Looking for a restaurant and want more information before you decide? If you’re in Long Beach, you can find out about popular menu items, specials and promotions at many restaurants just by pointing your smartphone at one.

In the latest example of location-based advertising, a mobile app company has launched a pilot program in Long Beach that allows participating restaurants to offer deals to passers-by via their phones.

About 120 eateries are on the app now, mostly put there for free by the app maker, Simple Deal. The app launched earlier this month. Three restaurants have since signed up as paying customers. Simple Deal charges $39 a month and restaurants can customize deals daily.

The app, which is free, also includes unusual promotions. For example, one Long Beach sports bar offered to put a customer’s name on a brand of beer for a week if that customer spent at least $75 on food and drink at the bar.

James McKinney, Simple Deal’s founder, said the idea came about after spotting an interesting restaurant on Second Street in Long Beach while he was driving. He wanted a way to point his smartphone at the restaurant and get information about it so he could check it out later.

“Kind of like a wish list, if you will,” said McKinney, who self-funded the startup at his home office in Seal Beach.

If someone points a phone at a restaurant that’s not active on the platform, it will list offers at nearby locations. McKinney plans to expand the service beyond Long Beach.

– Subrina Hudson