Big restaurant chains are rushing into what could be the future of takeout and delivery food: text ordering.

Leading the way are the pizza giants. Papa John's is airing national TV spots to promote the text ordering that it launched in November. Domino's has offered mobile ordering — which requires cell phone Web access — since July. Pizza Hut is about to start promoting both text and mobile ordering.

Quiznos, Dunkin' Donuts and Subway have looked into text ordering. McDonald's is testing it in Seoul. Starbucks tested it in London and at one U.S. store.

Papa John's CEO Nigel Travis compares the potential to online ordering, which accounts for 20 percent of Papa John's sales. "Text is the way forward," he says. He predicts it will account for 3 percent of sales within two years.

The potential pool of users is huge, considering Americans already send 30 billion text messages a month. Noah Glass, founder and CEO of www.GoMobo.com, predicts texting could account for 25 percent of all food takeout orders within the decade.

Consumers have to give up something for the convenience. "What they get from you is scary: your personal digits," says Jeff DeGraff, business professor at University of Michigan. "I don't give many people my cell phone number. It's the last firewall of privacy."

Text ordering is huge in parts of Asia and Europe. Some think, however, that Americans may be slower to embrace it, as they have been with PC ordering. "You'll have to see online ordering take off before text ordering does," says Sherri Daye Scott, editor of trade journal QSR Magazine.

On tap in text ordering:

— Papa John's. Consumers wanting to text orders must first visit www.Papajohns.com and set up a list of four favorite meals. Each then is represented by a cell phone digit that is used to order. Promotions will include TV spots during the National Football League playoffs.

— Domino's. A mobile Web order service was launched in July and now is available at about 65 percent of its stores, says Rob Weisberg, vice president of precision marketing.

He wouldn't give mobile's share of sales, but he says it has enabled Domino's to capture 1 million cell phone numbers, to which it sends promotions about once a month. "Within three years it will be as common to use a text order as it now is to use the phone."

— Pizza Hut. The chain will launch its "Total Mobile Access" service this month, says Bob Kraut, marketing chief. Consumers can text orders with their cell phones or use cell phone mobile Web access to order. "It will be a competitive advantage to offer both."

The future for text ordering is huge, says University of Michigan's DeGraff. "Within five years, it will be as common as online orders."