You’re at a restaurant and you’ve sat at your table, but no staff member comes to take your order no matter how long you wait. There’s no one around loudly calling for a waiter, so what should you do? Should you wait patiently or go to the counter to place your order? Many people have experienced this situation when traveling to Japan. In Japanese restaurants, you often find a small buzzer placed on the table.
When you need assistance, you simply press the buzzer. The restaurant staff has a system to identify which table called for them. Recently, some restaurants have started using tablet devices instead of buzzers. These tablets not only allow you to place orders for food and drinks but also have a function to call a waiter. It’s convenient because you don’t have to wait until a staff member passes by; it’s a very efficient system. So, instead of loudly saying, “Hey, can I order?” and getting laughed at with a response like, “Please use that button over there,” when you enter a restaurant in Japan, your first step should be to look for the buzzer.
