Is the restaurant of the future already here? Various eateries encourage customers to scan a QR code to see the menu, type their orders into a tablet at the table, and even await delivery of their food from a robot server. The appeal of these elements arguably would be enhanced efficiency and accuracy, such that people could be sure to type in whatever menu adjustments they wanted, and they would receive their food quickly. They also seemed particularly effective during the COVID-19 pandemic, by eliminating just one more human interaction that could be contagious.

But diners are tired of it. They have begun voicing their discontent with the cold, impersonal service created by a pervasive reliance on technology. They want actual menus, a restaurant with warm and welcoming décor instead of a computer on their table, and a server who stops to chat and share pleasantries to ensure that their night out is more than just a means to shovel food into their mouths.

Some of these consumer preferences are clear reactions to the limitations imposed on them during the pandemic years. People avoided interpersonal interactions, but humans innately desire such closeness. Restaurants traditionally have offered the ideal site to meet such needs, giving friends a place to gather together and families a location to celebrate one another’s achievements. Even, or perhaps especially, for sole diners feeling lonely in a new city, restaurants can guarantee some human interaction and give people a reason to leave the house.

None of those benefits are available from a robot waiter. Nor do QR codes allow for the kinds of interactions that most people seek when dining with friends. Pulling out a phone to scan the code violates basic etiquette demands that friends stay focused on one another, rather than their devices, when dining together. It also can ruin a well-designed atmosphere. Romantic bistros and richly furnished steakhouses work hard to develop a lighting scheme that creates an appealing setting. A room filled with glowing phone screens can tend to ruin the mood.

Thus, patrons are demanding a return to physical menus, and most restaurants are accommodating those preferences. This reversion has benefits for the restaurants themselves, in that most of them note that diners had shown themselves much less willing to order another round of drinks or dessert if doing so required them to rescan the code to look at a different page on the menu.

But some restaurants have embraced the technology-enabled benefits that the pandemic prompted. For fast-service establishments, no contact ordering can help customers get in and out faster; convenience is the key in these settings. If a restaurant’s clientele and servers speak multiple languages, a QR code can provide instant translations and thus help people try food from different cultures.

Still, the human element seems resistant to change. Restaurants provide not just food but entertainment and diversion. A night out should be enjoyable beyond the food being served. To ensure such enjoyment and engagement, human service providers are still the special du jour.

 

Discussion Questions

1. Do you like using QR codes when you go out to eat? Does your answer change depending on the restaurant?
2. How might restaurants more effectively combine the conveniences of technological tools with the warmth of human servers?

Sources: Kim Severson, “Diners Are Fed Up with Minimal Service. Will a Little Warmth Win Them Back?” The New York Times, May 30, 2023; Amelia Nierenberg, “The QR-Code Menu Is Being Shown the Door,” The New York Times, May 22, 2023