Restaurant Ordering database

[james_IT]

Hi all

I have a friend who owns a restaurant and wants to create an ordering system/database for a restaurant where customers order their own food they have asked me to give them some ideas.

As far as table and relationship design - can anyone suggest anything or give me ideas to start. I was thinking of making a mock/demo database to show them how it might work/look.

The idea is that customers order their own food from a touch screen display next to their table and the order comes through in the kitchen. Therefore im thinking an interactive menu would be good as well as an ongoing bill on one side of the screen.

Can anyone give me some ideas to start brainstorming (especially with table design and relationship...?

Thanks

James

 

[Rabbie]

Any standard ordering db system will give you a basis to start on. Try looking at the Orders form in the Northwind sample DB that comes with Access. It does show a running total for the current order.

 

[james_IT]

I understand what your saying and I have checked out some of those. They give me a rough idea of table arrangement but not sure it suits if customers are ordering themselves. For example, they would like an interactive menu then be able to add that item to the order (like a shopping basket online).

So, If they have tblProducts that would be able to display all the Products and information how could that be added to a list behind the scenes before actually processing an order? Also, they want it possible to keep ordering and adding to the order without having to pay until the end, how is this done?

Also the restaurant would require a different security level. i.e. Be able to access any screen/table, print receipts for any orders and of course reset each table to the next record/order ready for the next customer.

Customer would not enter all their details so essentially the 'customers' will be the table numbers so the tables keep ordering but the customers physically keep changing.

 

[DCrake]

I like the concept of a touch screen at each table, but would that be cost effective? also without any waiter/ess interaction it makes the whole concept of a cosy little meal for two a bit impersonal. You would need the system the tell the customer if the item is available, ask how they would ilke the steak cooking, do they want the fish on or off the bone. No onions please.

To be able to programme all eventualities into the system would be a hard task. What you don't want is the customer having to get the attention of the waiter to say "How do I tell it I don't want carrots?" The waiter would simply end up taking the order manually, which you will need to have the facility to do as a fall back system if the app goes down for some reason.

I am not wanting to pour cold water on your idea but looking at the concept from a pessamistic angle is it actually worth effort. I have done work for the catering industry and these were items that came up. An intellegent EPOS system would be easier and cheaper to implement.

CodeMaster:

 

[james_IT]

Those were my initial thoughts also but they argued that if the user interface was good enough then it should be easy. Also a "notes to the kitchen" box for any notes e.g. "i want the steak medium-rare".

It was also argued that the costs of the system would be outweighed because less staff would be required as it would only be staff taking food to the tables (of which you may only need one or two depending on restaurant size).

I can understand someone's concerns about wanting a cosy romantic meal but with a customizable interface im sure it can be made discrete. It would also stop interruptions from waiters/waitresses and allow the customer to eat and order in their own time.

Of course, this would not be for everybody and definitely wont be for the more expensive/upperclass restaurants but may be ideal for cafes, American style diners such as TGI Friday or even trendy bars etc. It could also be adapted for fast food takeaways and drive-throughs (which would cut down on the staff required taking orders...

Anyway, theyve asked me to show them what can be done so if anyone could throw some ideas my way I would greatly appreciate this. (perhaps this thread needs to be moved to general)

Thanks

 

[DCrake]

Your starting point for this app is the menu itself. Try and recreate this on screen. If you are using a touch screen then have pictures of the meals to click on. As each table will have its own terminal then you do not need to key in the table number as this will be picked up in the program in the same way you can get the name of the computer. Simply name the terminals, Table1, Table2, etc.

Also you need to consider how big the screen size will be as you will need different sections.

The main food ordering section.
The list of currently selected items - this may differ if you are running an ala carte or table Dote menu.

Small section for kitchen comments.

Section to show billing amount.

You will also need the facility to be able to de-select an item from the list.

Also when the customer click on a menu item it would be good if a more detailed explanation of the meal and its contents is displayed on screen.

Another feature would be to have an alerts ribbon whereby if a meal contains nuts a pic or a nut appears on the ribbon. This would alert the customer to any recognised food alergies. Likewise if the selected meal was suitable for veggies then a wheat stalk would appear.

Everything needs to be visual.

Finally you need a "Bill Please" button so that the user can attract the attention of the staff.

CodeMaster:

 

[neileg]

This simply can't be a real world application. The tone of james_IT postings makes me strongly suspect this is an assignment.

But, hey, it's a way of finding out how to build a good user interface.

Best of luck!

 

[james_IT]

This simply can't be a real world application. The tone of james_IT postings makes me strongly suspect this is an assignment.

But, hey, it's a way of finding out how to build a good user interface.

Best of luck!

Hi Neil

Im not sure what you mean by my tone? This is not yet an assignment but we were asked by friends of ours to help them throw some ideas together. They own restaurants and saw that someone has done something similar in the U.S. that they liked and wanted to try to look into. They wanted to see if it was possible to create (or at least make a mock version) of what we could expect using MS Access before investing thousands into a bespoke program or developer.

You are right, this is a good exercise on building a good user interface.

James

 

[neileg]

I didn't mean to offend. It's just that you don't seem to know much about designing an application and I can't imagine anyone using Access for something which is real time critical to a business.

I would have though that much of the effort put into an Access mock up would be wasted if you were going to use a more robust dbms as the eventual platform. But it's your choice!

 

[Aidanb]

Hi there,

Little unsure if this post is gone or if origonal poster is checking still but there are many systems on the market that offer this type of functionality in fact designed and worked with programmers to create one.

as for the steak cooking method we used pop up boxes to which had the cooking method of blue, rare etc put in once pressed the method was then added to the steak if you are wanting information on where this system can be purchased from or want little ideas and tips on what needs to be added in then please private message me on the subject on here have 13 years catering experiance by the way.

other neat functions can be added in such as sms ordering.

Regards

Aidanb