Are there any eateries in the St. Louis area utilizing robotic servers? —Sam S., Kansas City
We could concoct a variety of witty responses to this question, but we’ll hold off. If the inquiry pertains more to mechanical food runners, the concise answer is “yes, though not in abundance.”
I find it intriguing to read about advancements in automated food service technology: burger flippers, fry machines, baguette bakers, “sushi robots,” ramen vending machines, and similar innovations. Still, aside from Crushed Red’s self-serve pizza kiosk located in St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s Terminal 2, I’m amazed there’s a scarcity of such technologies in St. Louis. The main outlier appears to be service robots, which have started to appear in several locations throughout the metro area.
At Basil India (3183 S. Grand) and Las Fuentes (6025 Telegraph) in Oakville, a petite, silent robot plays the role of food runner and busser. Over at Cathy’s Kitchen in Ferguson (250 S. Florissant), a robot dubbed Plato is tasked with food delivery, while another Plato at Cathy’s Kitchen ToGo (10198 West Florissant) in Dellwood handles the dirty dishes and waste.
In 2022, SLM reported on a restaurant in O’Fallon, Illinois, that featured a BellaBot—a cat-faced robot equipped with touchscreens, infrared sensors, and a four-tray system. This bot could show guests to their tables, offer food, and even sing “Happy Birthday.” Sadly, the establishment shut down earlier this year, and the current employment status of BellaBot remains unclear.
More technological breakthroughs are on the way. At Sakatanoya Revolving Sushi & Ramen Bar (6683 Delmar), set to open in the Delmar Loop in early 2025, patrons will place orders through tablets at their tables, and their food and drinks will arrive via a two-tiered revolving conveyor belt. This brings to mind the “sushi boats” that were trendy in San Francisco’s Japantown during the 1980s when diners would choose dishes floating by and pay based on the collected plates.
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