Was recently in terminal 3 of Newark airport and they had a bunch of table seating throughout the airport with tablets mounted at each seat.

You could order food through the tablet from the restaurants close by.

I loved the experience. You could browse the menu, fine tune an order, get a drink, then pay (with tip) on your credit card. Someone then brought your food to you in under 10 min.

Seems simple enough, but Jesus it was a way better experience than a normal airport restaurant. Avoided all those problems you mentioned.