Does the future of fast food involve robots? At least one Pasadena restaurant will soon be putting that to the test.
Cali-Express, soon to be located on E Green Street, is being touted as the world’s first fully autonomous restaurant. The restaurant is powered by technology from Miso Robotics and PopID.
"The marriage of these various technologies to create the most autonomous restaurant in the world is the culmination of years of research, development, and investment in a family of revolutionary companies,” said John Miller, the CEO of PopID.
When customers walk in, they’ll place their order on the kiosk. Then, a robotic arm named Flippy will be in charge of making the fries while a robot named “the Burger Chef” will cut and cook the wagyu beef.
Vick Aulakh, the restaurant’s owner and operator, told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian that using robots helps to improve the food’s quality.
“Because we’re able to save costs due to reduced amount of labor we’re able to increase quality,” he said. “It’s been tough to get people to work on the grill and fryer... the only way to stay in biz is to automate those positions.”
There still will be humans working inside the restaurants and any tips customers leave will go to the people packing and assembling the burgers and fries.
The restaurant is expected to open sometime in 2024.
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