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?

Ideally, these sort of places (which generally aren't at all high-end) should have both physical menus and an app option.
I prefer to look at a paper menu and see all the options clearly rather than having to scroll up and down, and over and back on my small phone screen. But if you know exactly what you want then an app probably works fine for you.
Sadly I think it is mostly a cost cutting exercise enabling businesses to shed staff. Which isn't great.

Was it at one of those lounge cafes by any chance (unico/beretto etc.)?
I love it! I think it makes everything so much easier - I have a dairy and soy allergy and can filter the menu to show exactly what I can eat (I then go and order at the counter just in case).
It makes it so much quicker and there’s no awkward trying to get the waiters attention for the bill or to order etc.
I agree it’s not for everywhere, if I’m going somewhere nice for dinner then I wouldn’t expect it - but for a casual daytime place, bring it on!

I hate it too.
I especially hate when there's the option to leave a tip!- before you've received your food! Why would you tip before the meal?- and when there's less service?

I prefer it, use to hate going up to pay in Nando’s 🫣

@TeaAndBrie @theleafandnotthetree I’m with you. I’ve said similar here before, but our local Zara is so badly run; queues round the shop for changing rooms, tills on three floors but only one floor open… the staff seem to waft around looking blasé about it all! It’s not unique to ours as I’ve been in branches in other big cities around the country too. They seem to do a roaring trade in online returns! I bloody love their clothes though.
I dislike ordering in restaurants on apps and much prefer a chat with the staff. I’m not a fan of those giant screens in fast food outlets either. There never seems to be receipt paper in the ones at our nearest McDonalds. I accept this makes me a dinosaur but so be it!

I prefer it if it’s somewhere I don’t go to that often. Its just quicker and easier, don’t have to wait at the bar or try and get the waiters attention and usually you pay upfront so can make sure what you’re being charged is correct as your ordering it.

There are a couple of places I like to go for dinner for in my town and I know the staff a little bit as a regular so I do like chatting with them. I wouldn’t want an app for those places. However someone else might.

It was an independent, very much upright style wooden tables and chairs so not ‘loungey’ (if that’s a word!)
it was odd as there’s was a sign asking you to wait to be seated but when we arrived we were just told to sit anywhere that was free. There were lots of staff milling about so didn’t seem to be a cost cutting exercise - one staff member tried to take my plate twice before I had even finished eating 😂

otherwise you’re paying a lot of money for basically something you could make much cheaper at home or go to McDonalds

Ordering a meal on an app somewhere that serves decent food, is in no way, shape or form, the same as making something for yourself at home 😂. For one, you don't have the prep the food and secondly you don't have lay the table, thirdly you don't have to clear away the dishes and four, you don't have the washing up afterwards.

Bonkers!

Using apps in restaurants with staff can bring several benefits, but it's crucial to find the right balance between technology and a personal dining experience. Some diners enjoy the human touch, and they like interacting with servers, so offering a blend of both high-tech and traditional service options is essential. This way, restaurants can make sure that using the app adds to the overall dining experience rather than taking away from it.

Besides, tech is the future, think the back to the future restaurants etc

I actually like them. Though if I’m somewhere posh I’d like table service.

it depends how good you are at cooking 😂 tbf my point was that a lot of the total cost of eating out is not the ingredients, it’s the service and atmosphere etc that a restaurant provides. If that’s stripped back then it doesn’t feel like value for money

Am I alone in never experiencing this? But then I tend to go to independents.

I much prefer order on the app tbh

I refuse to eat anywhere that demands an app or a qr code.

Perusing a menu is all part of eating out if I'm looking on a phone , I then scroll to social media and my might is ruined

So I choose not too. Sorry to the manager and tell them why

It's a bit lazy and cheap ... and really grates when there's no signal so you have to seek out a member of staff who manages to look aghast when you're in in your older years and assumes you're an aged amoeba .

This was an independent

I can't use them. I have dyspraxia so I struggle with touch screens and don't own a smart phone.

I don't mind in Wetherspoons but a proper restaurant I expect table service. I walked out of a zizzi where they just pointed us to the app and walked off, felt impersonal and unwelcoming.

I don't like it. Much prefer to have a chat with wait staff about the menu, recommendations and being talked into buying more!

App ordering is impersonal, time consuming and surely sales must go down?

I'd do it if they paid me for my time and compensated me for their asshat app clogging up my phone.

I am sick to death of this self service nonsense. Scanning your own shopping, ordering through an app where is it all going to end. Its not progress as far as I'm concerned. Just more annoyance and stress.

Hear hear @Viviennemary . It's bloody work is what it is.

Last time I tried to order on the app in a restaurant it didn't record all my selections so one of our dining party didn't get a meal and had to go to the counter to order it.

I wonder if the 'app' establishments find it harder to recruit or retain table staff?
It reduces waiting staff to the status of 'carrying droids' with little scope to interact with customers, show initiative or add any value. It also reduces their potential for earning decent tips which many rely on. I know they shouldn't have to but that's the way it is for many.