Jason’s Deli and Blue Lemon are two resaraunt who have recently started testing RFID technology to help track and expedite food orders, according to Nation’s Resaraunt News.

Employees taking orders at the sales counter provide customers with an RFID device resembling a drink coaster. The employee also enters the identification number on the device into the point-of-sale (POS) system that correlates to the transaction number on order tickets at the expeditor station.

An RFID reader installed under each table detects the RFID coaster when placed down and the table number information is then relayed to a computer at the order expeditor station. The food runner looks for an RFID device ID number on the order ticket and aligns it with the location information for that device to determine where the food should be delivered.

Previously, restaraunts delivered food to tables by having runners search for numbered placards or tents given to guests at the time they ordered. With some help from RFID technology, knowing the customer’s destination as they leave the expo station eliminates the need for food runners to visually scan the dining room for placards or tents or call out numbers to complete the delivery, thereby speeding up the process.

Read more here.