New Orleans restaurants experiment with robots and new technology
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As New Orleans restaurants work to recover from COVID setbacks, inflation and labor shortages, some are experimenting with new tech like robots.
Why it matters: The innovations — from robots to artificial intelligence — have the potential to transform the dining experience in big and small ways for a long time to come. Unless they end up just being fads, writes Axios' Monica Eng.
Here are some ways local businesses are embracing new technologies for food service.
Robot servers: Crazy Hot Pot in Metairie, which opened in January, uses robots as "partners" with the human servers, says manager Lin Wei.
- A human server greets customers and takes orders. Then, a robot named Luna delivers the appetizers to tables. The rest of the food is via a self-serve buffet.
- The restaurant has three Keenon robots and they have been popular with patrons, especially when they sing "Happy Birthday," Wei tells Axios.
- "A lot of people want to come in just for the robot," Wei says.
QR code ordering: QR codes made a comeback during COVID as restaurants looked for ways to cut down on high-touch menus.
- They are still going strong at Sidecar. I recently visited the Rusty Nail, which shares a patio with Sidecar, and used my phone to scan a QR code on the wall to view the Sidecar menu and order a dozen oysters, which were then delivered to my table.
AI self-checkouts: The Caesars Superdome now has AI-assisted self-checkouts at its new grab-and-go markets.
- The self-checkout stations use AI to take pictures of the drinks and prepped food, and then customers pay through the nearby tablet, Superdome officials say.
- The markets and self-checkouts were added during a $500 million renovation to speed up concession wait times for guests.
Robot food delivery: Tulane University last year added 30 semi-autonomous Kiwibots to handle food deliveries on campus.
- And as of this month, UNO offers food delivery through Starship robots.
Meanwhile, a restaurant in Chicago is using artificial intelligence to crunch historical data to guide how much food to prep and how many diners to expect.
- "AI pulls up data in seconds about the weather a year ago, what kind of numbers we did on those days and what sold most," Urbanbelly founder Bill Kim tells Axios.
What's next: Wei says they are exploring how to best use the robots at Crazy Hot Pot and are tweaking settings.
- Candi Qui, the restaurant's owner, also is looking at adding more tech to the location, such as LED floors with graphics that simulate the beach, Wei says.
The bottom line: Globally, non-humanoid robots are being used as security guards, autonomous taxis and kitchen workers — but these are early days, and there are still lots of mishaps, writes Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson and Joann Muller.
- No doubt we'll all grow more accustomed to more robots in our midst — even as we debate whether they're actually taking our jobs.
🗣 Tell us: Have you noticed any other new tech at New Orleans restaurants? Let us know at [email protected].