Futuristic Dining - The Most High Tech Restaurants You've Ever Seen

Technology is making its way into restaurants — even though the hospitality arena has been slow to adapt in previous years, it is quickly catching up to the rest of the industries using high-tech gadgets. Now restaurants are using technology such as E-Table, robots and tablets.

Some restaurants in New York City grow fresh vegetables and fruits on the rooftops, which are then harvested and sent down to the kitchen. A vertical planting system and pulley help staff grow and pick the vegetables, which are then served to customers in the restaurant.

Restaurants are also adding phone orders — but not the kind where you call in. Order your lunch on your phone, then swipe the order when you pick up your meal, all via a customized QR code.

The one that takes the cake is a London restaurant, Inamo, which features the E-Table. Two students came up with the idea of E-Table when they were trying to catch the waiter’s eye so he would bring the bill. The students came up with an interactive touch-screen table that allows customers to order, ask for another drink, ask for the bill and even bring up bus and train maps and local points of interest.

When customers bring up a menu item, a projector displays the image onto the plate in front of them. The price and options are also shown. Basically, a customer can create his or her own meal without the help of wait staff. Once a customer orders, he or she can touch the screen again to order a drink refill or another drink, and ask for the bill — all without having to flag down wait staff.

“With E-Table, each customer uses a touch-sensitive panel to interact with the system projected from above onto their table surface. You can order when you want, get your bill when you want and call a waiter at the touch of a button,” says Hazel Davis of The Telegraph.

Another restaurant using high tech is Hajime Robot Restaurant in Bangkok. Customers sit behind a glass enclosure while robots work on tracks, serving over 100 Japanese dishes. The robots can dance along to music and make expressions and gestures. The restaurant also uses two robots to help prepare food.

4Food in New York City uses iPads to help customers order. The customer picks a burger and fillings and toppings for the burger. This helps make customer decisions easier — and keeps the orders coming in faster.

At ’s Baggers in Nuremberg, Germany, everything is automated. Food and drink are delivered via rails that are connected to the kitchen floor. Customers order via a touch screen tablet at the table. The only thing not automated are the cooks that prepare the food.

Look for restaurants to feature more technology in the near future. Anything from making ordering easier to getting a quick turnover is fair game — maybe you’ll be using touch screens or maybe you’ll be conversing with a robot.