Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Smart Menu

Menu that tells whats REALLY available to eat.
  (+19, -4)(+19, -4)
(+19, -4)
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Nothing is more irritating than looking at the menu, finaly making a choice and then having the waitress return to tell you that they ran out of the main ingredient for your dish of choice.

I propose a smart menu that utilizes bluetooth and the new Flexible OLED displays or Electronic Paper systems. This menu would change as needed to reflect currently available dishes by either removing them from the menu or marking them as not available.

However this menu would maintain the look and feel of traditional menus and exisiting holders allowing diners to page through the menu as they would normally.

Menu would be powered by thin lithium ion batteries in the spine of the menu or sandwiched in the pages. Charging would be handled by an inductive charger similar to those units used to charge internal pacemakers or electric tooth brushes that are built into the menu box at the host station.

Other things this menu would allow for include;

--Items that are normally marked as "Market Price" to indicate the current price for the meal

--Current specials could be displayed in a desginated area

--Buttons for things like salad dressing, beer, liquor and cocktail lists would be available

--Diners could view pictures nutritional information and ingredient lists by touching the item of interest

--games for children to play while waiting that can be chosen to suit the abilities of each child(see biometric system note below)

--Allow for customizable menu views such as arranging by main ingredient, popularity, price or level of spiciness(see biometric note below)

--diners could quickly see which dishes are popular based on statistics collected from the ordering system. Something like say, small croisants in front of the name to indicate popularity

--regular patrons could be identified by the use of a biometric fingerprint scanner which would allow them to track dishes or beers(like bennigans in the US tried to do) that they have not yet tried, or remember prefered menu settings(see above) or health related items for the customer(flag dishes with Milk or Nuts for example)

jhomrighaus, Mar 21 2006

Waiterless Restaurant Waiterless_20Restaurant
Insert this idea into "Element #1". [Canuck, Mar 22 2006]

[link]






       Sledgehammer to crack a walnut.
DrCurry, Mar 21 2006
  

       hmm..I like the idea and it sounds feasible but I have never ordered something and have the waitress come back and tell me they are out of whatever I ordered.
the fiddler, Mar 21 2006
  

       + I like the idea as I have some health concerns about certain foods containing too much fat or sugar, so this would help out....and some restaurants seem to be out of a lot of things if one arrives too late in the evening.
xandram, Mar 21 2006
  

       k you get a bun as long as you let me touch the menu and it will order it from the kitchen for me without having to call the server.   

       I would also like once I have selected the item to tell me a wine that will go well with it, recomend a desert tell me how many calories I have consumed calculate my tip, let me enter my credit card details and pay for the meal.   

       Now build all of this into the table like the old table top space invader games and we can play some xbox games while we wait for our dinner to arrive,
Braindead, Mar 22 2006
  

       [Braindead], that would be a high class joint indeed.
NotTheSharpestSpoon, Mar 22 2006
  

       This idea sounded a little familiar, especially with the embellishments [Braindead] added. Check out the link. I'm not saying this idea is the same, but it could be a refinement of what [5th Earth} submitted. Still, I'm pressing the "croissant" button, with a pat of fat-free margarine on the side.
Canuck, Mar 22 2006
  

       [DrCurry] I did not realize that practicality was a consideration for ideas here?
jhomrighaus, Mar 27 2006
  

       Yeah, a walnut-cracking-sledgehammer invention would be par for the course around here. Count yourself lucky it's not a 100 MW laser cracking the walnut.
GutPunchLullabies, Mar 27 2006
  
      
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