Technology is becoming increasingly important to restaurants, and tabletop ordering devices only stand to multiply, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at the Chicago-based restaurant consulting firm Technomic.
"It's cool and trendy, and kids love it," he said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "It paves the way for other opportunities with applications."
Since April, when Apple debuted the tablet, the device is now in use as a full menu at upscale restaurants, hamburger eateries and quick-service chains.
Au Bon Pain uses iPads at six of its 220 locations, with plans to expand. Ed Frechette, the company's vice president of marketing in Boston, said diners usually fill out pieces of paper with their orders at the cafes, but iPads have simplified the process.
"One of our employees has an iPad with a menu loaded in it and they'll take your order," Frechette said. "You still see a menu board with all the information on it. We have handheld laminated menus for a reference, but all the paper pads are gone."
At 4Food in New York, where diners can build and name their own burgers, iPads are at eight kiosks with plans for as many as 30 devices, including Android and Blackberry platforms. Customers order and enter credit card information into the iPad to pay. Managing partner Adam Kidron said ordering food electronically will eventually be the norm.
"You've just got to imagine that this is something that won't just be considered to be a discretionary behavior," Kidron said. "It will be a necessary behavior."
