- physical menus are hard to update
- physical menus are often too simple, requiring asking the server questions they've answered a dozen times before already, hurting their efficiency, or they are book-sized and hard to navigate.
- physical menus aren't cleaned between uses, so you're touching everything the server touched, and the three people before you.
- physical menus don't scale: if the restaurant is busy, you might have to share.
- physical menus require more human time for the host/server to provide them to you.
- physical menus aren't searchable.
- Difficulty scanning the QR code *will* get better over time, obviously.
- Having to take turns is a user issue: it ignores how QR codes work (you don't have to be that close) and people will get used to it.
- (edit to add) issues with divvying up the bill are software issues that will get better over time if demand is there. Does the author really think getting the server to split the bill is easier?
- Having "a doorman" means having someone less than 1/4th of the time, or staffing 5 people (more like 6 since with 5 someone has to schedule/supervise).
- When the doorman takes a break, no one gets in?
- Some doormen go above and beyond, and are truly a joy to have around. Others are less so. Counting on the doorman being awesome is unfair to doormen in general.
- An automated system is on 24/7 -- maybe not in the early days, technology isn't perfect, but how many people here remember the early days of cell phones, when you *called support to get refunds for dropped calls*?
- An automated system can add or remove people from the authorized list easily and remotely, and not make mistakes.