iPad-based self-service ordering planned at restaurant.
A restaurant opening in May is putting iPads on all of its tables to allow customers to order their own food and customize their burgers. Called “Stacked: Food Well Built,” the Torrance, Calif., restaurant is planning to put Apple iPads in frames on each table. Using custom software, the iPad will accept orders and communicate them to the kitchen via Wi-Fi. A central screen in the kitchen will post the orders and track their progress. MANY USES: 2010’s most popular iPad apps Customers can use the iPads to pick their ingredients from a list of choices. For example, if you want a burger, you can choose from beef, chicken, turkey, salmon or vegetarian. You can choose from four different buns and a variety of cheeses, toppings and sauces. Other foods on the menu that lend themselves to this assemble-it-yourself approach include pizzas, with their many topping choices, and salads, with a list of 35 different ingredients. After you submit the order through the iPad, an employee brings the food to the table. Stacked stresses that the iPads are just a means to an end – what the company is going for is an experience that’s better than fast food, but not quite full-service dining. You can get a very customized meal from the comfort of your table, but you can still get it fast and at a relatively low cost. Stacked said it would not reveal who made the proprietary iPad software until “well after” the first store is open in May. Another location is planned for the summer and another in the fall, also in southern California.
