Although I’ve been thinking about this for a while, it took a recent Union Square Maoz lunch with the folks from Incubakor,  to write one more rave about how urban and digital lifestyles increasingly seem to meet and merge.

This one’s about the sizeable number of new sleek and modern looking vertical micro eateries that have popped up in Manhattan and other cities across the country.

Think Chop’t, Chipotle and Maoz respectively for do-it-yourself salads, burritos, or falafels. Think Rice to Riches for not-quite-your-mother’s-favorite milk rice. Or Yolato, Pinkberry, Red Mango and Berrywild , all eager to declare the next renaissance for frozen yogurt on-the-go.

Essentially, if your parent’s culinary experience at McDonalds, IHOP, or Olive Garden appears rather Web  0.0 passe to you, these aforementioned new and casual eateries are clearly all out Web 2.0.

For one, designed to have you pick-and-choose your items as easily as you select your favorite video snacks from your preferred YouTube channel, this new breed of fast food spots is all void of sit-down menus, deliberately limiting your selection to but a few tastes and choices.

Still sounds too close to the age-old salad bar approach? Not so fast.

Welcome to early 21st century food intake: by now completely verticalized and scaled down to bites, this new food experience is intendly casual and immediate. As if you’re adding a handful of widgets to your Facebook profile - this is where speed, selectivity, and engagement counts!

In fact, more akin to Amazon’s books recommendation engine than your run-of-the-mill New York dinner, these new micro eateries operate very much in a if-you-like-this-you-may-also-like-that kind’a mode.

Yup! Consumer empowernment is king!

Try Chipotle’s rather systematic idea to selecting menu items, or the formulaic approach to filling your own Maoz falafel and you know what I mean.

It’s as if you had placed a Google keyword search producing matching textual ads neatly delivered on the side. Clearly, this new generation of by-the-glass eateries takes an almost algorythmic approach to your culenary orders.

Impressed? Enjoy!

Of course, these new on-the-go fooderies not only all have proper Wikipedia entries but have also been marketing via Facebook and Twitter practically from day one. If the idea is to convert wait-in-line customers to becoming online influencers once back home, it really seems to work.

Although at times more like an unconference than an organized community event, this tends to especially get Manhattan’s singles going, as they patiently wait in at times exceedingly long lines.

Try any Chop’t spot during lunch time, or a Maoz or Yolato location on a sunny Saturday afternoon. These places can turn into impromptu MeetUp-style events in seconds, in the process enabling online meeting-and-mingling to continue later on.

That’s probably why frozen yogurt parlor Pinkberry is quick to invite its customers to join their online groupies, and Rice to Riches lets you spread the word via e-gift certificates.

Oh, and one more thing. What about these Web 2.0 eateries’ strikingly similar approach to interior design?

Come to think of it, they all seem to borrow from the same mix of Barbarella meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. A blend of late 60ies and early 70ies minimalism joined with American pop art, making for choices of glaring oranges, greens, or yellow plastics, on everything from outdoor signs, to inside walls and napkins, and even on take-out food containers.

Enough of my raving about this new Web 2.0-style food experience. For anything from tag lines to locations, here, again, their respective web sites. Go and try them all:

Berrywild: The art of yogurt
http://berrywildyogurt.com

Chipotle: Food with integrity
http://www.chipotle.com

Chop’t: Creative salad company
http://www.choptsalad.com

Maoz: Quick service vegetarian restaurant chain
http://www.maozusa.com

Pinkberry: Home to swirly sweetness
http://www.pinkberry.com

Red Mango: Stylish, comfortable and uplifting
http://www.redmangousa.com

Rice to Riches: We came, we saw, we cooked
http://www.ricetoriches.com

Yolato: Yogurt gelato
http://www.yolato.com