Explore Topics:
AIBiotechnologyRoboticsComputingFutureScienceSpaceEnergyTech
Robotics

Robots Invade Restaurants: Here Are Eight of Our Favorites

Robotic automation has long been the domain of manufacturing. But of late, robots have made an often entertaining and sometimes gimmicky leap to restaurants in China, Taiwan, Japan, and increasingly the US. Please accept the following video ode to Singularity Hub’s favorite restaurant robots of the past few years.

Jason Dorrier
Apr 04, 2013

Share

SH 75_#3 BIG

Robotic automation has long been the domain of manufacturing, but of late, service robots have made an often entertaining and sometimes gimmicky leap to restaurants in China, Taiwan, Japan, and increasingly the US. Please accept the following video ode to Singularity Hub’s favorite restaurant robots of the past few years.

Noodle bot: Knife-brandishing chopper of noodles, you terrify and inspire us in equal parts. You slice noodles with grim efficiency, and for that we are grateful.

Sushi bot: Although the high art of sushi-making may best be suited for human hands, we hold your pace of 3,600 robo-riceballs an hour in the highest regard.

Ice cream bot: The robot ice cream man cometh, and your theme song will echo in my skull for days to come—that is exactly as it should be.

Hamburger bot: You have no video, and yet you were liked over 5,000 times on this site alone. When your hamburgering hits YouTube—watch out.

SH 75_#1

Pizza bot: I am skeptical your vending machine pie will satisfy. Your promise of “untouched by human hands” and comical voice-over sales pitch will have to do.

Be Part of the Future

Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub.

100% Free. No Spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Bartender bot: Any old bartender can inebriate me, but true mixology is about consistency, and best of all, you won’t miss a tip or three.

Chef bot: Though merely mixing ingredients behind a plexiglass pane, your precision is admirable and stamina unmatched.

Waiter bot: You follow the track and deliver food like a pro, but it’s the dance moves that keep us coming back for more.

Jason is editorial director at SingularityHub. He researched and wrote about finance and economics before moving on to science and technology. He's curious about pretty much everything, but especially loves learning about and sharing big ideas and advances in artificial intelligence, computing, robotics, biotech, neuroscience, and space.

Related Articles

A line of workers at video-game-like terminals

Companies Could Soon Staff ‘Stubbornly Local’ Jobs With Workers 4,000 Miles Away

Aaron Frank
A pair of JAXA moon robots, one closed up and one open and ready to navigate

Japan Thinks Swarms of Transformer Robots Could Explore the Moon

Edd Gent
A yellow robot arm in a dark room

AI Can Now Design and Run Thousands of Experiments Without Human Hands. We Aren’t Ready for the Risk to Biosecurity.

Stephen D. Turner
A line of workers at video-game-like terminals
Future

Companies Could Soon Staff ‘Stubbornly Local’ Jobs With Workers 4,000 Miles Away

Aaron Frank
A pair of JAXA moon robots, one closed up and one open and ready to navigate
Space

Japan Thinks Swarms of Transformer Robots Could Explore the Moon

Edd Gent
A yellow robot arm in a dark room
Robotics

AI Can Now Design and Run Thousands of Experiments Without Human Hands. We Aren’t Ready for the Risk to Biosecurity.

Stephen D. Turner

What we’re reading

Be Part of the Future

Sign up to receive top stories about groundbreaking technologies and visionary thinkers from SingularityHub.

100% Free. No Spam. Unsubscribe any time.

SingularityHub chronicles the technological frontier with coverage of the breakthroughs, players, and issues shaping the future.

Follow Us On Social

About

  • About Hub
  • About Singularity

Get in Touch

  • Contact Us
  • Pitch Us
  • Brand Partnerships

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
© 2026 Singularity