A robot served me coffee at XNA — and I kind of loved it
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The Bionics by Onyx kiosk at XNA, where a robotic arm crafts lattes with near-surgical precision. Photo: Delano Massey/Axios
One experience when visiting Northwest Arkansas National Airport struck me (no, not Slim Chickens — though I did try it and Zaxby's still wins). It was trying out the robot coffee shop, Bionics by Onyx.
Why it matters: I've heard most locals walk past it. But for travelers — especially newbies — that robot kiosk near Gate A1 was a charming surprise.
What they're saying: "That's at the airport to impress people like you when they get off the plane," Axios Northwest Arkansas' Worth Sparkman told me.
- It worked; I was intrigued and decided to find out more about the robot serving coffee.
The big picture: The robot is one of two kiosks in the area, and they are part of a bigger experiment by Onyx Coffee Lab, the Northwest Arkansas brand already known for high-end coffee, sleek cafés, and its shiny new three-story Springdale flagship.
- "We always try to innovate," Onyx co-founder Jon Allen told Axios. "This started during COVID, when we were asking: how can we deliver high-quality coffee in a no-contact way?"
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Zoom in: The robotic barista is the result of a partnership with a San Francisco-based company. It crafts a limited menu—espresso drinks, lattes, even matcha—on demand. The robot's performance wasn't perfect out of the gate:
- "During beta, it was up about 60% of the time," Allen said. "Now it's closer to 95%."
- One major hiccup was airport security. Refilling the machine with beans required hours of screening and clearance. "Half the downtime was just trying to get coffee past TSA," Allen said.
State of play: Onyx sees Bionics as a complement to its in-person service, not a replacement. Allen says the robot has already paid off in marketing alone.
- "We're not trying to replace baristas," he said. "But for places like airports, universities, even museums—it makes sense."
- Onyx already operates a Bionics unit outside its Bentonville café, keeping the location running 24/7. The company also plans to expand to the University of Arkansas and a local museum.
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Yes, but: The robot still has limits; one customer didn't have Google or Apple Pay. She gave me $6, and I bought her a latte.
- Allen knows that limitation and says Onyx is working on an app to let customers pre-order from the tarmac or classroom.
And yes, they're gathering customer data—regional preferences starting to emerge by flight origin. New Yorkers, apparently, like different beans than Dallas folks.
- "We're seeing rushes at certain times from certain cities that then prefer certain drinks," Allen said. "Flights are coming in from New York, and we're seeing this coffee continue to move — that's interesting to us."
The bottom line: The Bionics robot isn't perfect, but it works—and it's serving legit coffee near Gate A1.
- If nothing else, it's a damn cool welcome mat for Northwest Arkansas.