Welcome to Applebee’s. My Name Is Tablet. May I Take Your Order?

Waiting for someone to take your restaurant order or trying to flag somebody down to get your check at the end of a meal is about to become so 2013 at Applebee’s.

The casual dining chain will have tablets at every table by the end of 2014, allowing customers to order from the touchscreen menu and swipe their credit cards to settle up after they’re done.

This is no small task. Applebee’s parent DineEquity (DIN) is ordering 100,000 tablets for its eateries. Traditionalists looking for a more conventional dining experience are always welcome to lean on the wait staff to place their orders or pay up at the end, but the technology will be there for those who want to use it.

Everybody Loves Tablets

Applebee’s move should pay off in several ways.

For starters, eliminating the time it takes to flag down wait staff for orders or checks will help turn tables faster. That’s huge for restaurants with a limited number of seats during peak dining periods. Customers will benefit from the shorter waits, and the restaurant won’t have to worry about losing patrons who head elsewhere if the wait’s too long.

It also improves customers’ perception about the length of the dining experience. If coworkers are debating where to go to grab a quick lunch, Applebee’s suddenly becomes a more viable option alongside the “fast casual” chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and Panera Bread (PNRA) that have been growing in popularity.

There’s also the “fun” factor. If Applebee’s incorporates games and other diversions into the interface it can create a better experience for families. And it’s not without precedent. The now defunct uWink in California was letting diners order on touchscreen tablets and play games long before the iPad was even introduced. Most major cities already have a couple of tech-minded indie restaurants using tablets for more than just digitized wine lists.

There’s also the potential of cost savings for the restaurant operator, but don’t say that too loudly.

Servers Get Served

Automating the ordering and transaction process would seem to open the door for Applebee’s to scale back on the number of its employees. At a time when health care reform and the push for restaurant staff to be paid a living wage are making it more expensive to staff a business, cynics will argue that Applebee’s push for automation is simply a backdoor move toward a future with fewer servers.

Applebee’s says it doesn’t see it that way.

“This really isn’t a labor play,” DineEquity CEO Julia Stewart insisted on CNBC, explaining that every table will still have a food server. “It’s not about saving labor. This is really about creating an opportunity to talk to our guest, have an interactive conversation with our guest, and give our guest a lot more opportunities.”