The ability for customers to have hands-on control of their order is a growing trend among a few Harvard Square restaurants.

The server-customer relationship has changed through an on-table ordering device at Uno on 22 JFK St. Developed by a MIT triple-degree candidate dropout Rajat Suri. The pilot technology called E la Carte, which functions on a device named Presto, allows customers to view the full menu using a touch screen. Each menu item is displayed along with a photo and a price, and patrons can choose to customize their order by adding or removing ingredients when prompted.

“The idea behind it is not to replace someone, but to give guests the hands-on experience, to interact with the menu,” says Nick F. Novin, bar and lounge manager at Uno in Harvard Square.

The Presto device allows customers to play games while waiting for their food and keep track of the progress of their order.

Charlie’s Kitchen, an eatery on 10 Eliot St., is one of the first restaurants to use a program called TextMyFood, by which customers can communicate with servers via text message.

The system allows patrons to place orders and get the attention of their server by texting from their own cell phones when the server is out of sight, according to TextMyFood’s website.

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

At certain restaurants in Harvard Square, customers can place their orders through iPhone applications even before arriving.

The Chipotle chain created its application about a year and a half ago, using it to take orders in their restaurants throughout the country. Similarly, Zoe’s on 1105 Mass. Ave. recently created their own application, which was launched four months ago.

“I got the idea from my kids who said, ‘Dad, you just have to have an app,’” says Zoe’s owner Theophilos N. Vallas, although he admits that he personally uses a Blackberry and not an iPhone.

Vallas emphasizes that the system is more convenient for both customers and restaurant employees. It eliminates the step of having to answer the phone and take an order.

The application features Zoe’s full menu and gives customers every option as a server would, according to Vallas. But if the order is extensive, some words on the printed order could get cut off. Customers must pay with a credit or debit card in order to place an order successfully. They can also specify a pick-up time.

Similarly, Chipotle’s iPhone application menu allows patrons to customize their orders, but it also requires them to sign up for a Chipotle account. Clients also have the option of paying through the application or in the store.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

In spite of technological advances, the devices still leave room for improvement.