Bottoms Up! Mobile App Takes the Lines Out of Ordering Drinks

Unless you’re a hot young woman in a low-cut top, ordering drinks in a crowded bar can be kind of frustrating. You’ve got to jostle through the crowd and get the bartender’s attention, then wait around for your order to get ready. A rather brilliant app called Coaster takes the irritating parts out of drinks ordering by streamlining the process and making it totally hands-off.

The app works by giving you a menu to choose from on your phone. You pick your liquor and mixers, then submit the order. Your drink order is transmitted to the bartenders and you pay directly from the app. Based on the current lead time at the bar, you get an approximate pick-up time for your drink. A unique code tells the bartender which drink is yours and indicates that you’ve already paid.

Of course, the catch is that the bar you’re drinking at has to be compatible with Coaster in order for you to use the app there. Right now it’s only available in San Francisco, but it’s definitely possible that bars all over the world will be using technology like this to cut down on lines and to keep patrons happily drinking all night.

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See more in Digital Design or under Technology. November, 2012.