Are the days of crabby
waitresses numbered?

Restaurants in Europe, the US and Japan are testing a technology that allows customers to order from a touchscreen at tables instead of from a fellow human being.

Companies marketing the so-called e-menu, like Israel-based Conceptic, claim the system cuts costs and stirs the tendency to impulse buy, reports Reuters.

Slick images of delicious dinners and desserts will reportedly lure customers into buying more.
A sushi restaurant in Tel Aviv claims sales on e-menu tables jumped 11 percent.

Loath to be left behind, Microsoft is getting in on the act with Surface, a table lets people order food and play music and games. Surface appears in US hotels and casinos this spring.