Non-traditional ways to order at a restaurant

[bcla]

How does tipping work before you're received any service? Do they still have the 18%/20%/22% options and expect you to choose one?


One of the most infuriating ones around here is KFC. Lots of the fast-food places have gone to offering coupons and discounts only available when ordering through their apps, not at the register. KFC jumps the shark by actually having menu items that can only be ordered on the app; they absolutely will not sell them to you if you try to order them in person.

And I've seen apps or online ordering where they start with a suggested 10% even for takeout. Even if it's fast food, on the premise that it goes to the entire crew.

I've seen app only stuff. Some have app-only "previews" for menu items only available through the app for a week or a few days. However, I hardly see anyone without some sort of mobile device. Most of these work on inexpensive tablets that work as long as there's Wi-Fi. The strange thing is that I've seen physical coupons that come out in mailers, and they're sometimes better than the ones that are available in an app.

 

[meggiebeth]

When we were at the new LaGuardia terminal last month I was surprised to see several restaurants having you order from a tablet built into the table. I’ve never seen anything quite like that in the UK though - closest thing we have is the preorder kiosks at McDonald’s!

I must admit, when it comes to QR codes, I’m not a big fan. I much prefer to have paper menus - they’re easier to read and make sense of.

 

[BayouQueen]

We eat out pretty often, so I've run into a lot of "QR code variations." Never thought too much about it until seeing this thread. Now it occurs to me that there's two parts to dining -- the food and the service. That's what most reviews talk about. So the place sure as heck better have really good food, if there's no service involved. (If I'm offered great hospitality, I might not notice as much if my steak is just okay.)
So do restaurant owners save a lot by cutting out wait staff, if they need to up the food game -- the only thing that will entice us back again? Not sure.

What works for fast food probably doesn't work for a better restaurant.

 

[leebee]

I don't have a phone, so if it's QR only, they don't get my business. That seems trivial- what's one customer? However, when DH and I go out to lunch, these days even a couple of sandwiches and soft drinks turns into a $30 tab, which means the waitperson makes $5 or more. That's business for the restaurant and $$$ for the waitperson- or not. I've been acknowledging how much harder it would have been to get through this pandemic without technology, but now feel that there is too MUCH emphasis on technology in some places. Everyone wants to "go back to how it used to be" before covid- and for me, part of that is going back to in-person customer service at restaurants, not everything being done by technology.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Not a fan of these places & won't go, those QR codes are very off putting, not an ambiance I dig.

Chick-Fila is tolerable every now and again, mostly because it's not trying to be anything other than fast food, but the places that try to look like a family sit-down who throw this in are just ick mostly because they tend to run the same price as nice family run places who actually have staff and care. For my $60-$80 I'd rather help some family pay their bills than drop into a franchise, even fast food can run around $50 now, which is just ridiculous to me. I totally deselect places with QR code dining.

I also do.

 

[Moliphino]

I do use the kiosk at Mcdonalds though because i like to flip between different options looking at prices. My daughter and i often share nuggets so rather than just buy two meals I look at different ways to make our own combos. I could do it at the register but the menus above are always changing.... now those drive me bonkers!

I love the kiosks at fast food places. It's so much easier to customize your order. It's also fantastic when you're in another country and can look at the menu and order in English instead of struggling with a language barrier.

 

[luv2cheer92]

The more tech/phone usage, the better for me. I love being able to just order from my phone. I'll choose a place that has that option almost every time over a place that doesn't.

 

[_19disnA]

I must admit, when it comes to QR codes, I’m not a big fan. I much prefer to have paper menus - they’re easier to read and make sense of.

Same here I have never downloaded that QR code app to my phone and see no need to. Bought something in a store the other day and they also used the QR code thing. When I told them my phone was out in my car, they scanned something else at the register instead. When we go out to dinner, I leave my phone in the car. My life doesn't revolve around my phone and I think it is rude to take a call when dining with others. I would assume places who have those QR code menus will still offer the option of paper menus if you ask. Everyone doesn't have a cell phone and/or might not have it with them when dining.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Same here I have never downloaded that QR code app to my phone and see no need to. Bought something in a store the other day and they also used the QR code thing. When I told them my phone was out in my car, they scanned something else at the register instead. When we go out to dinner, I leave my phone in the car. My life doesn't revolve around my phone and I think it is rude to take a call when dining with others. I would assume places who have those QR code menus will still offer the option of paper menus if you ask. Everyone doesn't have a cell phone and/or might not have it with them when dining.

Most (if not all) QR codes can be scanned with a phone's camera, you don't need an app.

 

[Moliphino]

Most (if not all) QR codes can be scanned with a phone's camera, you don't need an app.

Unless you have a really old phone. My dad only recently upgraded to one that could scan with only the camera (he kept plugging along with it until he could no longer update the android OS a few times, which meant he couldn't use a bunch of apps).

 

[_19disnA]

Maybe that is true with the newer phones, but mine doesn't read the QR codes when I tried it. Someone else told me I need to download some app to do that and never bothered with it. Some other apps I have tried in the past seem to fill my phone with endless ads, so I now avoid downloading apps.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

So I’m mixed on the tablet ordering.

In NYC I love ordering from scanning something. Most places still have attentive servers and bartenders, and it just makes life easier in the hustle and bustle.

If I’m in a suburban area, I don’t mind looking at a menu on my phone, but I don’t like ordering from my phone or tablet (unless it’s like Dunkin or a fast food chain) if that makes sense.

Basically: the more chaotic I do not mind it.


I wish more people were like. Carmines where the menus were always in large print on the wall

 

[_19disnA]

I have also seen where menus formatted for use on your home computer on a website come out all jumbled when viewed on a phone. The word wrap/spacing/photos tend to get moved around making it more difficult to read. If the site is formatted for viewing from a phone tends to work out better.

 

[georgina]

Technology keeps moving along.

I used a QR code menu at the Grand Floridian Cafe last month. A server came to take my order, and I had already looked at the menu and knew what I wanted to order before I went. I don't mind QR code menus. I almost always have looked at the menu before going to the restaurant.

When I used to go out to dinner at Applebee's with some friends, the tablet on the table made it easy to split the bill and each pay for our meals. I usually paid with a gift card which complicated things a little, but I think it worked also.

I can see where if you order and pay electronically, there would be less of a tip for the person who just brings the food. Hope restaurant pay increases to make up for that!

 

[bcla]

So we went to the Oakland location of the place (Square Pie Guys) I went to earlier where it was a QR code at every table. However, this location hadn't returned to dine-in and was takeout only. However, it was also cashless except for tips. Originally I was going to try and use their QR code that was on a menu taped to the front table to order online for pickup, but for some oddball reason they printed it in yellow on white, which my camera phone wouldn't recognize. I didn't try using a code reader app though, but it was really weird. I ended up just ordering it normally and then paying for it with their Toast reader.

 

[Darcy03231]

I hate the QR codes/tablets, etc. When I go out to dinner I'm going for the whole experience. If I have to do everything myself other than cook the meal, I'll just get take-out.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We go to a sushi place that has a conveyer belt. You just grab what you want off the belt. There's also a button you can hit for special orders. The robot, a little wagon on wheels that runs on the top level of the conveyer belt, comes out and you put your order in on the robot. Then the robot delivers your sushi. They tally your bill from the colors of the plates on your table and you go pay.

 

[bcla]

We go to a sushi place that has a conveyer belt. You just grab what you want off the belt. There's also a button you can hit for special orders. The robot, a little wagon on wheels that runs on the top level of the conveyer belt, comes out and you put your order in on the robot. Then the robot delivers your sushi. They tally your bill from the colors of the plates on your table and you go pay.

Sushi boats have been around for decades. That was the old method where you just grab something and each style of plate is associated with a price. I did go to an all you can eat one though. If there was anything special ordered that wasn't on the boats or where they were short on it, we could ask the chef preparing them to speed up something. And sometimes they would hand it directly to us rather than place it on the boats where someone else might grab it.

But the old way of using plates or other containers to tally up the bill goes back to dim sum restaurants. They don't do it any more as it's pretty nasty having everything stacked on a table empty. However, there was one place in Hong Kong that was on a boat with an open window. They apparently lost a lot of plates and containers that ended up tossed into the water from tables that weren't blocked by a window.

 

[bcla]

I just saw something where I’m inclined to pay at a tabletop tablet. I checked my credit card transactions and one of the transactions seemed higher than I remembered. I had the credit card receipt and I put a line through the tip, totaled it, and left a cash tip. I’m sure their copy was the same. But apparently they charged me a $4 tip anyways. With the tablets I can zero out the tip and don’t get anything added later.