'I think it's hysterical.' Robot with a personality serves guests at this New York restaurant
On a recent lunchtime at The Distillery Restaurant in the Finger Lakes, diners looked on with surprise and interest as the restaurant's newest staff member delivered their meals. Some even took videos with their phones.
"28, your order has arrived," the server announced at table 28. "Enjoy your meal."
Meet Lily, the unofficial nickname that the rest of the staff has given to the robot who has been on the job for a month now; its permanent name will be decided in a contest on social media.
"I think it's adorable," said Patricia Stewart as a server transferred the dishes from the robot's tray to the table. Renee Pradia, her dining companion, also thought it was a good idea, noting that it could carry heavy trays and alleviate accidents in which dishes are dropped.
The staff at this restaurant in Victor, Ontario County, loads the robot with plates of food and uses a touch screen (which also serves as the robot's face) to input the table number. A GPS guides it to a table although it does get lost every now and then. If a person or an object is blocking its path, it will recognize the obstruction, stop, make a face and politely ask, "please let me pass."
The robot has its own personality, said Randy Slifer, vice president of operations for The Distillery Restaurant Franchising Corp. It can tell guests about specials and sing songs like "Happy Birthday." It also helps bus tables, transporting dishes back to the kitchen.
While robots are new to the Rochester area, they have been rolling out across the country over the past several years.
Lelulo’s in Cape Coral, Florida, and the Haus of Pizza in Palm Desert, California, are among the other restaurants who use robots to deliver food to tables. In Tempe, Arizona, Venezia’s Pizzeria uses a robot to deliver pizzas to addresses within a short distance from the restaurant. Robots have also been used to make coffee, smoothies, bread and sushi.
The Distillery's robot was made by Richtech Robotics, which is based in Austin, Texas. The Distillery said it purchased the robot but did not disclose the price; similar models are reported as being in the price range of $20,000 to $30,000.
More: Who serves Rochester's best chicken wings? The results of our poll for 9 categories
Some food and drink establishments say the robots have been a way of dealing with worker shortages, which have been a struggle in the industry for most of the past year. While some workers have returned since early 2021, there were 140,788 fewer hospitality workers in New York state in November than in February 2020, a nearly 21% drop, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Staffing issues were a factor when the Distillery first started seriously considering the robot six or seven months ago, but the restaurant is now fully staffed, Slifer said.
Instead, the robot enables servers to spend more time in the dining room. The robot can carry up to 80 pounds, reducing the physical nature of servers' jobs.
"I think it's hysterical," was the first reaction from Mary Loverdi, who used her phone to record the robot delivering the meal to her table.
"We're in the future now," she said.
This story includes reporting from James B. Cutchin, Randy Kambic, Katherine Fitzgerald and Marco della Cava.
Tracy Schuhmacher is food and drink reporter and a storytelling coach for the USA Today Network's Storytellers Project. Email her at TracyS@Gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram as @RahChaChow, or sign up for her weekly newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Robot with a personality serves guests at this New York restaurant
