Booths with iPads, waiting area of MSP

Traveling acquaints us with what’s up and coming, so we were fascinated with the new (well, about a year and a half old) Terminal G in the Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport (MSP).  Filled with booths and tables rather than rows of seating, the waiting areas are outfitted with iPads for travel convenience – already downloaded with today’s edition of USA Today, numerous gaming apps, and reports on everything from weather to airline delays.

We checked one of the screens to make sure we had ample time for breakfast before departing for Spokane.

iPads at counters in Terminal G of MSP let you check on flight status, weather, etc.

We seated ourselves on barstools at Twinburger only to be faced with more iPads, this time loaded with menus offering everything from beer to burgers and then some.  Ordering from an iPad was a new experience for us, but we took to it rapidly.

Twinburger counter at MSP with big screen TVs overhead, iPads for ordering on the counter

Most people were involved with more than one device be it iPad, iPhone, laptop, or something else.  And then there were Hoda and Kathie Lee on the big screen!  A real techie morning!

Surrounded by tech — breakfast at MSP!

If you want to order breakfast, you swoosh the screen side to side to see what’s available.  Then tap your choice.  It all collects in a “cart” similar to the ones we use with online ordering at Amazon or J. Jill or Eddie Bauer.  It even adds a tip — a convenience that may cost you more than you had intended giving, but nevertheless an expedient operation.

Ordering from an iPad at MSP — Yes, you can order beer, if you want! Just swipe and tally!

And then you swipe your card.  Just like that, the whole process is done.  Complete.  Breakfast is on its way.

Just swipe card here, and breakfast is served!

With a long layover, we lingered at the bar and watched the chef cook more dishes ordered from iPads:  egg white omelets, stuffed French toast, doughnut burgers.  You read that correctly: doughnut burgers – a red meat concoction between two slices of a glazed doughnut.  Heart attack on a plate, I thought.

One doughnut burger comin’ right up!

I asked the chef if he sold many of these.  He smiled at me and said, Yes.  Yes, we do.  I don’t eat them myself.  But a lot of people, I guess, want to try something new.

Chef preparing orders of the day with big screen TVs overhead: Twinburger at MSP

And so that’s breakfast in Minneapolis.  At the airport.  Terminal G.  We ordered from an iPad, watched a chef prepare a doughnut burger, and then settled in at a booth to read the news from USA Today – on a mobile device.  Are we The Jetsons?  Close enough.

Techie breakfast at MSP

P. S.  Just in case you have this vision of an obese blogger sitting on a barstool pigging out on a doughnut burger, I did NOT order nor did I eat one of those!

Have you ordered a meal on an iPad?  (It’s probably an ordinary occurrence for many readers.)  Well, if you have, let us know where and when!  We’re just now moving into the future!