When hungry patrons visit The Market House at Jackson Square when it opens in Oak Ridge later this month, they'll be greeted by servers with iPhones not notepads.
Gone are designated point of sale systems where servers go to punch in food and drink orders. Instead, servers will check out an iPhone and take orders in real time tableside.
The twenty-something owners, Dan Tremaine and Bo Shipley, say using this type of technology will prevent staff from misreading their own handwriting or forgetting to ask essential follow-up questions, like how a person wants their steak cooked.
"It's all right there. You can even add pictures of everything," Shipley said. "It's just cool."
As new technologies are developed for smartphones and tablets, more restaurants are flirting with ways to take advantage of opportunities to streamline processes, market directly to customers and ultimately lower costs.
"As far as technology goes, it takes a leap of faith," Tremaine said.
For the owners of the new farm-to-table restaurant, in the former Jackson Square Bistro location, the decision to forego a traditional point of sale system wasn't automatic.
"We considered it and then backed off, looked at other POS systems and then came back to it. Honestly, it was a heck of a lot cheaper," Tremaine added.
Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Greg Adkins said customers can expect to see more restaurants trying to capitalize on a broad range of new technologies that can be used for marketing, loyalty and operations.
"They say that's the next wave," Adkins said of the latter. "It's very cutting edge. But it depends on the type of restaurant it is and the type of experience they want their guests to have."
Dylan Roskop of National Restaurant Properties, which is providing consulting services to The Market House, said it comes down to accuracy and speed.
"With all the technology and software that's being created, it can be a better way to go," Roskop said. "With their system, they will save 3 minutes per table."
Six months ago, the Old City gastro pub Crown and Goose replaced its buzzing pagers with an iPad app that sends a text message to waiting patrons, letting them know when their table is ready.
The No Wait app works much the same way as an old-fashioned, write-your-name-on-a-piece of paper list, when it comes to taking a person's name and the number of people in the party.
But the cloud-based system also prompts the hostess to enter a phone number, giving customers the flexibility to wander nearby, said Gretchen Paxton, the restaurant's marketing and events coordinator.
"It just works wonderfully. They can do their own thing," Paxton said.
The restaurant and pub at 123 S. Central St. doesn't have a large waiting area, so having a wait list management system tied to a person's mobile device provides flexibility. Guests can take a walk or hang out at the bar. It also syncs with its online reservation program, Open Table.
"It's so cutting edge, the patent is still pending," Paxton said.
At nearby Remedy Coffee, an iPad rests behind the counter, where orders are entered and customers pay. It sends them a receipt by text or email.
"If you could do a cash register the right way, this is the way it would look like," owner Sean Alsobrooks said.
Almost one year has passed since Alsobrooks made the decision to switch from a traditional processor to running his business off an iPad with Square, a payment system that allows businesses to accept credit cards on their mobile or tablet device. Nearly 1,500 people in Knoxville are using Square, according to the company.
"It came down to the fees. I got tired every time I got my bill of seeing a swipe fee, a batch processing fee, a card fee," he said.
The move has saved him almost $100 per month.
"It's a beautiful experience," Alsobrooks said. "Square was the first, but I think it's going to become more common."
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