Robots and automation are appearing in some hospitality venues, from burger-flipping machines and automated fryers to serving robots that carry plates to tables and conveyor dishwashers that clear racks with little human input. Automation is often pitched as an answer to labour shortages and rising wages, handling repetitive or physically demanding tasks so people can focus on guests. Back-of-house equipment like combi ovens, sous vide circulators and automatic coffee machines has quietly automated kitchens for years. Front-of-house robots are more divisive: some guests find them fun, especially families, while others see them as a gimmick.
Costs, maintenance and reliability vary, and a machine breaking down mid-service can cause more trouble than it saves. Health and safety, food hygiene and accessibility still apply. For staff, automation can remove drudgery but also raise worries about jobs and skills. The likely future is a blend, with machines doing the heavy and repetitive work and people doing hospitality.
What we ask on the show
- Would you work alongside a serving robot?
- Which job in the kitchen would you happily hand to a machine?
- Are robots in restaurants a gimmick or the future?
- What can a human do that no machine ever will?