One Tree Grill Restaurant Introduces iPad menus

One of the top Auckland restaurants, One Tree Grill, have developed a new iPad menu app which displays photos of each item on the menu, along with suggested drinks pairing. Diners at the restaurant will be able to view their food and drinks direct from the iPad menu given to them at their table, then order from the wait staff as per usual. This means that the iPad menu will not retract the jobs of wait staff, but is instead a complement to the wait staff. This idea was first thought of by the owner of One Tree Grill, Guy Malyon.

The idea for an iPad menu was first discussed back in 2012, and after two years of trialing various features, the menus are now permanently on display for diners at the Auckland restaurant. 40 iPad minis are available for diners to use, while regular sized iPads are used at the bar because of its larger screen.

Malyon describes the process as exciting but equally terrifying.

“We wanted to embrace the new technologies available and explore the idea of iPad menus but couldn’t find anything on the market, so we decided to enlist the help of developers to build one for ourselves.

In the beginning we were a little hesitant about how customers would react but we have been delighted with the reaction so far, everyone seems to love the app. Even the table of 80+ year old Grammar school boys reunion starting using it without any questions, and people love to see a visual as well as a description when they are choosing their meal.’’

Malyon also says that their visual images have to be accurate as well.

“This means that if there are 5 prawns on the actual dish, there will be exactly 5 prawns on the iPad menu’s image.”

As for how the traditional waiters fit into this new frontier, their wait staff are still and important part of the restaurant.

‘’Our wait staff remain an important part of our business and are still on hand for any questions customers have about menu options. We made it very clear from the beginning that we didn’t want the new iPad menus to diminish the part our wait staff, but rather add to the customer experience.’’

Malyon and the team at One Tree Grill are always thinking up new ideas and developments for the restaurant and are currently working on a new electronic voucher system where customers can easily buy gift vouchers and special offers online but more importantly, business owners can have a digital system that manages the process, integrates with all their marketing touchpoints and reports on its performance.

When asked about how much it costed them to design, develop and implement these new iPad menus, Malyon said it had costed around $200k, including all testing to be done.

He also said that the integrated iPad menus are more of a “sales tool” than a replacement to their “POS system”. Whenever they change a menu item on the iPad’s menu, that automatically updates the menu on other sources such as their website, as well.

I look forward to testing out One Tree Grill’s new iPad menu very soon!

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