You still have to have the server take the order and bring it out, but other than that it's pretty automated. I don't know if they have them out here, perhaps one of you can confirm or deny that. Have any of you used one, even somewhere else? I also thought I would show the surreptitious picture I took of the family at the other table. They were all engrossed in the Ziosk and not paying attention to each other. That's the downside to any device such as this, and I thought it was a sad thing to see. They did have the infant playing with a calculator, though, so on the bright side we may have a future mathematician in our midst.
Wow! As a former food and beverage employee, this is pretty scary. So many people around the country make their living as food servers. Just to see this human job become that much more automated is indeed threatening to many job seekers. Much of the experience of going out is interacting with your server and, in many places, the server makes the meal that much more enjoyable. To see this go to an automated machine is very disheartening. I have been to restaurants where the menu is done via an iPad, but there is still a level of service that is delivered, and I think that, taking that service away, takes something from dining out. It makes it more McDonalds style rather than a nice evening.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of these kiosks, but never tried one. I do agree that having a device like this at the dinner table takes away from the family/social time that all of us should be experiencing when sitting down to a meal. And I agree with David, will this eventually replace food servers...just another niche of employment outsourced by technology. Sad!
ReplyDeleteAs a former employee in the fast food industry seeing these kiosks at the tables scare me. We are starting to look more and more like the Jetson or even Star Trek. Where you tell the machine your order and a few seconds later their is your food. I agree with both Cindy and David that these machines make the dinning experience less personal. Your not paying attention to the people your with but the machine at the end of the table. It's also sad to see thses thing taking jobs away from people that really need them now a days. Thank heaven I have not seen any of these kiosks at any restraunt I've eaten at lattly. I have been to a resturant where the wait staff used a Ipad to take my order and ring up a receit.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of these kiosks coming about, but I must say I already don't like them. I don't like them because it can potentially take aways jobs from hard working people. This reminds me of when they put the automated check out machines at the grocery store, that made a lot of people loose their job. It looks like if this becomes popular the same thing will happen. It also takes away the bonding time with people to get together eat and talk with one another. By having this at the table it distracts people kind of the same effect cell phones have on everybody. I really hope I don't see this in any restaurant I go to because I definitely don't support it and will not use it.
ReplyDeleteFunny story, I was vacationing in Hershey, Pennsylvania this past May visiting Hersheypark and my brother, best friend, and I stopped at a Red Robin afterwards. Upon reading this article I instantly remembered the Ziosk there. Unbeknownst, I looked in my photos and recovered a photo of a drink I took of, with the Ziosk in the background.
ReplyDeleteView here: http://tinypic.com/m/hv2wdk/2
My brother messed around with the games on there, only to find out they are later charged to your bill. So warning, avoid the games. Luckily for us, we were able to talk our way out of paying for the games, silly tourists. We used it to view images of the menu, but other than that, our server took care of the order, serving, and billing.
Correction: view here: http://i43.tinypic.com/2946x5c.jpg
DeleteI am surprised that Chili’s is changing the experience of their restaurant. I have gone to Chili’s since I was much younger and it has always had the same experience and the same environment, but it makes sense that they would expand the technology in their restaurant considering technology is constantly advancing. I have seen these digital displays out here, specifically at Ghenghi’s Grill. I’m not sure if the digital display was the brand Ziosk, but it was at least a brand in similarity with the same options. At Ghenghi’s Grill, you still also have to order to the server and the server will bring out the food too. I looked through the digital device at the restaurant, but was not that interested. I don’t remember if you could pay the bill on the device, but I do remember you could divide the payment if needed. In my preference, I still prefer to have personal interaction with the server. The experience is usually more enjoyable and sometimes more comforting with face-to-face communication.
ReplyDeleteWell the world we live in is definitely the digital/electronic age! This honestly doesn't surprise me. I feel more like, what's next? Family members of mine that worked as 'change' workers at the casinos lost their jobs when most of the casinos installed the ticket redemption machines. Another classmate mentioned self-check out at grocery stores, the list goes on. The other day I went out to lunch with my family and I was thinking about this type of topic. It was a mini-reunion but while eating, some members were on their phones simultaneously. I took a look around and thought to myself, "if this were 10 years ago even, pre-smart phone era, we would actually be talking to each other and catching up."
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this is any restaurants in Vegas. I am surprised though that it took companies this long to implement a technology like this. I think that these screens are the future of going to restaurants, especially once they get the process all automated. As an accountant, I can easily see more businesses switch over to these because of the labor cost savings alone.
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