Internet Tie Opens New Doors For Waiters On Wheels On-Line Capability Lets Customers Order Meals By Using Personal Computers At Home Or Work
Attention Spokane computer gurus who are too busy geeking out to eat: You can now order your dinner in cyberspace.
Waiters on Wheels, a West Coast delivery service that opened a franchise here in November, took its gig on-line Friday via World Wide Web, a graphic access route to the Internet.
“This way they can have the restaurant delivered right to them hot and ready to eat, without getting off the computer,” said Todd Freeland, operations manager at WOW.
WOW’s 15 roving waiters provide delivery in Spokane County from 13 restaurants. Previously WOW relied on phone and fax orders.
An estimated 1,200 Spokane residents and businesses have Internet access. According to national statistics, the number of Internet users is growing at a rate of 10 percent per month.
After requests arrive at the Spokane office, operators fax orders to restaurants and dispatch waiters. Orders usually arrive within an hour.
Profits come from charging diners regular menu prices on food that WOW receives at 10 percent discount. Restaurateurs recoup the loss because their waiters don’t clean tables or serve food.
Orders have a $10 minimum, with a $5 delivery charge, not counting any tip you might give the driver.
Carry-out patrons may blanche at the steep delivery charge, but for people who work in large offices the cost is justifiable, Freeland said.
“If you pool people from the office, the price is extremely cost-effective when you consider you don’t pay for parking, travel, etc.”
Spokane is one of nine WOW locations in California and Washington that have gone on-line this year via the Internet.
The Internet - the largest on-line communication network in the world - accesses census data, government regulations, consumer files and corporate data. As many as 30 million people have daily access to the Internet, developed 26 years ago by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Anyone who can access World Wide Web already has access to menus from Spokane restaurants, as well as those in Seattle, San Francisco, San Mateo and other cities.
Sunnyside Computing Inc. provides WOW franchises with Internet access. Daniel Whaley, vice president of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, helped develop the software enabling businesses to put catalogs or menus on-line.
Menus are just the beginning of on-line retailing, he said.
“WOW is a test for a larger project we want to do: put every restaurant in the country on-line to provide a general resource on the Internet,” Whaley said.
Although the concept may sound intimidating to the computer illiterate, it’s simple and cheap because WOW handles the high-tech gadgetry from its California headquarters.
Spokane WOW simply provides Sunnyside with menus from participating restaurants. When orders come in via computer, they go directly to Sunnyside, which then faxes requests to Spokane WOW. Spokane operators then fax orders to restaurants.
“All the restaurant needs is a fax. It’s a really high-tech interface to a low-tech system. There’s no building of telecommunications infrastructure for the restaurant,” Whaley said.
No one expects the concept to take off quickly, though.
“I don’t think it will ever outpace the dining-out experience with all the social aspects that go along with it,” said Dennis Guenther, local restaurateur and president of the Restaurant Association of the State of Washington.
“But for what it was designed for - convenience - I think it’s great,” he said. “Computers started out in the financial world, and now they’re getting into everything, including food service. It’s a logical transformation.”
Spokane WOW hasn’t received any on-line orders yet, but Freeland isn’t worried.
“This is just a fantastic idea, but I didn’t expect it to take off today,” he said Friday. “I’m giving it a while to catch on. It may take three weeks before we get our first order.”
xxxx Waiters on Wheels Anyone whose computer dials into World Wide Web via the Internet can access Waiters on Wheels. Within two weeks, menus from all of the following restaurants will be on-line for delivery service: Continental: Finnerty’s Red Lion Barbeque & Sports Bar, O’Murphy’s Steaks & Rotisserie, Tony Roma’s, O’Dohrety’s Irish Grille, Panhandler Pies, Chic-A-Ria Italian: Luigi’s Chinese: New Harbour, Scechuan Restaurant Mexican: Azteca, Papagayo’s Middle Eastern: Azar’s Cafe Seafood: The Otter For more information on Waiters on Wheels, call 325-3500 or fax to 325-3147. To view Spokane menus and those from restaurants in Washington and California, access World Wide Web at http://sunnyside.com/wow