Who doesn’t want to have a taste of good food? When a new restaurant emerges the city, plenty of curious people flock to see the new place and dishes that they will offer. However, some people retrace their steps to their preferred restaurants for their all-time favorites. When they have tons of customers, I think of the way they manage numerous people that nag them to get their orders fast. How were they able to endure such haste?

My passion for food comes with a dream of managing a diner. Who doesn’t enjoy a scrumptious dinner after a stressful day at work? Even those who are having their strict diets would wish to devour all the delicious foods in the world. I bet if I serve mouth-watering treats, customers would come to my diner. If we share the same dream, let us practice diner supervision with two diner strategy apps: and .

If you have been following computer games and apps, I guess you have already heard of the Diner Queen, Flo. Flo is the central character of Diner Dash game, one of the well-known Dash games created by Playfirst. Let us enter Flo’s upcoming food empire with the app.

What is Diner Dash?

 is a strategy video game and time management game initially developed by New York City-based American game development studio GameLab and published by San Francisco-based PlayFirst. It is now owned and published by PlayFirst. It is one of the top-selling downloadable games of all-time, available in multiple platforms such as PC, Mac, consoles, and mobile. (Wikipedia.com)

* Serve fun and quirky guests including business women, vampires, and more!
* Shop the Dash Mart for boosts and upgrades to help you get expert scores.
* Enjoy Diner Dash on your iPhone and iPad.
* Show off your scores and achievements with GameCenter.

Flo’s strategy:

Flo will start her empire with a small diner with limited stocks and unfinished provisions. As customers come in the diner, Flo will assist them to their seats. The seats are color coordinated to the clothes of the customers for added points. If they sit on the same color, you get bonus points. If not, you will still be able to move on to your next task but the bonus points will be futile. If you can discover a strategy to let the customer wait to fill in the proper color, you can do it too.

After letting the customers sit, Flo will need to pull together the list of their orders and send it to the chef. The chef will prepare the food, while Flo continuously manage the stream of the diner. The diner is always in a busy state, so you have to assure that all the requests are attended or the customers will leave the diner. If you see an irked customer, you can serve them coffee to boost their patience. After dining, the customers will call for Flo to gather the plates and the payment. You also have to be shrewd as the diner gets hare-brained with the rampant appeals of customers.

Order Up!! To Go

Just like the Diner Dash game is a restaurant strategy game that allows the players to build a food empire. In the Order Up!! To Go app, you will be the one to click on the new customers that will arrive in the diner so the waitress can get the orders, and for you to subsequently prepare the food. Basically, you play both roles of managing the restaurant and acting as a chef.

The Chef’s Gameplay:

Your role as a chef is duteous. You will need to prepare the ingredients of the meal. This means you have to grill, dice, fry, and leaf all at the same time. Just like normal customers, they don’t want to have their orders served cold. You have to assure that you have all the orders served warm. It is up to you what strategy you will use in order to keep up with the nagging customers. If not, their payment will be shortened.

• RESTAURANT EMPIRE
Cook your way across a variety of restaurants, each with their own menus to unlock and master. Put your culinary skills to the test as the challenge ramps up!

• ARE YOU A NATURAL IN THE KITCHEN?
Use the perfectly designed gesture controls to prepare and cook your recipes. Flick burgers in the air, carefully chop your veg and drop fries into the fryer all with the touch of a finger!

• PERFECT GAMING RECIPE
As well as chopping, slicing, flipping and frying you will also have to keep your kitchen in ship shape. Fight off fires, rat invasions and even health inspectors.

• A WORKER IS ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS TOOLS
As you play through the game, upgrade your restaurants with new, better equipment. Purchase up to 6 restaurants in game, and even competed in the ultimate Fortified Chef contest!

Which Empire will you build?

I have been using since the day I have discovered it. I admit that I got addicted with the game because it measured my patience and I was able to test my planning skills in operating a crowded place. Believe it or not, I was able to learn something from this game: know your priorities, and form a compelling strategy to reach your goal.

I still commend Diner Dash even after the fad has died as it is one of the forerunners of strategy games. I consider that most of the strategy games were inspired by Diner Dash. You wouldn’t be able to grasp the real rush of strategy games unless you have tried Diner Dash.

When it comes to innovative strategy games that involve food and diners, I vouch for . It dwells on the similar theme as Diner Dash but with an added twist, since this game allows you to act as the chef. You have to practice your skills before you move to the next round and start unfolding a new dish. Before I unlocked the next meal, I made sure that I have mastered the techniques with the previous meals. This method will make things easier when you try to add another dish.

Watch out for some customers that have added requests. Some would want their food salty, sour, or sweet. As a chef you have to meet their expectations. Another challenge of Order Up!! To Go is the food critic that visits the restaurant when a new dish is unlocked. Make sure you give him your best performance as it will reflect on the local newspaper.  Want another real time experience offered in Order Up!! To Go? There are inspectors that will check your restaurant and will decide if it needs to shut down.

Overall, both games are recommended for the food gamers and strategy gamers. There is nothing to lose Diner Dash and Order Up!! To Go can be downloaded for free. Get your kitchen weapons, and download the and from the App Store.