Chicago Business reports today on the Chicago Cut steakhouse in Chicago which is having great success using iPads to help its customers order wine in the restaurant. The upmarket restaurant on the northern bank of the Chicago River is currently using 40 iPads for wine selection purposes. According to Chicago Business, the restaurant joined forces with a technology firm to create a special custom app that looks like a virtual wine cellar. The app lists the restaurant’s 500 plus wines, and features pictures of bottles on wooden shelves. Customers can also use the app’s search engine to select wines based on variety, price or region. The app even goes so far as to provide diners with information on a wine’s taste and composition, as well as a Google map of the actual vineyard that it comes from!

Chicago Cut managing partner David Flom tells Chicago Business that the restaurant is already appreciating the financial benefits of introducing the iPad into the wine ordering process:

“I’ve already seen an increase of wine per customer of 20 percent,” he says. “I can’t say that the iPad commanded 100 percent, but I can say it commanded a significant portion of that.”

And as the article goes on to show, Chicago Cut is just one of many restaurants and bars now integrating the iPad into their businesses.

Source: Restaurants put iPad menus in diners' hands | Consumer | Crain's Chicago Business