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Here might be someone's chance to make millions.

NuclearNed

NuclearNed

Raconteur
We all know the agony of waiting forever to get a table at a restaurant.

What if you could order your food while you are in the waiting area? Then the restaurant could have your food at your table within minutes of you getting seated.

It's all a matter of scheduling (i.e. having a computerized scheduler to keep things working efficiently). The restaurant generally can already give you a fairly accurate estimate of how long it is going to take to get your table.

Let's say that on average it takes 20 minutes to get your food from the moment you place your order. So you place your order. Going on your estimated seating time, the scheduling system fires off an order to the kitchen exactly 20 minutes before you are due to be seated (if the wait is 20 minutes or longer, otherwise it fires off the order immediately). Since the seating times are estimated, you could play around with these times a little. Also, this type of system would require a restaurant to keep good metrics on its own performance, which in and of itself would lead to a more efficient restaurant.

To prevent customers ordering then walking out never to return, this service would require pre-payment, or a credit card swipe.

If this worked, then instead of waiting an hour for your table, then another 20 minutes for your food, your only wait would be to get seated. I personally would love this.

If anyone actually takes this and runs with it, the only repayment I want is for the system to be named after me.
 
the biggest problem is you don't when a table will be available

one group of people will eat fast and leave, another group wants to linger and talk for 20 minutes after they are done eating

i think that is the biggest challenge, you can know how long it takes to cook each menu item , but you don't know when a table will clear out
 
don't they do this already?

The resturants that i have been to with really long waits, give you a menu and you can order while waiting for a table. Usually, by the time you still, your food is also ready. The hostess usually does takes the order.
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
the biggest problem is you don't when a table will be available

one group of people will eat fast and leave, another group wants to linger and talk for 20 minutes after they are done eating

i think that is the biggest challenge, you can know how long it takes to cook each menu item , but you don't know when a table will clear out
Click to expand...

That is exactly the reason a restaurant with this system would need to keep good metrics on itself - like average table occupancy time, etc.
 
I think the biggest problem would be not necessarily not knowing when a table will be available as much as not knowing WHICH table will be available. Hence you'll be cooking all these dishes but won't know which table they go to.
 
Originally posted by: aplefka
I think the biggest problem would be not necessarily not knowing when a table will be available as much as not knowing WHICH table will be available. Hence you'll be cooking all these dishes but won't know which table they go to.
Click to expand...

Probably an easily fixed problem - like when you order, you get a receipt, tag, or something that associates you with your order.
 
Originally posted by: AmpedSilence
don't they do this already?

The resturants that i have been to with really long waits, give you a menu and you can order while waiting for a table. Usually, by the time you still, your food is also ready. The hostess usually does takes the order.
Click to expand...

I've never actually seen this, but props to anybody who has gotten it to work.
 
Some restaurants will let you call in your order ahead of time.
Most restaurants take reservations and won't make you wait an hour to be seated.

That said, Waiting sucks ass, especially when you're hungry ....
 
Originally posted by: NuclearNed
Originally posted by: FoBoT
the biggest problem is you don't when a table will be available

one group of people will eat fast and leave, another group wants to linger and talk for 20 minutes after they are done eating

i think that is the biggest challenge, you can know how long it takes to cook each menu item , but you don't know when a table will clear out
Click to expand...

That is exactly the reason a restaurant with this system would need to keep good metrics on itself - like average table occupancy time, etc.
Click to expand...

but how do you explain to the actual customer that their food is stone cold/stale because some schmuk didn't fall into the "average table occupancy time" ?

your type of system works best when humans aren't involved, especially pissy ones that won't tip if the system doesn't work exactly 100% correctly everytime they come to eat
 
I would think the restaurants would rather have you waiting another 20 minutes for your food, ordering apps and drinks in order to pad the bill.
 
I used to consult with restaurants on their order reservation systems, among other things. They have the capacity to this already, and as it's already been said, some do. Generally though, it's difficult to manage for a lot of reasons, and puts the restaurant at risk for a lot of things. For example:

1) Very few decent restaurants just want to sit you down and have you immediately start eating. They want you to order wine, have a salad, an appetizer, etc. Nicer restaurants even have amuse-buche that highlight some of the chef's ideas. Having them simply sit down and start eating misses a lot of the dining experience and the potential revenue that comes with it.

2) As someone already said, you never quite know if a table is going to be available, so you run the risk of having the food ready before the table, etc.

So, I personally don't see where they would be much benefit. If someone is so pressed for time that they want to immediately sit and start eating, then they probably wouldn't be dining out in the first place. This is what to-go is for, imo. Otherwise, make your reservations as normal, show up at your reservation time and be seated promptly.
 
Solution: always order takeout, then eat at home without having to deal with a noisy environment, whiny babies, people talking loudly on cellphones, etc etc etc.
 
Best watch your back mister. People 'round these here parts don't takes too kindly to shmart idears like that.
 
I wouldn't like having food waiting for me at the table. After being in the crowded line and standing, I want to sit down and have something to drink while talking to the other people with me. Maybe decide on an appetizer, talk while we wait for that, as well as think of what meal to get.
 
There are definitely already places that do this and machines that perform this task, like at my college several of the places have a machine where you swipe your card and place and order while in line and then it pops up on the screen in the preparers place and then they make it and bring it to you. Problem for a sit down resteraunt is of course the fact that you never know exactly when tables are going to clear up, what if you finish cooking the food and the people still are not seated then it will just be going cold, or you have to put it under heat lamps and dry it out etc...

Works perfect for takeout, but not for sit down imo.
 
I don't think there's much of a benefit for restaurants. It might be a benefit to some customers, but many I would think would find it uncomfortable to be served food the instant they sit down.
 
I was visiting a friend in Berkeley and Zachary's Pizza does something like that. They'll tell you how long a wait for a table is, how long the wait for pizza is. You can order before you sit, and just hand your receipt to the waiter who will grab your order when it is ready. 20 minute wait to sit, then 2 minutes later we had our nice deep dish pizza. I though it was pretty cool.
 
Originally posted by: torpid
I don't think there's much of a benefit for restaurants. It might be a benefit to some customers, but many I would think would find it uncomfortable to be served food the instant they sit down.
Click to expand...

One benefit for restaurants is that their throughput would improve. More customers served = more $.
 
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