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Some major chains have already made the bet. Buffalo Wild Wings announced a big tablet push in March, promising to have them in all North American stores by the end of 2015.

E la Carte cofounder and CEO Rajat Suri argued that tablets are designed to work alongside human employees, not replace them.

These enhancements are geared toward increasing customer satisfaction and driving up revenue. Patrons are far more like to buy a restaurant gift card or buy dessert if they're pleased with their dinning experience at the end of the meal. 

Tablets are also making life better for waiters with the help of some behavioral science.

This tablet tsunami suggests waiters might not be getting the job done.

You can download it for free from the App Store.

If users like it, then they call us and say, “I want to proceed, what do I do?”

Perhaps people who attend fancy restaurants won’t like the new technology completely taking over their experience. And then there are people who are completely sick and tired of technology taking over every other profession, including education and banking. But the replacement of waiters with tablets and (possibly) robots is certainly going to happen whether they like it or not.

but the more we looked into it we realised the benefits are even greater for waited service - you can reduce the number of waiter visits to the table and it takes away the routine transaction handling and lets them concentrate on the actual customer service

dubbed 'the waiter in your pocket', asks diners to scan a QR code on the table they are seated at to bring up the restaurant menu

he product was perfect for fast-casual restaurant operators.

the product can cut staff costs, reduce cash handling, capture consumer behaviour by tracking visits and orders and can also send targeted offers to restaurant

customers.

QikServe is also enabled for links to social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter in order to allow diners to leave instant feedback or online reviews of the restaurant experience.

Dining out is its own brand of entertainment

. The pageantry is part of the allure. Being greeted by a host, being shown to a table, and being waited on by a happy server—these are all expected and valued components of the dining experience that electronics can't even approximate.

Tablets have also been impressively effective at improving the wait staff’s take-home pay.

They help ensure that servers can spend more quality time with their tables, providing guests a higher level of attention and service.

Tabletop tablets can help servers capitalize on the “magic moments” of the dining experience.

Tips have increased an astounding 15 percent at restaurants using these tablets.

self-service tablet is enhanced security.

In early-adopter establishments, within 24 months of featuring these tablets at 125 locations, owners saw revenues go up.

Micah Solomon:  Can you bring me up to speed on how the Chili’s digital service came to be deployed, and how it’s going so far? Wade Allen, vice president of digital innovation and customer engagement, Chili’s Grill & Bar: We started our digital guest experience journey in Sept. 2013 as the first mover in the casual dining industry to bring tabletop technology to our restaurant tables. The goal was to remove common guest pain points around paying the bill and re-ordering drinks. We’ve seen rapid adoption with 75 percent of guests using the tablets to quickly pay their bill. Furthermore, we’ve been able to gather valuable insights through real-time feedback where 25 percent of guests use the tablets to complete the Chili’s survey at the end of their dining experience. This feedback allows us to make improvements on an individual restaurant level, as well as, provide proof points for national-scale decisions around our Fresh Tex and Fresh Mex menu favorites. Once we had the tablets in place, we took a different approach and launched a fully digital loyalty program, “My Chili’s Rewards,” in May 2015. The goal was easy access/participation for all guests. We also included unique elements around gamification to keep guests engaged. In six months, we went from no loyalty program to 4.2 million members. Furthermore, approximately 18 percent of transactions in restaurant are tied to loyalty members. We’re building on this for what we call “loyalty 2.0” with our latest partnership with the Plenti rewards program, as the newest partner to join representing the casual dining industry. This will allow guests to earn points at partner locations and redeem for their Chili’s favorites.

Solomon: Is the human element getting lost?  Allen: Absolutely not! A key differentiator of casual dining is the personalized service model. Our technology innovation is not only a win for our guests, but also a win for our team members. With technology, we’re able to remove some of the mundane tasks of the server and allow them to make our guests feel special with a memorable dining experience. Furthermore, technology is completely optional and guests can choose to opt out if they wish. These tablets do not eliminate the personal service our guests receive from servers. In fact, these tablets have served as a good tool for our team members to help eliminate some transactional pain points, such as paying the bill or ordering dessert, and have helped our team members do their job more efficiently. This allows our team members to focus on the duties that make a personal impact on the dining experience, such as getting to know the table, taking entrée orders and delivering meals, among other duties.

Solomon: What are the backup plans for when guests want human rather than kiosk service? Allen: Our model is based on personalized service to make guests feel special when dining with us. So, the personalized aspect will always be a part of what guests experience at Chili’s. The technology innovation is completely optional and guests can choose to opt out if they wish.

Developers are also already working on digital menus that change depending on the user. So, for example, a customer who has shared data about their allergies or diet choices, such as being vegan or vegetarian, will only see menu items that meet this criteria

Restaurant groups including SSP, Big Table, Boparan Restaurant Group and Din Tai Fung are among those trialling robotic waiters designed to support staff members with tasks such as delivering food and clearing tables

As recruitment challenges continue to bite, more restaurant groups are likely to look to automation for help

Could machine learning stop restaurant operators avoid opening the wrong venue in the wrong place? That’s the pitch from US company Borne, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse a wide range of data points to help predict the viability of a concept in a particular location

The company says that through ‘superior analysis and pattern identification’ its The Borne Report service can reduce restaurant failures by eliminating what most would agree is the root cause of closures - the wrong site in the wrong place

intuitive technology that automatically adjusts aspects such as lighting, volume and music tempo in a restaurant based on a number of important factors, such as that offered by tech company Startle

Tech start-up Karakuri has developed an ‘automated frying solution’ that can integrate with existing systems to drop fries and other items when required. As well as labour savings, the company says food waste is reduced thanks to portion control technology that ensures fry baskets are filled with the right amount of product to match demand

The company even considers the likely mood impact of music using a model of neuro-typical responses to individual tracks

Startle also provides digital signage and can set rules that change what’s on the screens depending on the weather or footfall, such as ice cream promotions during heat waves, or hot drinks during cold spells.

Chris Sanderson, founder of shiftworking marketplace limber, believes that apps such as his will give rise to the ‘portfolio career’.

employers embracing tech to pull from a larger pool of staff and lower the barrier to entry for new joiners

The pitch of apps such as limber is that they can help hospitality businesses connect with a growing generation of talent who are looking to work more flexibly and help them hire

As the global hospitality industry looks to combat crippling staff shortages, robotic fry cooks are now being deployed back-of-house

The US is leading the way, with burger brands including Jack in the Box and White Castle experimenting with burger flipping robots and Panda Express having rolled out a robotic wok

According to Startle, increasing the bass of music has been proven to make listeners feel more confident and increase levels of dopamine

Acrelec’s QTimer 2.0 which, during busy periods, can automatically switch to a simplified menu and recommend items that are quicker to prepare and guide customers to make a decision more quickly to avoid a back-up of traffic

Biometrics looks set to further shake up how payments are made, with fingerprints more likely to become the norm than facial recognition, which is generally considered less reliable

Yet many brands, particularly those with a global reach, are already seeing the metaverse as the next big thing in both marketing and customer experience, including in the hospitality sector

For the restaurant of the future, sustainability will be more than just a buzzword related to the procurement of ingredients. Instead, it will refer to much-wider remit of considerations to help operators reduce the pressure on their bottom line

Energy control devices that can communicate with different kitchen units and regulate their power supply are likely to be key in helping restaurants reduce their energy costs. “Such technology will be able to cut down on peak demands,” explains Threlfall. “These devices could help restaurants reduce their total electrical costs by between 5% and 25% and decrease peak power consumption by 20% to 40%

Overall, though, technology is eliminating far more jobs than it is creating.

Now, that same efficiency is being unleashed in the service economy

Technology is eliminating jobs in office buildings, retail establishments and other businesses consumers deal with every day

The uncomfortable truth is technology is killing jobs with the help of ordinary consumers by enabling them to quickly do tasks that workers used to do full time, for salaries.

Technology is used by companies to run leaner and smarter in good times and bad

They realize they don't have to re-hire the humans when business improves, or at least not as many.

Servers show customers how to look up pictures of potentially unfamiliar foods, whether crimson quinoa salad or tofu lentil loaf, says Ivy Chesser, events coordinator at the café. “A lot of people are starting to become familiar with using them and come in for them,” Chesser says.

“When my server crashed on my old POS system, it was going to cost $8,000 to replace and update the system,” says Joe Magoonaugh, owner of The Ogden, a full-service dining room and bar. That’s when he decided to go with a new tablet-based system. “You don’t have to put $10,000 – $20,000 up front for a POS, and it is easy to get up and running.”

Some customers can experience “line anxiety” when people are waiting behind them to order, so they may pass over upsell options to place their orders quicker, or because the menus on the wall are confusing and hard to read. With a well-designed kiosk, line anxiety is eliminated, and placing an order is easy.

“Our average guest check through the kiosk is nearly two times the average placed with a waiter. Since it is so easy to add items on the kiosk, guests add avocado or bacon, and may also see other options to add to the order that they may not have seen on a paper menu,”

Implementing a digital menu board can be an enormous expense. The more elaborate they get, the more expensive they become. You'll have to purchase the hardware, the software, and the infrastructure required to implement the signage.

A high-quality printed menu board is generally executed better than the best of the digital menu boards. It's crisper, clearer, and the colors are richer than their digital counterparts.

 Should your digital menu board go down, it’s DOWN. There’s no backup, so your customers are left staring at a blank screen.

Sure, your digital menu board might be cheaper in the long run, but it might be at the expense of the appearance of your food

While traditional printed menu boards require very little by way of maintenance, a digital menu board will need continuous maintenance.

Printed boards are significantly less expensive to implement, and they're much easier to install, too.