Why You Need A Robot Restaurant Show

Robot restaurants put a new spin on fast everyday

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They're not our conspirtors just yet. At these restaurants, the robots are here to serve you.
Once someone says "robot restaurant, " I first think of an LED and laser show at a Tokyo venue where remote-controlled robots dance with bikini-clad girls in a sensory show that accompanies dinner.

But the reality of robot restaurants is generally much more pedestrian and low-key.

One example is Eatsa, the San Francisco-based restaurant company that takes orders through iPads and dispenses meals through automated machines. Until now, Eatsa has been using this tech to serve up quinoa bowls to health-food fans in its own restaurants. But the company announced Friday that is actually expanding its robotic system to the fast-casual restaurant chain Wow Bao next month.

Tap on your cubby to get your food

At Chicago-based Wow Bao, you can already order your steamed buns via its software or an on-site kiosk. Good results . Eatsa's tech, you'll also be able to gather your meal from an LED-lit cubbyhole showing your name. Text showing up on the front of the cubby, one amongst a larger array, will tell you when your order is cooking so when you can double-tap on the box to gather the food.

It's a quick turn-around for Eatsa, which only a couple weeks ago announced the closing of five of its seven restaurants across the country. The company has switched its focus to offering automated tech as a platform to other restaurants such as Wow Bao.

A blend of man-made intelligence, personal screens, robotics and -- perhaps most crucially -- the readiness of hungry customers to skip human interaction is coming at the right moment to make Eatsa's shift possible. It's part of any gradual creep of technology that is transforming our activities of dining out, and even dining in, thanks to advances in delivery technology.

Why You Need A Robot Restaurant Show

The first Eatsa-equipped Wow Bao will open in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago on Dec. 1. Using the technology, Wow Bao plans to double its sites in 2018. It currently has seven company-owned locations, plus air-port, university campus, hotel and stadium franchises.

"When I actually first heard about Eatsa opening in San Francisco, I jumped on a plane to come see it, " Wow Bao President Geoff Alexander said in a statement. Alexander praised the technology as both entertaining and efficient. "I knew straight away that Eatsa would be the perfect technology to integrate into our future locations. "

Do robots belong in the kitchen?
At Eatsa and soon at Wow Bao, the automatic technology is front and center in the restaurant, serving customers and providing them with an experience to go along with their takeout. In other restaurants, robots continue to be strictly consigned to your kitchen.

At Cafe X and Zume, both based in San Francisco, programs make lattes and pizzas, respectively. California startup Miso Robotics has built a kitchen assistant robot called Flippy, which from early 2018 is expected to be grilling burgers in CaliBurger restaurants.


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