unless deafening moos just jazz up your taste buds when rolling by a burger joint.

[Via Kottke]