If you have been to a restaurant lately, you may have noticed staff shortages due to COVID-19.
One restaurant group is turning to technology to solve the problem. Urban Belly has rolled out BellaBots to a couple of eateries, including Eat District in Boca Raton.
The BellaBots are programmed to recognize the restaurant’s layouts and tables. “She” seats guests, carries menus, highlights daily specials, brings food to the table and clears it as well. The only thing she doesn’t do is prep the food! BellaBots have cartoon cat faces with eyes that blink. The robot even says things such as “Here I am” and “Hello, your food is here.”
Kitchen staffers load each order on a four-layer induction tray and enter a table number, sending the bot into the dining room to deliver the order. The robots have 3D sensors to avoid obstacles to reach their assigned tables. Guests or servers can then load the bots with dirty dishes for them to bring back to the dishwashing station. It’s probably only a matter of time before these robots will be washing dishes as well.
Visit eatdistricts.com.