Arooga’s To Use Self-Service Table Tablets in Restaurants

HARRISBURG, Penn.— Arooga's Grille House & Sports Bar plans to use tablets equipped with apps to entertain, attract, delight and engage customers.

The tablet service, loaded with Buzztime software, enables diners to view menus that include photos, descriptions and prices of all Arooga's available menu items. It also offers trivia, cards, arcade and sports games.

Arooga's has already launched Buzztime's self-service dining at two locations in Shippensburg and Hershey, Pennsylvania in early May. An additional eight Arooga's Central Pennsylvania based locations are expected to follow by early summer. Arooga's has nine corporate locations in Central Pennsylvania and it says it has an additional 28 locations that have signed franchise contracts.

The menu display of the tableside tablet can change over the course of the day. Diners can customize their order, such as requesting a side substitution of beer battered onion rings or a gluten-free bun for their burger. For added convenience, tablets provide the option of ordering more drinks or dessert as well paying their bills without needing the server. Just like before, each guest will be given his or her own tablet to play games, which means they can avoid cumbersome "menu sharing."

"We've said from day one that Arooga's will excel in every aspect of our business to be the industry's next superstar," added Gary Huether, Jr., Arooga's president. "This awesome new feature is just one more way that we are optimizing the guest experience."

Bob Cooney, Buzztime's chief product officer added, "Just as you wouldn't expect a party of six to share one menu, we don't force guests to share a single tablet to order food and play games." Cooney explained that an entire table can collaboratively change orders through multiple tablets before sending it to the kitchen. "Patrons who have ordered an alcoholic beverage with a server also have the liberty of reordering drinks through the tablets, so they never need to wait to order the second round of beer." By connecting through locations' POS systems, the company states that the tablets are designed to deliver shorter guest wait time, higher check averages, increased revenue, faster check processing and improved payment security.