It all started on a recent trip to Hawaii in 2021.  The island experience was absolutely amazing and we had the opportunity to explore incredible sites as well as spend our evenings trying out a variety of different restaurants.  One of our highlights was stopping at local pizza and pasta restaurant.  You know what they say...when in Hawaii, try the Italian!  The food was great and the staff were friendly and helpful, however they were incredibly busy and appeared to be a bit overwhelmed with all of the guests.   We went through timeless struggle of balancing our desire for a refill on water with feeling like we were inconveniencing our server that already appeared to be so busy assisting other guests.  I felt like all of my attention was focused on trying to catch my server's eye so I could let them know what we needed.  It was frustrating for me since I knew that our server was doing the absolute best that they could.  It was in that moment that we envisioned a way to let our server know what we needed without having to say a word. 

 

We looked around and saw almost every single table in the busy restaurant had someone either on their phone or a phone resting on the table.  If only there was a way to use your phone to communicate quickly and efficiently with restaurant staff about what you need.  We thought through several different ideas and finally landed on one of the universal signals that everyone can immediately recognize.  Everyone knows the simple concept of stoplight and what those three colors represent.  We took that idea and talked about how easy it would be to have guests show restaurant staff what they need based on that basic concept.  A GREEN tells your staff that the guest is all good and doesn't need anything. YELLOW indicates that the guest is ready to order. RED means that there may be an issue that the guest needs to be addresses. BLUE lets your staff know that the guest would like a refill. WHITE shows that the guest is finished and ready for the bill.  Simple, efficient and so easy to use. 

 

So far the response from restaurant managers, staff and guests has been overwhelming positive. We recently went out to a beautiful little restaurant in Del Mar.  The service staff were attentive and amazing, however we noticed that sitting next to us was an individual dining alone.  I noticed that they were spending quite a bit of time deciding what they wanted to order.  It stood out to me because their server came to the table three separate times asking if they were ready to order.  They politely declined each time saying that they needed a little bit more time.  The attention from staff was remarkable, but at the same time all we could think was that there was just a level of inefficiency.  Every time the server stopped to ask about ordering was time being taken away from the other guests.  If the guest was using Stoplight Service they could have easily left the screen on GREEN until they were ready to order, and then simply switched it to YELLOW to let their server know they were ready.  Once the order was made switch back to GREEN and continue on.

 

The best part is that it takes just a few moments to implement even if the restaurant you are in doesn't actively use it.  Just tell your server you are using the app to help communicate what you need and then take away the annoyance or anxiety of trying to communicate with your server.  Our sincere hope is that our little app can help to make the dining experience better for both guests and servers.  We appreciate all of our users feedback and wish you all the very best on your next dining adventure.