Restaurants Try Texting To Speed Up Service

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Patrons who think that their waiter isn’t working fast enough might have a new tool in their arsenal. A new service called Text My Food allows customers to text their waiter their orders and their requests such as extra ketchup or the check instead of waiting for the server to come around to their table. The waiter not only receives your request but has the option to text back dessert, drink or appetizer suggestions.

“It’s great for a night like Friday night when we’re really busy. It’s packed and you’re running around [and] people text like, ‘Can I have my check please?’” Charlie’s Kitchen server Kristina Henry said to NPR. The Cambridge, Mass. restaurant that she works at was one of the first to try the service. Less human interaction is one of the downsides, she pointed out – and we could foresee smaller tips. After all, if you don’t see and feel like your waiter is doing something for you, why leave a lot of extra change? “As a server, I would rather want to go to the guest and talk to them face to face and ask them what they would like instead of getting it through a computer,” she added.

TextMyFood president Bob Nilsson assured NPR that human interaction still remains because your waiter still gets you your food. However, the distance that texting creates from the person you are interacting seems to coddle some immature behavior, especially with prank texts. “I’ve gotten, ‘Glasses are sexy.’ I’ve gotten, ‘Two of us need something and three of us need your number,’” Charlie’s Kitchen server Joshua DeCosta said.

We can see an exchange going something like this:

JOE: i’d like the cobb slaad with extra redwine vinaigrtte. extra tomatos and no bacon

SERVER: Sounds good. Would you like a soda with that?

JOE: PLZ DISREGARD: I want a hamburger, medium rare with gruyere and no mayo, with a side of french flies

JOE: *Flies

JOE: *Fries… ugh autocorrect

JOE: Also, I seemed to have lost my number. Can I get yours? LOL

Some things are worth waiting for especially a good burger. While texting might be able to speed up service, instead of going overboard with the messages and pestering and harassing your poor waiter to hurry, why don’t you try something something called patience?

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