When you go out to a restaurant the ordering can often be the most stressful part! Mum wants to know every ingredient in the food, daughter wants vegetarian only, son just wants chips and dad wants every meat on the table and the grandparents just cannot decided! A nightmare scenario which can leave anyone feeling less hungry and too stressed!

However there is one solution which as been proven to be a massive hit with customers is the implementation of a self service kiosk in restaurants, and Bytes in Canterbury have done just that!

The restaurant is the brainchild of entrepreneur, Heath Clay, who calls his menu “traditional gourmet foods which are all home-cooked with a modern twist.”

The self service systems allows customers to place their order on 15-inch touchscreens mounted beside their table. The software has been intelligently routed so that drink orders go to the bar and food orders to the kitchen.

Once the order has been placed, the screens offer free games like trivia, solitaire and children’s titles. At present, Internet access is currently under construction.

Robert Kenward tried Bytes when the shop first opened and loved both the food and the experience. He said he has been back with family and colleagues from work, about 10 times.

“I was a little skeptical at first,” he said. “I wasn’t sure about touchscreens in a restaurant. But once we started using them, it became quite enjoyable. The system was very easy to use, and if you make a mistake or select something and then change your mind, it is easy to go back and change your order.”

For Sandra, a busy Canterbury mu, Bytes has proven to be a great place for and her children, thanks to the touchscreen technology.

“We enjoy eating out, and it is nice to go to a restaurant and know that the children will be occupied with something that they enjoy,”she said. “They were getting bored with crayons and pictures that are provided at most other restaurants.”

Clay thought that an important part was to keep the interface clean and simple and not use a complex menu which might not translate well to a touchscreen. The system displays six items per screen with no more than two screens per category (main courses, appetizers, snacks). Large ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ buttons allow patrons to tinker with quantities, viewing their totals along the way. A prominent button in the upper-right corner of the screen alerts the staff if the table needs assistance.

The touch system not only reduces the need for staff, it also builds a large database of customer habits and preferences. Clay has full management and analysis of activity which goes on on the touchscreens.

He can also change the prices, update descriptions and add or remove menu items from his desk and the changes are instantly reflected at every table in the building.  This reduces the costs of reprinting seasonal menus and no more angry customers who place an order only to be told that what they asked for is not available.

Kevin Moll, restaurant consultant and president of National Food Service Advisors Inc said that the owners of Bytes have a good chance of success if they make sure the basics are covered.

“It is an interesting concept,” he said. “Their guests will probably find the touchscreens engaging and different. If they deliver with food quality and if their location is well thought out, yes, they will most likely make it, and probably expand.”

The restaurant so far has had a number of promising responses. When customers hit the ‘Pay’ button at the end of the meal, they are asked a few brief survey questions. Clay said that 75 per cent of customers complete the survey, and more than 90 per cent of them give positive responses.

“My friends and I can’t believe that this the first one of its kind,” said Bytes fan Robert Kenward. “This is has to be the future for restaurants.”