Gratuitous Technology

Americans are obsessed with saving time, but there are some things we still haven't streamlined. Like sit-down dining. In many restaurants in Europe, a waiter brings the check along with a panini-size wireless device, and customers swipe their own credit cards. It's a rare example of the world's outpacing the land that invented the drive-through. Now American eateries are starting to play catch-up. National chains like Hooters and Legal Sea Foods have been experimenting with wireless credit-card readers for months. Legal Sea Foods aims to be entirely pay-at-table by 2009. B.R. Guest Restaurants, owner of 17 upscale eateries in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas, recently launched its own pilot program. By next year, says Tanya Steele, editor of Epicurious.com, "I think you'll see them at mid- and even high-end restaurants."

Economically, it's a no-brainer. European data show that the scanners actually increase tips by 9 percent, because preset tip buttons ensure that servers aren't shorted by sloppy math. Pay-at-table technology also saves time by eliminating extra trips to the register. Another benefit of scanners: they reduce the risk of identity theft. "The restaurant business is one of the only industries left where a person takes your credit card and disappears," says Roger Berkowitz, president of Legal Sea Foods. There is a lingering etiquette issue, though: when do you tip? In Europe, service is included. But here, deciding on a gratuity while a waiter hovers nearby to take back the scanner could make customers feel rushed. "The key is, no awkward moment," says Grant Drummond, marketing communications director for Toronto-based Ingenico, a leading manufacturer of wireless-pay technology. "Servers should give a little spiel about how the device works, and then walk away." If only those machines could pick up the tab, too.

© 2008