Has Technology Enriched or Ruined the Restaurant Experience?

If you’ve dined out lately, chances are that you’re one of two people. You’re either the person shaking your head because service has slowed down due to the amount of people paying closer attention to their phones than the server, or you’re the person on your phone. It doesn’t matter if you’re deeply entranced by a rousing game of Trivia Crack or if you’re simply texting your dinner date who is running late, the phone you’re using is a polarizing little piece of technology.

Asking a server about customers using cell phones will elicit a passionate response, if not a personal diatribe about technology ruining culture. Restaurant workers maintain that customers are so into their phones that they rarely pay attention to those who approach their table to converse with them. They will even go so far as to say that cell phone users are the reason for slow service both in the front and the back of the house.

The basis of the accusation comes from how much less attentive diners have become in restaurants, so much so that servers spend more time trying to get the attention of their customers than taking an order. Customers have become oblivious to the world around them when using their phones that they fail to realize that a server is standing at their table, awaiting their order. These tend to be the same people that complain when their food comes out incorrectly.

So, have people really become less attentive or are we simply becoming better at multi-tasking? Either way you slice it, the dining experience has changed. There is less conversation at dinner tables across the world, and not just in public. The dining room table is no longer the place to discuss our days with our family and smart phones are a constant presence.

It’s probably true that smart phones have changed the concept of conversations in the world, but are they the enemy we make them out to be? With apps like Open Table, Grub Hub, Yelp, and Where to Eat, smart phones have actually revolutionized the dining experience. So, where does the transition happen between convenience and nuisance?

Open Table allows users to make reservations at nearly 20,000 restaurants across the country, all from an app on a phone. By inputting your party size, time, and date, users are able to select what table they’d like and it allows for confirmation. Cell phones have actually found a way to eliminate the lost or forgotten reservation at busy restaurants.

Where to Eat provides a list of best nearby restaurants, and also has a feature that will randomize the search with a shake of the phone. The guessing game and agreeing on a restaurant is made easier with the advent of this application.

Yelp is the ultimate review site, allowing former and present diners to rate the restaurant. It also has the option to link menu photos while writing a rave or scathing review of the dining experience. Yelp also provides restaurant hours, phone numbers, and addresses for easy location.

GrubHub is the takeout lover’s, allowing app holders to create a takeout order, place it online, and select delivery or pickup. With the option to save credit cards within the app, it makes it easy to place and save a favorite order. It also shows a list of local delivery spots for added convenience.

There are also a plethora of apps available for download on both iPhone and Android systems that make the dining experience a little easier. With the amount of food-related restrictions multiplying, it makes sense that vegans, those with nut allergies, and gluten sensitive people should be able to find locations that cater to their needs. There’s an app for that!

Perhaps limitation on usage of phones inside the restaurant is the answer, but is forcing people to shut down really the answer? The amount of professionals that conduct their business on the phone has increased exponentially in the past couple of years, so can we honestly take that option away? It’s impossible to prohibit working lunches and schmoozing dinners, so is it possible to wholly take away the option.

The debate about cell phone usage will most likely be a hot-button issue until some newer technology emerges, and it is indeed a polarizing debate. So the question remains, are cell phones the bane of our existence or a necessary evil when it comes to the ultimate dining experience?