Tech Check is a regular column on restaurant technology by Senior Editor Joe Guszkowski. It's also a newsletter.
In recent weeks, this column has been a place of worry.
Most of the worry—about virtual brands, self-service kiosks, robotic drive-thrus and the like—boils down to the same core worry: That the industry’s race to add more technology will come at the expense of some of its soul.
That’s why I am happy to report that Sweetgreen’s newest restaurant, which proudly places a robot front and center, seems to have struck the right balance between the benefits of automation and the value of people-focused hospitality.
The restaurant is on a main drag in downtown Naperville. / Photos by Joe Guszkowski
The restaurant opened last week in downtown Naperville, Ill., a bustling suburb southwest of Chicago. It’s the first of the chain’s units to feature the Infinite Kitchen, a high-tech conveyor belt/vending machine that fills, dresses and mixes customers’ salads and bowls. Sweetgreen bought the technology from a Boston-based concept called Spyce in 2021 and plans to open at least one more location with an Infinite Kitchen this year.
The robot sits right behind the counter, making it both literally and figuratively the heart of the restaurant. But the store is clearly designed to showcase the humans involved in the operation, too. Large windows at the front give both passersby and customers a clear view into the prep area, where employees can be seen chopping and cooking ingredients to be loaded into the bot.
The prep area is directly to your right when you walk in.
And though there are no cashiers, there is a “host” at the front counter to guide you through the ordering process, which customers handle themselves using touchscreen kiosks. The setup allows guests to have as much or as little human interaction as they want while ordering.
Orders have to be placed on a kiosk.
Behind the counter, the Infinite Kitchen, which stands about 7 feet tall and 20 yards wide, was quietly working away. Sweetgreen’s signature six-sided bowls moved from right to left, stopping at different intervals to receive a blast of kale, a squirt of dressing and a quick spin to mix it all together. Some ingredients—in my case a lime and a slice of bread—were added at the end by human staff.
Bowls travel from right to left along the Infinite Kitchen.
I was there around noon, and the restaurant was pretty busy. And yet there was no line, and my kale Caesar salad was done in about two or three minutes.
That, of course, is the idea. Executives believe the Infinite Kitchen can make salads and bowls faster than humans, and also more accurately and precisely, allowing a restaurant to boost throughput while cutting labor costs in half.
An employee told me that the system can make up to 100 salads in 15 minutes. He has worked at three other Sweetgreens in the area, and said that the robot makes his job a lot easier.
The restaurant was busy around lunchtime Monday.
Executives have not shared how many employees a Sweetgreen with an Infinite Kitchen will need, though I counted about six or seven during my visit. And they seemed to be fairly busy either prepping, helping out at the front counter, finishing customers’ bowls and restocking the robot. There was a sense of industriousness but not the chaos that sometimes accompanies the lunch rush.
The receipt shows what parts of my salad were added "by hand" vs. automatically.
On my side of the counter, there was definitely a buzz. The restaurant's bright interior, upbeat soundtrack and large digital menu board created a fun and welcoming vibe. There was a merchandise area selling hats and shirts, and a made-for-Instagram mirrored sign that read “Green Feels Good.” The restaurant also had quite a bit of seating, both inside and on a patio in the back.
A large digital menu board and merch.
The robot, meanwhile, was its own point of interest. I was not the only customer taking pictures. “I’ve never experienced something like this,” one diner commented to their lunchmate.
The salad itself was no better or worse than other meals I've had at Sweetgreen. The tomatoes were buried under the first layer of greens, which hurt the presentation a little. But I had no complaints about the distribution or portioning of the ingredients.
The kale Caesar, made by a robot.
All in all, the experience was smooth, but not sterile. I think that’s everything you could ask for in a restaurant, whether it's automated or not.