The younger brother of Google’s Sergey Brin heads up a startup of his own

We know Sergey Brin as the 39-year-old Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Google in 1998 with Larry Page. What we’re probably less familiar with is that Sergey’s younger brother, Sam, is now (somewhat) following in his footsteps.

You see, the younger Brin and Jon Li, a college friend, have been working on a special project for their startup company, Butter Systems. The point of the technology? To make the dining experience at our favorite restaurants more enjoyable.

Butter Systems replaces menus with Android tablets at the table, thereby allowing customers to place orders and ask for the check from their tablet without having to wait for the waiter to come back to their table.

Brin and Li aren’t trying to replace the waiter but rather increase table turnover and thus revenue for the restaurant. Its purpose is to simply free up time for the server to attend to other needs as well, like refilling drinks or closing out tables.

Butter Systems allows and encourages restaurants to customize their menus and make them as unique as possible. The tablets are locked in a way so that customers cannot surf the internet or take pictures while waiting. On the back end, Butter Systems provides a color coated display for the kitchen that separates orders by tables and colors. When an order is received, the tablet in the kitchen will flash red. If specials need to be added or the kitchen is out of one ingredient, the restaurant can easily maintain live updates on the menu.

Some think the future of Butter Systems should include a way to pay the bill from a tablet at the table, but Brin and Li still want to preserve human contact in the restaurant. Butter Systems’ motto is “Because happy customers come back.” Only time will tell if restaurants and customers will feel that Butter’s idea is worthwhile to change the dining experience around the world.

For our California readers, check out Butter Systems in action at the Bumble restaurant in Los Altos, CA.