Computerized tableside waiters

I haven't been to one of these new restaurants, but can't wait to try it out. Instead of waiters running back and forth taking orders, some restaurants are turning to technology to help them and also make the consumer's experience more interesting. Several restaurants such as Arigato Japanese Steakhouse in the Tampa Bay area, are using wireless technology to take orders, ask for refills and pay by credit cards all at the table. Bars, restaurants and car rental agencies have used similar technologies earlier, especially in Europe where a tableside waiter is quite common, the concept is still quite new to the US due to high costs of implementation.

"It took a lot of training, but it frees our servers to spend far more time in the dining room tending to customers," said Danielle Del Bello, vice president of marketing for the family-owned restaurant company with stores in St. Petersburg and Clearwater and plans to reopen a fire-damaged location in Tampa this summer.