the first fully robotic restaurant serves hamburgers and fries

In Pasadena, a northeastern suburb of Los Angeles, a restaurant presents itself as the first in the world with an autonomous kitchen powered by intelligent robots. Other than that, the menu isn’t particularly futuristic: hamburgers and fries.

CaliExpress by Flippy is the name of the restaurant located in a Pasadena shopping center. This city is known for the Rose Bowl, the stadium of the 1994 FIFA World Cup final and for CalTech, one of the great American universities. In this revolutionary restaurant, you order your food at a kiosk. This is very common in fast food restaurants, but the kiosk is associated with a personal account that knows your tastes. Then, you can watch robotic equipment in the kitchen prepare your hamburger with wagyu beef, while an automatic station takes care of the fries. These are cooked to perfection, assures the restaurant press release.

Robotic ordering and preparation

The hamburger costs $7, the cheeseburger $9, the fries $4.50, relatively affordable prices for the quality of the product, they say, and prices allowed by this automated system.

Behind this project, it is in fact three companies from Pasadena who joined forces to develop the concept. First, PopID, specialized in biometrics – identifying a person by their palm for example – streamlined the ordering and payment stages. Miso Robotics, the second company, is known for making Flippy, a robotic arm capable of cooking a piece of meat, as well as another robot that can prepare fries. All of this was developed using artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, and data analysis. The third player, Cali Group, took care of the financing. This is an investment fund in the catering and retail sector.

Some gains carried over to remaining employees

However, the restaurant still needs employees and says its operation reduces the risk of injuries such as burns or slipping. There are still fewer of them and with productivity gains, the atmosphere in the kitchen would be less stressful than in equivalent restaurants. Furthermore, salaries would be higher than the sector average. The group’s press release highlights yet another advantage: the reduction of waste, particularly oil.

Schoolchildren are invited to come and observe the whole process. A section of the restaurant displays a robotic arm and a first-generation 3D printer. In summary, the advertisement speaks of a virtuous restaurant which also serves as a laboratory and museum. Obviously, automation and space and labor savings appeal to the fast food industry. Chains like SweetGreens or Chipotle, already present in France, are also developing their own technologies.