Robots in Restaurants

It seems that over the last few years there has been a push towards restaurant automation with the use of robots and technology. To a point, there have been some improvements with the use of technology (POS systems, reservation software, etc.) but at what point should we draw a line?

Although we have joked about some servers being “waitrons” it looks like some restaurants are leaning towards exactly that. I understand that tech has its benefits in restaurants as it does in many businesses today, but can hospitality be executed to it’s best without the typical human touch?

Here is a list of five articles I have come across that show you what I’m talking about:

Singapore restaurant has drones as servers

This Singaporean restaurant is using drones because they are battling a shortage of serving staff.

London restaurant uses drones to deliver sushi saying they deliver food and drinks faster than your average server

These guys have even looked towards using drones to deliver food to customers doors. Domino’s pizza has announced that they are working towards drone delivery.

China takes it up a notch by having robots cook and serve your food

This one is pretty pricey, but this restaurant also provides “entertainment” from their robots.

This place uses iPads to take orders

Although the iPads take the orders, this restaurant still requires servers to deliver food and drinks, I guess the servers are glorified “food and drinks runners”.

I really have no words for this one.

Maybe I’m old school but I always say that when I’m serving tables I treat them like they are guests in my home. I can’t imagine having drones or robots floating/roaming around my home to serve my friends or family. Maybe I selfishly want to take some credit for the food and drinks I create for everyone, but in reality, I feel that the human/personal touch is something that helps with the popularity of the restaurant you work in. Its unlikely your going to see a robit in a top rated restaurant in a place like Port Aransas, Texas but you may well in a high end restaurant in New York City!