Restaurant Automation

What does the future of the restaurant business look like?

SPONSOREDUpdated 8:08AM • 03/16/16

The future is now, especially if you live in San Francisco. Last summer, the fully automated restaurant Eatsa, a quinoa restaurant (yes, quinoa restaurants are a thing in San Francisco), opened its doors. At Easta, guests order, pay, and receive their food without ever speaking with a person. There are no waiters and no ordering at the counter—there isn’t even a counter, for that matter. There are a few people in the back of the house that help prepare the food, but other than that, guests interact only with LCD monitors and iPads.

Automation is transforming every industry. From manufacturing and banking, to restaurants and health care, technology, robots and artificial intelligence are altering the way consumers interact with companies and brands.

“While technology continues to infuse itself into every aspect of our lives, I still believe that people crave a certain amount of human interaction and customer service when dining out,” said Philip Schram, chief development officer for Buffalo Wings & Rings. “At Buffalo Wings & Rings, customer service is the cornerstone of our foundation as a casual restaurant brand. However, that has not stopped us from introducing other forms of automation into our restaurants, such as our Kitchen Display System, which breaks down a single order automatically by kitchen station. It has improved our operational efficiency tremendously while driving sales for our franchisees.”

Like at Buffalo Wings & Rings, automation is already part of many franchised restaurants in some form or another. Reservations and delivery orders are made online, payment and menus are processed on tablets, and a wave of new equipment has automated kitchens to be more efficient while reducing costs. New automation suites can turn lights on or off, while controlling temperatures, all from the convenience of an app on your tablet or phone. Everything from employee hours to inventory can be tracked online now.

This kind of equipment was the stuff of dreams for many restaurateurs just a few years ago. But an explosion in restaurant technology and an increase in investment for the development of this equipment have recently made these high tech devices available and affordable for a greater number of operators.

“At MOOYAH, Burgers, Fries & Shakes, we’re investing heavily in technology that lets us better manage our inventory, which allows our franchisees to order the exact amounts of ingredients needed based off real-time data,” said Darrin Heisey, MOOYAH, Burgers, Fries & Shakes vice president of information technology. “We value the personal interaction with our guests very highly, and this investment in restaurant automation allows our operators to focus on our customers while better managing cash flow and not over purchasing.”

It’s clear that restaurant automation will continue to evolve as restaurant brands invest in new and developing technologies. However, it remains to be seen if robots will take our orders and cook our food in the not too distant future. We’re on the path to self-driving cars now, so you never know.