Buzzers have become ubiquitous on restaurant tabletops throughout L.A.’s Koreatown. When a customer wants something, he simply presses the buzzer. No need to wave or whistle or call for a waiter.

Omar Lopez adores buzzers. He said he misses them whenever he dines outside of Koreatown, and now feels uneasy when he has to catch a waiter’s eyes.

“It should be installed in all restaurants,” said Lopez, 31.

The technology is simple. Table numbers are displayed on a board in the back.

When a buzzer is hit, the waiter knows which table to go to.

What could be dubbed as “buzzer culture” originated in Asia, particularly in northeast Asia, in the early 1990s. People there tend to prefer to eat in private; restaurants often offer patrons a choice of dining in a private room or in the open. And rooms with sliding doors are common in Korean and Japanese restaurants. Since calling a waiter from a closed room can be tricky, the buzzer was born.

If the one-button buzzer is the first generation, then the three-button buzzer is the second. Whereas the one-button is a call for general service, the three-button buzzer specifies whether the customer wants his check, some water or is making a general call.

Haus, a dessert boutique on Sixth Street, introduced the three-button buzzer in July. And there is no board in the back; waiters use a wristband receiver that displays the table number and its commands.

“The three-button buzzer is more expensive but more efficient,” said the restaurant’s executive director, Deryck Kim, 32. “It saves everybody time.”

But that’s not the final bell; buzzer culture is catching on. A system where the kitchen receives orders directly from a waiter’s iPod recently has been developed; servers handle iPods instead of order sheets.

“We are scheduled to open a fusion restaurant on West Seventh Street and we plan to use the (iPod) system when we do,” said Kim.