An interesting video of a restaurant in Japan that’s taken automation to an extreme.
Not only are there no servers, you bus your own table by pushing your dishes into a slide right off the table.
A behind the scenes look at the kitchen is pretty wild too.
I don’t doubt that the restaurant is efficient, but man it must have cost a lot to install that technology. I’d be curious about the business plan, how quickly you might earn back your investment, etc.
I wonder if you still leave a tip?
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L.O.L . . . . O.L. . . . L. . . . go wrong . . . go wrong . . .
Tsk tsk! Haven’t these people seen the movie “Westworld” or read “The Forbin Project” sci-fi novel series? How can they promise us that being dependent on machines that nothing will hideously go wrong… go wrong… go wrong…
Hai! Hai!
Doitashimaste Human San!
After visiting Japan 6+ times, never had a less than perfect meal when eating out.
The food there is one of my favourite things. The public transit is next.
The company that evolved from the Horn & Hardart automat chain tried to revive the automat concept but it failed because food items cost a lot more than the dimes and quarters needed prior to 1970. They even converted some to take credit cards and put microwaves on the side so you could dine on that $3.95 pasta dish but apparently the time of the automat had passed. But maybe if Red Box tried its hand…?
I have been to the one in the Red Light District of Amsterdam, the fries are good but not as good as you get at the outdoor stands :) I have never eaten a burger while in Europe but some of their other stuff was good, the beef croquette thing and the stuffed cheese was nice after a long night at the Grasshopper!
Cool. But the food…..
http://www.febodelekkerste.nl/catalog/?v=2&lid=1&id=10
Click on listing on the left for closeups and prices (mostly 1.60 Euros)
Automats I believe had a variety of typical coffee shop food.
FEBO is very popular in The Netherlands still
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEBO has some pics, it operates the same way
they must not be as poorly paid as here then
I remember when I was in Korea in the 90s, it was considered offensive to try to tip the wait staff. I was told that it was seen as an inference that they would not give your their best at all times.
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!
Tipping is not customary in Japan. In fact, the waiter or waitress might even be offended.
It reminds me of the old “automat” restaurants where the dishes would be prepared and then served through a set of little compartments. There was a New York restaurant trying to revive the concept a few years ago but I think the place went under.
Truth be told, I actually like to see my chef at work. Prefer it, even.
Very clever ! But I wonder how good the food is. ;]
The part where there’s a chance to win a prize after every five plates returned is sheer marketing genius.