America is way behind the curve here. It's typical for a South Korean restaurant to have a button on the table. The staff will only come over if you press the button.

It's a much more pleasant experience overall.

I was at a restaurant where each table had a QR code printed on it, containing the URL of a webpage where you could order food and drinks for that table. I was there with some friends who didn't notice the QR code. They were quite confused when the waiter came over to give them menus and me my first drink. :)

Actually, many chain restaurants in the US (Chili's, TGIFridays, etc.) now have a tablet at the table. You can do things like order drinks, dessert, etc. without flagging someone down. You can pay with credit cards. There are games for bored kids to play (for a fee, usually, though). I found it rather annoying because of course it has to advertise throughout your whole meal. Luckily there's no sound, but it displays other things you could be ordering. But it is really convenient for getting service more quickly and checking out without hassle.

I feel like those are way over-engineered though. I don't need a whole tablet with games and videos of the specials and the full menu. I just need the equivalent of a flight attendant button. That's it.

Every time I go to a restaurant with one of these ad tablets, I just turn it so that it’s facing away from the rest of the table. I can use it when I want to pay or something, but I don’t have to see all the ads.

all the restaurants in LA's koreatown (and little tokyo, incidentally, because many are korean-owned) have those buttons too.

i'm of mixed opinion--it's good when you want to be left alone to chat with your tablemates, but when you need lots of service, it can be annoying (and make you a little self-conscious). the nice thing is that you can usually still just flag down one of the usually abundant servers (back before lockdown).

Bubba Gump shrimp has signs on the table that say run Forrest run or stop Forrest stop. Simple solution.

brazillian churrascaria rodízios[1] tend to have that too, for when you want more meat, and when you're "taking a break".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod%C3%ADzio

I forget the name, but when I was in college there was a Mexican buffet chain that had a flag on the table if you needed refills, etc. I used to go there with my friends and the flag went up 5 minutes in and never came down.

We ate a lot then. Me and my friends were the terrors of buffet lines all across town ...

That's a nice idea! I found a picture of the dongle you describe in the restaurant's photos: https://goo.gl/maps/H3C9HVxtpfihCntv6

That's the one!