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Would you check your iPhone at the door of a restaurant for a discount?
Ever have a date look at you sideways because you can't refrain from Instagramming your meal? If you need some persuasion to kick the distracted dining habit, then you may want to visit Eva Restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Owner Mark Gold is running an interesting promotion that'll give you a 5 percent discount on your meal if you check your cell phone at the door. Gold told Airtalk, a radio show on Southern California's 89.3 KPCC, that he did this for his customers. Gold says, "It's about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we're trying to create an ambience where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company." Of course, this promotion only works if customers are willing to let go of their handset. Would you drop your iPhone off at the door for a discount or would you rather take other measures to coax you to talk and not tweet on your date? [Via PSFK]
Daily iPhone App: Food Network On the Road points you to the best eats in your area
Food Network added to its repertoire of culinary-themed apps with a new offering that lets you find some of the best restaurants in the area. The new Food Network On the Road app takes all the restaurants that are featured on Food Network and lets you find them using your location. The app pulls in food establishments from shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, $40 a Day, Giada's Weekend Getaways, Road Tested With the Neelys and more. Besides sorting restaurants by shows, you also can find locations by chef, address and cuisine. It's a terrific way to find and store the names of the restaurants that you see on TV and want to remember. The Food Network On the Road app is available for free on the iOS App Store and is a must-have for any Food Network fans.
iPad prevents seafood restaurant from overcharging
Thanks to the iPad, travelers in Sanya, a seaside resort town in Southern China, won't have to worry about paying too much for their seafood, says a report in China Daily. After an increasing number of complaints about excessive charges at local restaurants, government officials tried to curb the pricing practices by requiring restaurants with more than 15 tables to use the iPad to process food orders. Orders are processed by custom software on the iPad and sent to the kitchen via WiFi. Pricing will be determined by the government and restaurants will not be allowed to raise prices. If they try to overcharge the customer, an alarm will go off and the customer's bill will not print. All sales data will be stored and monitored by city officials. According to M.I.C. Gadget, about 20 of the 200 restaurants in Sanya have adopted the system, which costs 6,000 yuan (US$950) to implement. The local government is offering up to 9,000 yuan per restaurant to help with the cost of the iPad ordering system. [Via M.I.C. Gadget and nddaily]
Google+ Local sees reviews from friends, Zagat invade your restaurant hunts (video)
We'd been wondering what Google would do following its acquisition of Zagat, and now we know: it's part of Google+ Local, a boost to Maps, general search, and Google+ itself. Zagat's point system now automatically shows up in search results for restaurants that have been given the extra scrutiny. Those of us who don't trust The Man for reviews will also now see Google+ friends' picks surface at the same time. The addition is considered important enough that Google is even adding a Local tab on Google+ just to show recommendations, so you won't have to abandon your constant updating (you're always posting on Google+, right?) to find a well-rated sushi place. Local should be live soon, if not now, and will make search plus Your World that much more omnipresent.
New York restaurant adopts iPads, saves money
The next time you're at the Brooklyn (NY) Tap House choosing from the wide variety of beers on tap, don't be surprised if you see iPads at the bar or an iPod touch in the hands of your waitperson. The gastropub has installed a point-of-sale system from Albuquerque-based POSLavu that uses the Apple devices in place of a much more expensive traditional restaurant POS system. The main attraction for the POSLavu system, according to restauranteur and co-owner Hugo Salazar, was the price. Many restaurants use systems from Micros or Aloha that can sport price tags of US$20,000 or more; the bottom line for the devices and software at the Brooklyn Tap House was about $7,000. Salazar and partner Steve Escobar say the system has some advantages. The iPads tend to start conversations at the bar, and they can be used to check web sites to settle bar arguments. The order flow is much smoother, with orders taken wirelessly from the iPod touch devices in the hands of waitstaff and then printed in the kitchen. Inventory is updated immediately, and the owners can check sales and more from literally anywhere in the world. On the negative side, customers often think that waitstaff are texting friends instead of taking their orders. The staff has broken iPods (one wonders if the Tap House has ever heard of LifeProof or OtterBox cases...), and connectivity to the local Wi-Fi network for sending orders has been an issue. Still, the owners are happy with both the POSLavu system and the Apple technology, with waitstaff often pointing out to customers that they're using an Apple-based system.
Hubworks uses iPads to help restaurant customers order food
We've posted before about Hubworks, a company based in Idaho that develops consumer-facing solutions for ordering food and interacting with servers at restaurants via iPads. Most of Apple's sales are directly to consumers, but Hubworks is just one company of many that's getting more involved in business-to-business sales of Apple products. These companies are the main reason you're soon going to see iPads used in kiosks and sales environments all over the world. Hubworks' VP of sales and marketing, Aaron Gabriel, told me, "In the next six months this is something that people will be able to go and see in their local environments." Currently, Hubworks is working on big deals with a few big "large international chains" of restaurants, with pilot programs and trials currently underway to check out how viable these iPad solutions can be. But Gabriel is convinced the iPad has a place in the retail and food sales environments. Hubworks uses its own special case for the iPad. The unit hooks up to Apple's tablet through the dock connector. It contains a credit card slider unit to charge customers and plugs into a point of sale system already working at the restaurants to deliver food and drink orders back to the kitchen. Hubworks has developed its own app to do that, though the iPad can have other apps or games running on it as well. The unit also has a battery pack that allows the iPad to be used for up to 18 hours. While the company hasn't squared away a security solution yet, Gabriel says, "we haven't had any problems thus far." Eventually there will probably be sensors on the iPads to let restaurant management know if they've been carried out the door by less-than-honest customers. Why haven't we seen this solution implemented on a wide scale yet? Gabriel says most of the biggest restaurant chains "just want to see it develop a bit" first and would like to "gather some performance metrics" before widespread deployment. In other words, restaurants are interested in giving iPads to customers, but don't want to be the first to do so. Gabriel is convinced that once these chains see a successful program in action, they'll all jump in on the idea. "These first deals are very important," he says. Once we do see these iPads in stores, Gabriel says there are more benefits than just the customers getting to play with Apple's tablets. Some servers were worried that with customers ordering from the iPad their tips would go down, but Gabriel says, "the average check size is going up" at restaurants where the customers use iPads to order their food and drink. With service that's quicker and ordering that's easier than ever, servers have more time to talk and customers buy more food than usual. That's the kind of stat that could really kick these programs into more widespread use. It may be only a matter of time before you're given a menu at your local chain restaurant printed on an iPad.
Buffalo Wild Wings testing iPads for ordering
While we were in San Francisco for Macworld | iWorld, I noticed that the wait staff at Mel's Drive-in were using iPads to take orders. I hadn't seen that before, but apparently the folks at Mel's have used iPads for a while. Now an even bigger restaurant chain, Buffalo Wild Wings, is planning to deploy iPads to its nationwide locations, should an initial pilot programs fare well. Instead of issuing iPads to servers like Mel's has done, Buffalo Wild Wings will embed iPads in tables around the bar. Customers can use them to browse select apps like Facebook and Safari, or place an order. Those behind the initiative hope customers will eventually interact with ads, play in-store games, and find a new source of in-restaurant entertainment in the iPads. The company is reportedly going with Hubworks for installation, a company that makes rugged iPad cases meant for public use. The restaurant first implemented the system in Toronto, and is now testing the setup in Minneapolis. Perhaps you'll see one at your location soon. [via AppleInsider]
NTT DoCoMo menu translator app hands-on (video)
NTT DoCoMo menu translator app hands-on (video) NTT DoCoMo begins testing automated Japanese / English translation app that actually works (video) NTT DoCoMo exhibits on-the-fly speech translation, lets both parties just talk (video) Have you ever tried to read a Japanese menu? If there aren't pictures to reference, you'll likely have a difficult time figuring out what to order -- unless you can read Japanese, of course. NTT DoCoMo hopes to improve the dining experience for those of us that can't tell our ウニ (sea urchin) from our カニ (crab), building an app that can translate any of 9,000 possible menu entries from Japanese into English. It also supports English to Japanese translation, along with Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese) and Korean translations as well. The app worked fairly well, occasionally mistaking things like salmon caviar for "a rare part of the pork." OK, so perhaps there's a bit more work to be done. Either way, real-time visual language translation is definitely tricky stuff, and could be enormously helpful to travelers once devs figure out how to make it work -- and work well. Jump past the break to see the app do its thing at CEATEC.%Gallery-135633%
Google acquires Zagat: good news for foodies, bad news for Yelp?
Long before Yelp, there was Zagat -- a point-based restaurant rating guide, compiled from the best (or worst, depending) crowdsourced reviews. Today, Google has acquired the brand and plans to integrate Zagat's now expanded shopping, eating, drinking and hotel tips into both search and maps. For gastronomes, travelers and locals, that means crowdsourced tips for superb noms and activity recommendations from around the world. Sounds great, guys, as long as your new found friendship helps us find the best bacon-flavored ice cream cone, we're all for it.
15 Minutes of Fame: The AFK Tavern, where everybody knows your name
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. So these two WoW players walk into a bar. Only it's not just a bar -- it's also a full restaurant serving hearty but healthy (fresh, locally sourced and frequently organic) fare such as the thick, juicy Iron Dragon Steak ("a full half-pound of flat iron steak grilled in dragon's fire and served with sautéed veggies and a GLaDOS baked potato"). And then they don't go home, because it's more than just a bar and restaurant -- it's also a gaming center hosting everything required to enjoy a night of tabletop, console and online gaming. Yes, this is heaven. Welcome to the AFK Tavern in Everett, Wash., the brainchild of WoW player Kayla Graves. "It was kinda my life's dream," she explains. "I run the place as general manager and design most the menus and almost all the drinks (a few are made by our bartenders), so I take the title of creative director most the time. I also deal with all our social media ... And advertisements. AFK started as my project, but we're big on community input, so we've shaped it that way and let it become more than us. It's pretty cool owning a company like AFK Tavern with my two best friends in the whole world." Sound like the place where everybody knows your name? We thought so, too. Come on in.
NYC restaurant completely reliant on iPad
When you go to De Santos, a high-end Italian restaurant in New York City's West Village, don't expect to be handed a regular menu. Instead, your waiter will bring you an iPad 2 on which you can select your meal. Inc.com reported on this innovative restaurant that is using iPad 2s, a custom app, and the Square card reader to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. As of August 1st, De Santos -- located in a building that was once home to such music and literary geniuses as Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and Edward Albee -- became the first restaurant in the Big Apple to be run completely on iPads. Not only can you order your food and drink on the iPad, but at the end of the meal you'll swipe your credit card on the device to settle your tab (De Santos uses Square to accept your charges). You might think that US$500 menus are ridiculously expensive, but the owners say that the system will save money by streamlining food ordering. The iPads send orders directly to the kitchen over Wi-Fi, and customers can see the full "specs" of every dish on the menu. The system uses a custom point of sale system created for the 8 iPads in the restaurant, and the development and installation costs were about $18,000. That compares very favorably to traditional restaurant point of sale systems that normally cost a minimum of about $30,000 to install. Since every transaction is entered into the system in real time, the owners of De Santos can monitor the restaurant remotely from an iPhone to view data about how sales are going. They can see how many orders are placed for what items, how many credit cards are used, and more. Co-owner Sebastian Gonella says that "You really have control over what happens in the dining room," which reduces costs for the restaurant. The key feature might be the iPads themselves. Sebastian Gonella noted that "The customers love it. Who doesn't like an iPad? They go nuts." Once word gets out about how well the iPad-based system is working, we're sure to see more restaurants adopt the devices.
McDonald's to start accepting contactless Visa payments in all UK restaurants by this summer
The UK already has a big old investment in contactless technology with London's rather successful Oystercard travel scheme, but now the whole Kingdom can get a taste for airborne payments thanks to a new initiative from McDonald's and Visa. The two giants of commerce are uniting to bring NFC tech to all of the former's 1,200 fast food restaurants within the UK, allowing hungry Brits to pay for meals costing up to £15 by simply waving their credit card in front of the till Obi-wan-style. Of course, the real excitement of such large-scale NFC proliferation is in the potential to use those automated tills with your Nexus S (which has an NFC chip built right in) and other devices coming up this year that look set to feature the technology. So yeah, Visa had better be working hard on putting together some mobile apps. [Thanks, Steve]
iPad increasingly popular among restaurateurs, diners
We've been talking about the iPad in restaurants for a while, starting back when the Lecere Corporation began testing their FIRMS point-of-sale system. The iPad seems especially effective for wine lists, and we covered the story about Bones in Atlanta seeing an 11 percent improvement in their wine sales. According to the Associated Press, an upscale Chicago steakhouse called Chicago Cut is seeing similar results. While the owners are hesitant to lay their 20 percent increase in wine sales directly at the iPad's feet, they definitely credit Apple's magical and revolutionary device with some of the credit. Au Bon Pain is also experimenting with the iPad in six of its stores, using the tablet to do away with paper ordering pads. The iPad has the ability to simplify a great deal of the order process in restaurants, communicating customer choices and orders back to the kitchen without wasting reams of paper. It's probably only a matter of time before we see even more dining businesses embrace the iPad. [via Switched]
Chinese hotpot restaurant gets robot waiters, may soon be serving droids as well (video)
Why, it's another robot-themed hotpot restaurant! This time we're looking at Jinan -- once famous for demolishing a whole stash of illegal arcade machines -- up in north China, where a ballsy robotics manufacturer started trialling a robot-themed eatery. While there are still human chefs working back in the kitchen, some near-hundred customers will be served by six robots (about ¥40,000 or $6,000 each to build) that follow a white line to seat diners and deliver dishes. Oh, and don't expect any slapstick comedy here -- these bland-looking droids will only stop if you dare stand in front of them. You'll have to hurry up, though, as this venue closes in about 16 days; but for those who can't make it, we've got a video right after the break.
Found Footage: Sharp says 'sushi please' on iPad
Lots of visual content, quick transactions, and hungry customers: that's what Sharp has in mind with this proof of concept sushi menu application for iPad. Rather than putting diners through the chore of tracking down their favorite rolls and sashimi in a multipage laminated paper menu, the app puts dishes front and center. The iPad app isn't for sale yet, although the DigInfo report quotes Sharp saying it may be commercialized if there's interest; it might also be ported to Sharp-built devices. If it does get rolled out, it would be included as an integrated piece of Sharp's POS system for restaurants, including billing and order management tools. We've seen systems like this tested before, but as far as we've heard, no one's actually using iPads in real-life restaurants and at least one Australian tapas joint has already gotten on the bandwagon. If you've seen a virtual menu in action, let us know in the comments. [via Guy Kawasaki]
TUAW's Daily App: Corkbin
I've been trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to become a smarter wine drinker for a while now, and Corkbin might just push me over the top. This elegantly designed app is set up to help you track and chart the wines that you drink, learn how to classify them, and share reviews with friends and fellow iPhone users around you. The idea is that every time you try a new wine, you snap a picture of the label and leave a short note about what you had it with, how it tasted, or where you got it. Then, later on, at the liquor store or when out at a restaurant, you can pull up "that wine we tried last week," and you'll know exactly what it was. It's simple, but it's perfect for people like me who aren't wine experts and need a little help remembering exactly what that last bottle was called. Unfortunately, the app isn't perfect; I don't like that you must log in on startup, and there are quite a few features (like a wine database or the ability to browse friends' wines rather than just "nearby" check-ins) that seem like they would be awesome but are still missing from the app. The basic functionality of tracking your own wines is well worth the 99 cent price, though. Maybe this will finally give me the method I need to start developing a more refined wine palate.
Burger King uses 'musical shower' as latest trick to entice Japanese clientele
A new Burger King eatery opening up in Japan isn't usually something we concern ourselves too much with, but this one comes with an interesting new twist. Those umbrella-aping translucent cones hanging over the tables are known as "musical showers," and their function is to deliver music in an isolated fashion to you and your significant -- but not too significant, it's still BK, after all -- other. All you'll need to do is plug your portable media player into the provided receptacle and the tunes you know and love will literally shower down upon you. To be honest, if the audio channeling is sufficiently precise not to disturb nearby punters, we're loving this idea. Now just give it a name that won't make teenagers giggle and bring it westwards.
Engadget dines at Taipei's Windows 7-themed restaurant (video)
Taiwan may be a comparatively small place, but it's well known for a few things: incredible eats, incredible technology, and the best Little League World Series teams this planet has ever seen. We're experiencing the best of those first two this week at Computex, and since we were all the way over on the other side of the planet, we couldn't help but stop by the Windows 7-themed eatery that opened up for just a couple of months surrounding the nation's only hosted consumer electronics show of this magnitude. The place, as we were told by the one and only Andy Yang from Engadget Chinese, is Taiwanese through and though. It typically goes by 100 Seafood, but for a couple of months it has been transformed into a 64-bit dining location with Windows 7 wallpaper, stickers, banners, and even mugs. Each day there's a special menu item that sells for just NT$77 (around $2.38 in the US), but considering that said special was some form of intestines on the evening that we showed up, Engadget and company sprung for dishes with a bit less relation to the digestive system. In all seriousness, the grub hit the spot after a long day on the trade show floor, and the take-home mugs for us media folk made the journey even more worthwhile. Now, to see if the lid closes over if we don't activate the thing in 30 days... Take a trip to this magical place yourself in the galleries below, or do one even better and jump past the break for a video! %Gallery-94338% %Gallery-94337%
Caption contest: Windows 7-themed restaurant serves 64-bit grub in Taiwan
We (falsely) assumed that the Windows 7 Whopper would be the last food item ever associated with an operating system, and now we're quite literally eating our words. As the story goes, a Hot Fried 77 restaurant has opened up over in Taiwan, offering tons of "Windows-themed meals" for NTD $77 (around $3 in Greenbacks), and judging by the cornucopia of images down there in the source, we're guessing this is no prank. We're debating whether laughing or crying is the appropriate emotion here. Josh T.: "While you're throwing .bak some fries and a burger, you should enjoy a .dll pickle." Nilay: "This is not what we meant by Windows 7 Server." Chris: "I'm a PC, and putting down a pint of Beast while installing Windows 7 was my idea." Richard Lai: "This is the real Windows Genuine Advantage." Joe: "We like to believe that Microsoft started with the restaurant and then reverse engineered an OS." Richard Lawler: "Obviously, there's no word for Seagrams in their language." Darren: "You haven't heard? Alcohol consumption by end-user is now listed in Minimum System Requirements." Josh F.: "When reading 'serve it to us on a plate' in a literal sense goes horribly right." Joanna: "Everything I come up with is just wrong." Don: "Can you tell me where the XP Cafe is?" Paul: "Would you like that in 32-bit or 64-bit?" [Thanks, Chris]
Robot waiters serve food and dance moves in Thailand, secretly plotting humiliation revenge
The Far East just gets more surreal each day. For instance, how about a Japanese restaurant in Thailand served by robots? You can thank Lapassarad Thanaphant for her 30 million baht ($927,600) investment in the Bangkok-based Hajime restaurant and its four motorised servants from Japan. The brave souls who dare to enter can place orders on touchscreens, and in return watch a lanky humanoid deliver the dishes, followed by some slick dance moves if its not too busy serving others. Oh, don't worry, these samurais are tied to a track so they can barely reach you, plus you get to cook your own food in the style of Shabu-Shabu (Japanese hot pot) or BBQ, so enjoy your freedom before they take over your cooking as well. Videos after the break.
