The New York Times wrote about a restaurant using an iPad to show case its wine list. With better ways of sorting the wines and helping diners find a good one to accompany their meal, wine sales have increased 11 percent.

It’ll probably be a long time before menus are replaced with tablet devices, since they’re too expensive to have enough for menus (tablet menus for a table for four would cost ~$1,200). But I don’t see a reason why the waitstaff can’t have them. It’d be a nice way to enhance service, as the waiter could refer to the tablet for specials, double-check items for certain food allergens (e.g. peanuts) and send the exact order to the kitchen.

Taking this a step further, I wonder how long it will be before the majority of restaurants have a computer screen at each table that you can use to place your order. You could see a picture of each item, perhaps its nutritional information and order when you’re ready to order. The restaurant would only need a handful of servers just to bring the food out. If the patron needs water, for example, they would only have to enter it in the system rather than flag down a waiter.

Going back to the restaurant using the iPads, that’s an expensive investment ($499 each in the story) to sell some wine (which I know carries a hefty mark-up at restaurants). I wonder why they didn’t buy a cheaper tablet device, since I doubt the iPad is being used for any other function. Sort of a waste of a gadget capable of so much more, and the risk of a patron spilling onto it or dropping it could be a concern.

Lastly, I doubt we’ll see them in Madison-area restaurants anytime soon. Disagree?