In a sit-down restaurant, diners are at the mercy of the server every step of the way, unable to eat or leave without the server's attention.

But national chains like Applebee's and Chili's hope to soon have a server at the ready, perched on every table - a tablet that diners can use to order food, play games (for a fee) and pay or split the bill.

Redwood City startup E La Carte is pushing to have its Presto tablet in front of more diners' hungry faces this year. Its biggest deal, freshly inked, will put 100,000 Presto tablets in Applebee's restaurants nationwide - and they've been at the gargantuan Applebee's on Fisherman's Wharf since September. A rival company, Ziosk, based in Dallas, already has a major deal with Brinker, which operates Chili's and other chains.

Tech at the table is usually viewed as a faux pas. Smartphone addicts may try to send a quick text or e-mail at dinner, but they'll hide it under the table. When dining out, Millennials have been known to stage friendly contests where the first member of the party to take out a phone pays the bill.

But tablets can be more communal, especially when designed for shared activities like dining, said E La Carte founder Rajat Suri.

'Very interactive'

"A phone can be very solitary - it separates you from the rest of the world," he said. "But people can pass the tablet around. People love the games - a couples quiz, like 'The Newlywed Game,' or a game like 'Taboo.' It's all very social, very interactive."

And, as any parent will admit under duress, a tablet game can do wonders to calm a child.

"Unfortunately, we're satisfied with digital devices as a babysitter - but now it's a godsend," said Charlie Ayers, the fast-talking former Google executive chef and an early Presto adopter at his Palo Alto restaurant, Calafia, which is popular with families. "They're not banging a fork on the table and causing holy hell. It has so many purposes that lend itself to a quality way of life."

The tablets' makers say they help customers regain control of the dining experience, adding convenience and saving time. When pitching potential restaurant adopters, they bring up the tablets' other virtues: patrons' bills tend to go up, table turnaround time drops, and customers are more likely to sign up for loyalty programs or complete surveys.

And servers, despite scribbling fewer orders by hand, see higher tips - usually because the tablets suggest a 20 percent tip and do the math for the customer.

"Restaurants that had tips average just about 15 percent before see that go up to just under 20 percent," said Austen Mulinder, CEO of Ziosk.

The ability to order food and pay without needing a server is vital at the Applebee's at Fisherman's Wharf, which is the chain's second-biggest restaurant nationwide.

"I have the servers introduce it as their helper, their assistant," said Greg Flynn, who owns the restaurant. "They say, 'If you can't find me' - and that's meaningful here - 'you can get anything you want off this thing right here.' "

Some customers seem to have missed that message, even though the Presto has been at that Applebee's since September. On the restaurant's Yelp review page, recent customer complaints focused on inattentive waiters, as if they don't know there's another option. Others simply said they don't use the tablets on principle.

'Old school' customers

"After being seated we proceed to order with our waitress instead of the little electric touch screen box that came with our table since we're old school like that," wrote Trishie L. from Pacifica.

The Presto is designed to blend in: Its base is curved "to mirror the visual signature of the plate," Suri said. Many customers still order verbally and use it only to pay the check.

Flynn guessed that about 40 percent don't use it at all.

At Calafia, Ayers guessed that 65 percent of his customers never use it - but said that might be because many of his customers work in tech all day and don't want to see a tablet while they're trying to relax and eat. ("Does a butcher go and eat meat for dinner?" he said. "No, he eats fish.")

Mulinder said Ziosk controls almost all of the tabletop tablet market, though Suri, also a founder of the car-service app Lyft, hopes to catch up eventually.

Both companies are going after nationwide casual dining chains first. Larger companies have more financial flexibility to try new technology, and one big deal can put tens of thousands of new tablets on tables across the country right away. And ordering on a tablet is more of a fit for people interested in getting food and getting on with it than those seeking an evening of romance.

High-end Bay Area restaurants like the French Laundry and Barbacco have been using iPads for several years, but mostly to let customers navigate their vast and ever-changing wine lists, which were once printed daily. But ordering a tasting menu on a tablet may always feel a little off, even for an optimistic businessman.

"Do I think I'm ever going to see a Ziosk in a fine dining restaurant?" Mulinder said. "No."

Game revenue

For now, games are the sticking point. Most of the revenue for the tablet companies comes from the pay-to-play games, both companies said. The companies pitch their hardware as low-cost - though neither would specify the terms of their deals - and say restaurants will eventually pay for the devices with increased customer bills, faster turnover and higher gratuity.

Ayers is optimistic that over time, even hesitant diners will appreciate the convenience of the tabletop tablet.

"The ones that pooh-pooh it quickly find the value of it when my restaurant is busy like no other," he said. "And we're all very curious monkeys. We poke around the menu, see a picture and think, 'Wow, those pork belly buns look amazing.' I'm salivating. I just threw them in my cart. And you can do the same with alcohol. There's no judgment when you order another Chardonnay."
