There’s only one thing worse than having to queue for drinks at a very busy bar, and that’s being somewhere with table service, where failing to catch the waiter’s attention, you start wondering whether you should give up or go and queue for to get your drink instead. Neither version sounds like an attractive way to spend your afternoon or an evening off.
Fortunately, there is a good answer to this – the Robot Pub Group’s first London residence, The Thirsty Bear in Waterloo. It came up with an ingenious solution, so simple and stylish that you almost wish you thought of it yourself.
Computerised screens on each table allow you to place orders for food and drinks; to surf the internet; to select tracks on the bar’s Jukebox and to do something you possibly didn’t think of, buy beer that you can then instantly dispense from the tap on your table.
The food options include homemade soups, slow-cooked BBQ ribs, sliders, fresh beer-battered haddock and the drinks menu, fortunately extends beyond the average beer into a growing cocktail list.
The Thirsty Bear is the first touchscreen-operated bar, in London.
That way, in 40 years – when every bar, restaurant and shop works just like this – you’ll have a story to tell the grandchildren about the first one you ever visited in London.
We like queuing, but I would be happy without queues.