BOISE — When Steve Lipkin traded in the world of high technology for beer and satellite sports stations at his new Stubs Sports Pub in Boise, he didn't stop being a techie.
The former Extended Systems manager could not help combining his two loves — sports and technology.
At the bar, he brought in a partner who developed a way to wirelessly transmit customer orders to the kitchen.
The wait staff uses Casio Cassiopeia handheld computers to input orders at customer tables, and those orders immediately pop up on a screen in the kitchen or the bar. Food orders are automatically routed to the kitchen, while drink orders only transmit to the bar.
"The use of pad and paper is just antiquated," Lipkin said.
Partner Ray Nelson, a network engineer at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, developed the application, which uses the same technology employed in building Web pages, making it more flexible.
"Most applications require a certain amount of intelligence on the part of the client, but in this case, the (handheld PC) is used just like a terminal," Nelson said.
Instead of needing to build an entire software package for the menu-ordering application, Nelson wrote the program in html, allowing for immediate transmission of orders. Any device able to access the Internet would be able to use the application, he said.
It's all turned out to be a winning combo, drawing in workers from its location at the Boise Research Center, and from Hewlett-Packard across the street. Tech workers appreciate the sports/technology twist and likely were responsible for naming the new pub Best Place to Watch a Game recently.
"We're in the Boise Research Center, so we wanted to be different," said Lipkin, who was national sales manager for Extended Systems before he left last summer. "This expedites orders, and we probably can use half the wait staff as normal. The people we have can concentrate on the customers more."
In addition, the partners have launched a Web page that includes a Web cam of the bar area and will allow customers to participate in fantasy football later this year as well as see what games will be aired each night.
Later this summer, customers will also be able to order to-go lunches online.
But this is a sports bar, and Lipkin easily flips to the subject of sports-watching, convincingly describing himself as an avid fan.
For instance, who else but a sports nut would install 13 TVs, with eight different satellite receivers, in a small, deli-size space?
Who else would put TVs in the bathrooms — making sure a rear-view mirror is placed above the men's urinal to capture the screen — so no big plays are missed?
Who else would toss out sports trivia questions to customers and delight in providing the answer?
And then there's the bar, custom built, embedded with a lifetime's worth of ticket stubs from sporting events — thus the pub's name.
"I've saved ticket stubs for every sporting event I've ever been to," Lipkin said.
Friends also contributed stubs and now customers can be reminded of the final games of Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton and Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt and assorted events ranging from the Breeders Cup to college football to the Olympics.
A typical bar menu is enhanced by spicy chili, bratwurst cooked in beer, a vegetarian sandwich, and kid-friendly food, such as peanut butter and jelly and chicken nuggets.
Lipkin sees the pub as a family environment, despite its prominent bar, saying it serves nothing harder than beer and wine, and is smoke-free. PlayStation 2 and games also are available at one of the TVs.
Lipkin's wife, Esther, who also works at the pub, can vouch for her husband's focus on sports.
"He proposed on Super Bowl Sunday," Esther said.
"Buffalo and Dallas, January 1993," recalled Lipkin wistfully.
Giving her husband a knowing look, she remembered: "He waited until after the game."