Robot baristas in Sacramento? Tech-driven coffee shop is coming to this downtown spot

Hanh Truong
·2 min read
1

Robot baristas in Sacramento? A tech-driven coffee shop chain is coming to downtown Sacramento.

At Botbar Coffee, you can get lattes, cappuccinos and espresso drinks made by robotic servers.

“Born in the heart of Nevada, our company is on a mission to break the chains of repetitive manual labor and bring unparalleled efficiency to traditional businesses through cutting-edge technology,” Botbar said on its website.

Botbar currently has two locations, including one in Oakland. There’s also a location at Times Square in New York.

The chain is opening a coffee shop at 1131 11th St. in downtown Sacramento — replacing Chicory Coffee & Tea, which closed in early February.

As of Thursday morning, representatives had not returned The Sacramento Bee’s requests for comment about when the shop will open.

According to its website, another BotBar cafe will open soon in Pleasanton.

News of Botbar Coffee’s latest locations comes in the wake of several local coffee shop closures.

Three Starbucks shops have closed in the Sacramento area in the past two months, including a location at 1123 12th St. in downtown Sacramento. That’s about 0.1 miles from the new BotBar spot.

Why does BotBar Coffee use robot baristas?

According to its website, Botbar’s team of engineers and coffee lovers helped create the robot baristas.

“Our robotic baristas are trained to craft the perfect blend, ensuring a consistently exceptional coffee experience,” the company said.

This allows for reliability and quality in its coffee, it said.

You can see how the process works on the shop’s Instagram post.

Sacramento residents react to new downtown cafe

Sacramento residents recently turned to social media to discuss the latest addition to the city’s coffehouse scene.

“How much do you tip a robot barista?” Reddit user Sac_Insider asked in a post Wednesday.

Many commenters said they’d give zero tips to a robot server.

“Unless the robot has to pay rent, it gets 0%,” Reddit user Flossmoor71 said.

“Maybe keep some bolts and nuts in your pocket,” another Reddit user, Zer01South, replied.

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