UNC, Duke alumni create bar tab app

Students looking to beat the back-to-school blues with a cold beer can also beat the lines at certain bars by downloading a new app.

TabSprint shortens the paying process at bars, which can be lengthy when the bar is full. The app allows bar guests to use smartphones to view menus and specials and to select drinks. To pay, customers present their order on their smartphone to the bartender, who can then close the tab with the touch of a finger.

The creators of the app, UNC alumnus John Chipouras and Duke alumnus Grant Warman, wanted to help customers bypass the lines at bars.

And several local bars — including Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery, Steel String Craft Brewery, The Standard Restaurant and Bar and The Library — are now using TabSprint. The app is also available at venues in Raleigh and Durham, and Chipouras and Warman are hoping to soon expand app availability to Charlotte.

After paying a fee to TabSprint, a bar is eligible to use the app.

Bartenders spend 60 percent of their time using the Point of Sale system, Chipouras said, adding that he hopes his app will help streamline business at bars — particularly on Thursday through Saturday nights when bars are especially busy.

“This allows the bartender to serve more customers faster,” Chipouras said.

Each drink order is a separate credit card charge and includes a tip with each purchase. The default tip per order is $1, which can be increased or decreased by the user.

Andrew Scharfenberg, co-owner of Steel String Craft Brewery, said the app makes serving guests easier on busy nights. Steel String has been using the app for more than two months. Scharfenberg said he uses the app when he visits his own bar and has heard bar guests describe it as intriguing and useful.

“Bartenders don’t have to print the ticket, get it signed, keep up with it and later enter the tip — it takes that work away,” Scharfenberg said.

The credit card number is preprogrammed into the user’s phone so bar guests are spared the hassle that ensues when they forget their credit cards at the bar, Chipouras said.

Some potential users might be uneasy about entering credit card information, Scharfenberg said. But TabSprint sends users a report the following morning with a list of the previous night’s charges.

Drink menus and specials are listed on the app, which can help guide bar-goers’ night. Incentives are also offered for new users, such as a $5 credit. UNC junior Caroline Pittman had not previously heard of TabSprint but said she is eager to download it.

“I can’t count the number of times I’ve left my card at the bar, and this app would definitely prevent that from happening,” Pittman said. “I’d love that to become popular in Chapel Hill.”

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