A unique innovative solution to the water glass problem – simple but WOW in my opinion

I was driving from Chennai to Bangalore recently and stopped at the spanking new Murugan Idly Shop on the highway for dinner. As soon as we were seated, we noticed 4 stainless steel glasses resting on the table. They were not really water glasses – they were about 2/3^rd the height of a typical stainless steel tumbler and had several holes in them like a design. So you can’t pour water into them. They looked more like some sort of holder – a large toothpick holder. The waiter came with the menu and 3 disposable glasses for the 3 of us on the table, simply placed the disposable glasses in these stainless steel holders and filled water in them. I was stunned with what I would call a fascinating innovation that solves a real and practical problem for restaurants in India. How do you ensure providing clean, hygienic water glasses to customers, while still giving them a feeling that this is a full service restaurant, rather than a food court type set-up? The stainless steel holder with the disposable glass inside was very nice to handle – you felt as though you were drinking water from a real glass, and also re-assured about the hygiene factor. All 3 of us at the table asked the same question – why didn’t anyone think of this before?

I chatted up with the restaurant manager nudging him to see if I could take one of the stainless steel holders as a sample. The answer was “NO” – so I took pictures. Upon probing a little, the manager told me that the owner of Madurai Idly Shop, Mr.Manoharan, had personally thought of this idea, got the stainless steel holders designed and manufactured by a vendor. Now several people had started copying this idea.

I would like to say “KUDOS” to the owner of Madurai Idly Shop, Mr.Manoharan for this innovation and wish them all the best with their business. This also highlights the fact that several such innovations are needed in the restaurant industry that solves a real problem and improves the customer experience.