The food service industry, like many others, has seen a clear development over the last few decades, not only in technological terms. The very form of organization of the restaurant business or the way customers can order the meals has also changed.
The operation of gastronomic facilities – several decades ago
The 60s, 70s or 80s were characterized by a completely different view on many everyday life issues than it is today. In less developed countries or cities, restaurants were not seen very often, and if so, they were usually traditional milk bars, offering a very limited menu. On the one hand, it had its charm – many people recall with undisguised pleasure the moments when in this type of place one spent time primarily meeting with friends rather than eating. On the other hand, however, having the opportunity to compare the present times and the flourishing of gastronomy, certainly few would like to go back to those decades.
People who remember and experienced how restaurants functioned several decades ago can undoubtedly notice a lot of differences in the way food is ordered. At that time there were no such facilities as the Food Ordering System – digital boards with full menus or prices. Customers usually had at their disposal a limited number of ordinary sheets of paper with specified dishes. While comparing the style of gastronomic facilities from those years to the present day makes it would not be an exaggeration to say that these are two completely different worlds.
Media as a driving force in the development of gastronomy
In the middle of the twentieth century, when gastronomy was only just emerging, no one could even think of a different way of ordering food than verbally handing over the order. Although in more developed countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, the development of restaurants was much faster than, for example, in Poland or other Eastern European countries. The disproportions between the present and those times are drastically large. When going to the restaurant to have dinner with family or friends, it hardly ever occurred to anyone that there will be at least several dozen dishes to choose from, divided into different types of courses.
When the telephones were not so popular and the television did not even function, the news about the activities of the restaurants was reported in the press, and often also through the grapevine. People learned about the places where they could eat, from friends or even strangers. They often came across such places by accident, without knowing about them beforehand. Therefore, it cannot be denied that apart from the very development of gastronomy and the way meals were served, the media and technological development had a great influence on improving this sector. Very similar conclusions can be drawn nowadays.
The perspective of the next years in the context of gastronomy
Later on, as technology began to appear in the everyday life of people around the world, the way we order meals also changed. Over time, popular table bells were abandoned as well as the need to speak with the waiters in the restaurant. With the development of telecommunications systems, more and more people decided to use mobile communication to inform the restaurant about their order. This was the case with both individual and mass orders for companies and organizations. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that with the advances in civilization, characterized by the improvement of living conditions in virtually every field, the development of mobility in the food service has also been noted.
Nowadays, when online meal ordering is absolutely normal and the use of the Food Ordering System by restaurants is the foundation of their business, it is hard to imagine the times when this process will be even more efficient. However, the same could be said about the period from a few decades ago – having no idea what would happen in the following years, people could not even imagine that the world would develop so much and so quickly. Nowadays, it can be assumed that since this lack of knowledge “led” to the current level of technology, in a dozen or so years’ time we will be even more surprised when it comes to
