iBite

De Santos restaurant in New York has become the first to use iPads for their ordering and payment systems. The iPads can do everything associated with the day-to-day functions of the restaurant—namely, taking orders, sending them to the kitchen, and paying for the bill—but makes it simpler and much more time- and money-efficient. The customized POS system, which appears as an app on every server's iPad, can access the restaurant's table and seating chart, as well as a full visual menu from the kitchen and the bar. 

"Nowadays in New York City, the menus don't list the entire specifications of each dish," Gonella says. "With this software, you can show them exactly the dish itself and all the specifications for each dish, so people are really buying what they're seeing and there's no more confusion. It's pretty important."

With the entire menu in detail on the iPad, waiters simply choose each item from the library of menu options. Once the order is complete, it's sent wirelessly to the kitchen and bar, where the order is printed out and punched.