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Last month I paid a visit to my in-laws who live in southern Indiana. Over the years my home state has done a great job making this trip so much faster with a bypass around Kokomo (the city with 1000 stop lights) as well as the underpass through Carmel making what was an arduous drive one that goes reasonably quick.
While we were there my brother in law took us to a Chinese place near to their home. The restaurant was nothing special but it did have one feature I had never seen before (in person that is). After our waitress took our order we did not see them again and our food was delivered this way:
I have to admit I was rather geeked out and thought this was uber cool. Once I had taken the plates I tapped the screen that we were finished and the robot rolled his way back to the kitchen for another pickup.
The staff also used the unit when clearing tables after guests were finished rather than having to manually carry back the dirty dishes. Really kinda smart right?
Our waitress did return to refill drinks and to hand us our bill so there was still interaction with the staff and we did tip them but if everything had been taken care of by the robot I have to say I doubt I would have felt the need to tip at all.
The one thing lacking that would have been neat to see is a “call button” on the table so that we could say, self bus our plates when we were done (maybe other restaurants have this feature).
Anyway, this was a first for me and I wanted to get readers thoughts if this is something you would like at your favorite restaurant or if you prefer the human touch? You tell me! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Eye of the Flyer and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
René de Lambert is a contributing writer for EyeoftheFlyer.com - He is an avid Delta and SkyTeam flyer who has held Delta’s top Diamond Medallion status for many years and flown millions of miles.
The United Club in the b terminal employs a similar robot to take used dishware from a staging station back to the kitchen. Short videos I take of it really get attention on on my facebook page. People can’t get enough of it.
I had the opportunity to interact with a server robot at a California Pizza Kitchen in Gangnam, Seoul last October. Beyond an unexpected novelty, I observed that it also expedited the delivery of meals to tables.
However, I also appreciated the more thoughtful and focused service provided by humans. Given that I am using the relatively low standards of service I’ve encountered in the USA as a baseline, I believe that this is a great development. If managed correctly, it has the potential to improve the overall dining experience and make serving jobs more competitive, which could lead to those jobs being well-paid and staffed by those with a mind for true service.
As for tipping, South Korea is a no-tip culture – so I did not there. Hypothetically, if I encountered similar service and interaction with both robot and human, I would tip.
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The United Club in the b terminal employs a similar robot to take used dishware from a staging station back to the kitchen. Short videos I take of it really get attention on on my facebook page. People can’t get enough of it.
Wow Rene! Imagine if something like this ended up on parts of a cruise ship.
A room service robot?
I had the opportunity to interact with a server robot at a California Pizza Kitchen in Gangnam, Seoul last October. Beyond an unexpected novelty, I observed that it also expedited the delivery of meals to tables.
However, I also appreciated the more thoughtful and focused service provided by humans. Given that I am using the relatively low standards of service I’ve encountered in the USA as a baseline, I believe that this is a great development. If managed correctly, it has the potential to improve the overall dining experience and make serving jobs more competitive, which could lead to those jobs being well-paid and staffed by those with a mind for true service.
As for tipping, South Korea is a no-tip culture – so I did not there. Hypothetically, if I encountered similar service and interaction with both robot and human, I would tip.
I was just in the KLM longe in Amsterdam and they had a robot to return dirty dishes.
The Chinese restaurant Blue Bamboo in Jacksonville,FL has a Robot Server. I forget their nickname tho!!!
I think the Robot it kind of cool