The Melt

[Toliver]

The article:

"Flip camera inventor turns to high-tech grilled cheese"

Buy a grilled cheese on your smartphone, and you get a QR code to swipe in store when you arrive. The back-end software ensures that you get a piping hot grilled cheese in your hands within 60 seconds of checking in.

He (Jonathan Kaplan) tapped European appliance giant Electrolux to create a brand-new grill with a built-in microwave. It nukes the cheese for 15 seconds, then toasts the bread for another 30 seconds.

Kaplan won't say how much funding he received, but he plans to start more than 500 Melt locations in the next four years. Each store will cost between $500,000 and $1 million. You do the math.

Are there other fast food restaurants taking advantage of new technology in a similar fashion?

Assuming it's a good meal/product, will this influence where you choose to eat your meal?

[ermintrude]

Well have to say if it's cheese melt that it's relying on then it's probably not going to be healthy, and while I may eat one or two a month what is the thinking behind this, selling fat and carbs to people who the majority of the customers are obese by eating fat and carbs does not make sense. |

How stupid is it that in most western countries it's cheaper to buy rubbish food (and look at where food/employment/education subsidy's go) than real food.

[Pierogi]

I saw (or more accurately, heard) a story on one of the local news shows yesterday about a new restaurant in the LA area that had an iPad on each table, and that was how you placed your order. No server coming to the table, you just scrolled and touched the screen.

While it sounded like an interesting concept, the reviews from actual customers were less than stellar. Most tables got their food at radically different times, many customers felt the wait was far too long (it's a burger-type place), and a lot of them said their orders were messed up in same fashion.

The consensus seemed to be it was an idea whose time, perhaps, had not come just yet.

[Moopheus]

The consensus seemed to be it was an idea whose time, perhaps, had not come just yet.

Didn't we learn this back in the paleo-internet days when we had "internet cafes" with terminals for ordering?

There's a local food truck that actually uses an iphone-based ordering system (they have two cooks stations in the truck) and that's just what happens--parts of your order are done at different times, so you're standing around with your falafel waiting for your fries.

The Melt thing sounds like a bad idea right out of the box. He's probably thinking, "they can't make a phone do this!" but just wait. Soon we'll see a droid with a radiant heating element in the back. I mean, it's a microwave transmitter anyway, right? Just crank up the wattage.

[Florida]

I have a feeling "The Melt" will go the way of the Flip camera.

[jsmeeker]

I have a feeling "The Melt" will go the way of the Flip camera.

Cisco is going to buy them?

[Carlton]

I heard the investment was $10 million, enough to start with 20 stores. The article I read the other day was much much less friendly to the idea. Michael Mina is consulting on the menu. There is a lot going into this concept but I really can't see myself even wanting to spend $5 on a grilled cheese sandwich.

I've been very happy with the mobile ordering app from Chipotle. I can order from my iPhone and just have to walk in and pick it up, it's already paid for. I'm pretty sure Starbucks is using QR codes for ordering so this isn't that new or groundbreaking. The worst experience I've had with tech integration at a restaurant was uWink. Took us like 20 minutes to figure out how to order even after having it explained two or three times.

I just hope they decide to have dipping sauces for the sandwiches or Bobby Flay might have a heart attack.