That's because the order goes directly from your fingertips to the kitchen or bar, eliminating the possibility of human error during the transaction process.

Whew! Now all we need is a Loogie-free™, error free cooking process, and we'll be back to the automats of yesteryear.

Everything old >IS< new again.

@mercurypdx: Damn, you beat me to it. I was just thinking "automat."

Sadly, this will not cut down on the incidence of customer complaints, because of the people who will insist that it's the restaurant's fault they ordered the wrong thing.

@CumaeanSibyl: ;)

Oftentimes I contemplate HOW to order something to ensure I get it the way I want it. Take burgers for example. I don't like Mayo/Mustard/Ketchup because it tends to be put on at "Carl's Jr." amounts. I also don't like pickles or tomatoes, but will sacrifice all the 'greenery' just to make sure it comes out OK.

Out here, this type of burger is referred to as Plain and Dry at most any drive-thru you go to, and is easier than: No Mayo, No Ketchup, No Mustard, No tomato, no pickles.

Every so often "Bacon Cheeseburger, plain and dry" gets me just a hamburger minus the cheese and bacon as well.

In short: I, for one, welcome our digital food order taking overlords.

I once ordered a "double cheeseburger with only cheese on it" and the McDonalds employee gave me cheese on a bun, no meat.

Old news for Wawa. They have had this for like 5 years.

@Alvis: And to think my advice to CumaeanSbyl was to be mostly what you tried!

I don't need no WaWa.

Sheets has this too. Pretty cool if you like to eat gas station food.

mmm Wawa..Best mini mart ever.

WAWA is awesome!

WAWA has had touch screens for ordering since at least 2000.

Yay Wawa! I'm moving to Philly next month, and the addition of Wawa to my life is definitely a plus.

@manok: Not bad for gas station food, though. I used to love smoking their "Jacks" cigarettes.

What the heck is Wawa?

@swalve: A Convenience/Food/Gas station on the mid-East coast.

[wawa.com]

@manok:
Oh, I love Sheetz. I grew up in Altoona, PA the hometown of Sheetz. I think they implemented touchscreens for their subs/nachos/salads/burgers/&c. more than 10 years ago. I was in High School and thought it was quite rad. In some areas (East by Philly) Wawa finds itself in direct competition with Sheetz. I'm not surprised they've implemented the technology too.

McD desperately needs this.
When I order a quarter pounder [only when they're on sale] it's always the same: a quarter ham [McD's official terminology for a quarter pounder without cheese], no cheese, no onions, extra pickle, the response is: a quarter cheese, extra onions, no pickles.
The average McDonald's worker has the IQ smaller than their shoe size!

Yeah, Wawa has had this for years, at least.

Sadly, there are no Wawas in the south (GA). I miss their coffee.

Hey now. Wawa is the best convenience store around here, they seriously moved forward with healthy delicious food (wraps, salads) and all the flavored coffee in the rainbow.

They've had touch screens for over a year, at least, btw. Only thing I don't like about them is that they don't show the price as you're picking your sandwich choices.

Yes, Wawa has had touchscreens for at least 5 years. I first saw them in South Jersey in 2002.

<3 wawa... their food is like crack. you can't break the habit.

@mercurypdx: On another customer-oriented site I read, a young woman told the story of ordering "a bacon cheeseburger with only lettuce" and receiving... a leaf of lettuce. On a plate.

Then someone who'd worked at McDonald's once was all THAT IS HOW EVERYBODY DOES IT, and all the fast-food workers lined up to beat her about the head. It was good times.

My roommate discovered the touch screens at Sheets-To-Go last fall and became obsessed with going there whenever possible. (We don't have a lot of Sheets locations in our immediate area.) I went there once with him and got a cheeseburger. It was okay.

I really wish automats were still around. Ordering a cheeseburger from a computer is one thing. But ordering mac and cheese from one? THAT sounds nifty.

@Propaniac: WaWa has GREAT mac and cheese...which can be ordered on the touchscreen.

The sad thing about the Wawa computerized system is there's no web interface. I mean, how hard would it be to slap a web front-end on that thing so I could order before I leave?

Arby's tried this 10+ years ago at a few stores and removed it. I do remember using them and it had a decent interface, but don't remember why they removed the system.

Sheetz has had this for a long, long, (long, long, long) time.

If they opened a Wawa in New York City I would break my lease and pay double my current rent to go live next to it.

@sleze69: Ten years. Wawa had them for ten years now, because I remember going to one during college ten years ago and using it to order.

The concept is old, though. A cafe was highlighted in Antic Magazine on their use of Atari 800's and joysticks to order food. It would go to another Atari in the kitchen.

I'm in Jersey now, so a Wawa is never more than fifteen minutes away, but I spent my last seven years in Baltimore. Maryland is NOT the place to be for a Wawa fan. I had to drive half an hour, each way, to get to the closest Wawa out by the docks in Dundalk. Still, back when they had the ready-to-go chicken pesto wraps, I couldn't resist making the trip.

There used to be a Wawa at the intersection between mainland NJ and the road to the island of Avalon for as long as I can remember. After this past summer, it got bought out, was painted white, and turned into a doctor's office. Sure, there's still another Wawa on the island, just over a mile away, but that's a sad way for a Wawa to die. It even still looks like one, since they haven't remodeled the exterior aside from the paint job.

Hate to say it, but that's what Wawa gets for discontinuing my chicken pesto wrap.

WaWa still screws up my orders!

I still love them though.