Randy Slifer, COO of The Distillery in Victor, N.Y., had long been enamored with the robotic servers that have become staples at restaurant trade shows.
For years, the playful trays-on-wheels roaming convention-hall floors have been largely seen as high-tech novelties. But they are starting to become useful tools for some restaurants as the industry emerges from the pandemic short about 1 million jobs.
Last year, as The Distillery’s five restaurants were struggling to stay fully staffed, Slifer decided to finally buy one. In November, the company purchased an automated food runner manufactured by RichTech to help fill the staffing gap.
It was not alone. A few months earlier, the Tastee Spoon in Dunwoody, Ga., bought a robot runner of its own. The restaurant was shifting from a primarily to-go format to include table service, and thought a robot could help it to do that without hiring additional staff.
And late last month, the dining team at Wesley Enhanced Living, a retirement home in Media, Pa., bought two robots as it struggled to find servers to work in the dining room.
Meanwhile, casual-dining leader Chili’s Grill & Bar was quietly expanding its own test of robot waiters to 10 restaurants across three states. The bots, which the chain has named Rita, are intended to improve the experience for guests and workers.
All of these operators said roughly the same things about their new automaton team members: They have lightened the workload on waitstaff and allowed them to spend more time with guests. In some cases, they’re filling the roles of multiple human workers. And customers and employees seem to like them.
“It makes life easier,” said Tastee Spoon owner Raymone Williams of her robot.
A glimpse of the newest team member at Victor Distillery
After guests seat themselves at the Caribbean fusion restaurant, the robot is the first “employee” they interact with. Traveling along a map programmed into the ceiling, it brings them water and a special menu if there is one that day. After about five minutes, a human worker will come by to take orders. Then the robot will return with the food when it’s ready. It can go back and forth to the table with refills, extra utensils or any other needs as often as necessary.
Since booting up the robot, Williams said, servers have been able to spend more time on the floor and less time running to and from the kitchen, resulting in better service. That better service has resulted in better tips. Williams has witnessed it first-hand while waiting tables herself.
“You get to see that it’s a major increase,” she said. “Almost 25% more.”
By the time The Distillery was ready to launch its robot, its restaurants were almost fully staffed again, Slifer said. But it decided to go ahead with the machine, dubbed “Stilly,” as a way to improve customer service.
Like at Tastee Spoon, the robot is programmed to bring food to customers’ tables at the push of a button. Servers are trained to watch for the bot and join it as it arrives at the table, where the human worker will dish out the meals.
Distillery waitstaff previously spent about 30% of their time in the kitchen, Slifer said. But with Stilly covering much of the back and forth, they’re now in the dining room for about 90% of their shift, giving them more time to refill drinks, clear tables and even sell more food.
“We don’t want to lose that hospitality, that interpersonal connection between staff and our customers,” Slifer said. “We still think that’s a huge part of our business, and it’s a lot of the reason that people have favorite restaurants.”
Chili’s also said its goal with Rita is to provide a more fun experience for guests while also easing the burden on staff. In addition to seating customers, bussing tables and running food, the machine made by Bear Robotics can do things like sing Happy Birthday to customers.
It’s one of several chains, including Denny’s, BurgerFi and California Pizza Kitchen, to give robotic waitstaff a try.
Polling done by Chili’s found that 86% of customers said they like Rita, and nearly 80% of staff said it makes life easier for them.
“Rita is just one way—and proof—that we’re innovating in the name of fun and efficiency,” said Wade Allen, SVP of innovation for Chili’s parent Brinker International, in an email. “Her skills free up our team members to focus more on our guests and make them feel special.”
“It’ll free up someone’s time. The robot can’t operate by itself, so it’s not gonna take away a job.” —Raymone Williams, Tastee Spoon
The robot at Tastee Spoon works in tandem with two servers. Without the bot, Williams said she’d have to hire two additional workers for the 55-seat dining room.
“I’d be looking for people,” she said. “Not that you’re gonna find them. But I’d be looking for people to work.”
At first, she said, workers were worried that the robot would replace them—a concern that has been echoed by many when it comes to the prospect of more robots in restaurants.
“I’m like, ‘No, it’s gonna enhance your job,’” she said. “‘You’re not gonna walk as much. You’re gonna feel like you have help on the days that you’re swamped.’”
“The robot can’t operate by itself,” she added, “So it’s not gonna take away a job.”
The robots at Wesley Senior Living act as runners and bussers, and have helped the operation fill in for about three human workers, said Dining General Manager Shawn Fontaine. He was hesitant to invest in the bots at first, but decided to do it after discovering that they cost about the same as human workers.
“I was surprised when it actually ended up being equivalent to the monthly wage I would spend for a part-time employee,” he said. “Even when I broke it down to the yearly expense, it ended up being the same as a part-time employee for the year.”
At The Distillery, staff were initially unsure how the robot would help them, Slifer said. They were used to a certain way of doing things, and the robot meant their jobs would change. But within a week or two, they had started to embrace it. The key was laying out a plan for exactly how the robot would mesh with their roles.
“You can’t introduce a robot to an existing restaurant and say, ‘Here we go, we have this robot,’” he said. “You really have to get the whole team on board. You need buy-in from staff.”
“People are enamored by it. Little kids are clamoring to get near it. And obviously it’s sort of a different experience in a restaurant.” —Randy Slifer, The Distillery
Consumers’ acceptance of robots is another question. According to research by Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, more than 50% of consumers said they would prefer to have their food served by human staff. A more recent report, from the National Restaurant Association, found that 44% of adults would opt in to having a robot deliver their food.
Sentiments seem mixed at best. But in practice, customers seem to like them, for the most part.
“People are enamored by it,” Slifer said of Stilly. “Little kids are clamoring to get near it. And obviously it’s sort of a different experience in a restaurant.”
At Wesley Enhanced Living, the robots caught the community’s elderly residents by surprise. “It was like they saw a ghost,” said Fontaine. “They [had] never seen something like it before, and then the smiles started happening and they began clapping and it was pretty funny. They accepted it really quick.”
There can be a bit of a learning curve when guests encounter the bots for the first time. At Tastee Spoon, some are unsure what to do when the bot shows up at their table, Williams said. They wonder how the robot found them or whether they should touch it.
Source: National Restaurant Association
The robots operate kind of like large Roombas. If something is blocking their path—which tends to happen in a busy restaurant—they can get confused. Slifer’s team reprogrammed Stilly’s GPS so it will automatically maneuver around things in the 7,000-square-foot brewpub. Tastee Spoon’s bot tackles obstacles with a tart sense of humor.
“I have a job to do, don’t be too fascinated with me,” it will say, or, “You want to get me fired?”
Roadblocks aside, they seem to be good at their jobs. During a two-week test in January, Rita performed tasks correctly 99.8% of the time, Chili’s said. And 90% of guests have been satisfied with the work it has done.
High-tech helpers
Photographs courtesy of Bear RoboticsPrices for the bots vary from a reported $999 a month for Bear’s Servi machines to up to $30,000 total for RichTech’s Matradee, the model used by The Distillery and Tastee Spoon.
Williams said her restaurant paid $18,000 for its robot, and that other local restaurateurs have started stopping by to see how it works.
Slifer said he’s happy with the ROI The Distillery has gotten on Stilly. He’s looking into getting a second bot, and anticipates adding them to the restaurant’s four other locations as well.
“It’s been a success story so far,” he said.
Benita Gingerella contributed to this report.