To not want to order via an app in a restaurant!

[TeaAndBrie]

Visited a restaurant for brunch today, it wasn’t super fancy but £12 for eggs Benedict to give an idea of price.
we were told to sit anywhere that’s free and then use the QR code on the table to see the menu and order. I must’ve pulled a face as she said she would get a paper menu and that we could order at the counter.
surely part of eating out if the experience and the service and this is all part of what you pay for?

Love this! Don't have to wait to order, just crack on & get exactly what you want.

Was it a "lounge" they have menus on the tables here then you order at the bar if you don't want to use the qr code but we find it's easier to do it all online

I am in the prefer ordering on an app gang! Especially good for outdoor tables in summer.

We were in a big city Zara a few days ago and the queue was ridiculous! I have never been in a Zara when the queue is less than 10 people long, they need to sort it out! Not helped by the fact she tried to substantially overcharge me and it was only when I added up the items in front of her several times she realised that the customer next to me had somehow had her items scanned into mine!

Same.

Less issues with wrong orders etc

@theleafandnotthetree

We are talking about a restaurant charging £12, how much "experience" do you get giving your order to someone earning minimum wage? The reason many cheaper places are using apps is to reduce wage cost thus keep prices as low as they can.

At an expensive restaurant fair enough you need the waiters advice

I don't mind ordering on the app as long as I can read on a full size paper version of the menu. I can't scan the full page on a tiny screen like you can on paper.

My experience of apps is not being able to get a signal or the website hanging continuously. So I do dread those places abd we’ve been known to change our minds and find somewhere else to eat.

Another one here who much prefers it.

I agree with you, OP.
All these apps everywhere, taking over my life.

Oh I hate it too.

The El Mexicana place at Swindon outlet centre requires you to order via the touch screen in front of the counter. My friend and I had to order sauces we didn't actually want as you need to complete every option before it will allow you to "submit". There is no way to skip them.

I don’t have a smart phone, so no dinner for me😳

I just find it a very bleak and soulless experience. And people earning minimum wage are as likely to have engaging personalities and add to the atmosphere as anybody. Only tonight I was out in a town I don't know as I'm away on my own for work. Sitting there on my own, I enjoyed the few words with the waitress and felt just that little bit of connection with another human after a long day. OK, it was meaningless enough taken on its own but strip away ALL those opportunities for small moments of connection and added together, it makes for an even more atomised society than we already have. If anything, we need more, not fewer opportunities for social connection

In theory it's great.
Reality for us it is a nightmare as one of my children has a food allergy and a food intolerance.
Thankfully the place he most loves eating (the restaurant loves their App) are really great at assisting us in ordering. But thinking about it, if DS wasn't so into their food, I'd not bother as it is faff explaining and feeling we are being difficult for not using the App.

Yep much prefer it here too! No waiting ages to order then getting “oh sorry we don’t have that” and then having to look at the menu again. No worrying about who’s paying for what, or being anxious about what you order, or having to wait ages and ages for the bill.

Won’t get involved usually don’t take phone out

Just to add though I think it needs both.

my mum hates using an app to order and I prefer it so I think places should offer both options.

My job focuses on accessibility and I think both have their merits for different kinds of people. Ordering on an app is great for someone with anxiety, or someone deaf for example who struggles to hear or maybe even speak, it can also be great for people who struggle visually as their phone can read them the options. However I can also see how it isn’t great for other people.

I get your logic if the objective of going to a restaurant is to get food in the most efficient manner possible and in which case why not go for pre ordering McDonalds on an app or even more efficient Deliveroo.

However if the objective is to get an actual restaurant experience then I can see OP point about having a physical menu and a real waiter / waitress to interact with.

Think it’s very sad that people prefer to look at a screen rather than engage with a person is why so many have social anxiety and can’t function in the real world

Very well said.

I've found so far that the places offering app ordering have always previously had you have to go up to the bar. So for me this is a lot easier and means I can spend more time at the table with others. Way less pressure and hassle

Agree, it takes what most people consider to be some negative aspects of modern living - like increased levels of loneliness, disconnection, lack of contact between people from different social strata etc. - and reinforces and amplifies them. I get what's in it for businesses but doesn't mean we should happily go along with it. At the very least it should be a real choice (not a fake choice like my Zara example earlier). Surely even people who have social anxiety wouldn't necessarily want everyone else to head down that road too!

I definitely feel the same as you regarding this.
for some people having a chat with waiting staff could be their only human interaction that day.

Ugh hate it.
Why do SO many businesses these days want the customer to do all the hard work 😭
If it’s not your bank it’s the supermarket or a restaurant. It’s gives me rage. Just do the work for me!! Stop outsourcing your work to me. I have my own job!

Terrible for those with allergies as there is no one to ask. Also makes it difficult to adapt orders (no ketchup for example) and as others have said, difficult to use voucher codes, gift vouchers or cash (the latter being a real challenge when a group of teens want to go out to eat together as invariably only a few have cards and end up having to pay for the others - not a biggie when you’re an adult but it stresses them out when they’re learning how things work)

Bring back the humans!