Robots Serving Healthy, Cheap Fast Food At This New San Francisco Restaurant

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/ ^ | August 31, 2015 6:53 PM

[dennisw]

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — There’s no one at this new San Francisco vegetarian restaurant to take your lunch order or tell you when its ready.

Instead, you’ll depend on machines for a fully automated dining experience straight out of an episode of The Jetsons.

Welcome to Eatsa, a new futuristic fast food chain opening Monday in the Embarcadero (121 Spear Street) offering quick, healthy food for about $7 — a deal compared to other lunch time options in San Francisco.

Customers tap their meal selections on an iPad or their smartphone and pay electronically. No cash is taken here. Then when the order is ready, hands slide the meal into a “cubby,” which lights up with the customer’s name. The plan is for it to be ready in less than minutes from the time the order is placed.

Along the way, customers may only encounter a single “concierge” to assist with ordering questions, but besides that you’re on your own. The dozen or so cooks remain unseen behind the wall of cubbies.

[dennisw]

The future is now.

Well, it certainly feels that way when you walk through the doors at the flagship location of Eatsa, a new high-tech fast food restaurant that opens today, Monday, August 31st, near San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

According to co-founders Scott Drummond and Tim Young, Eatsa is all about using technology to reinvent fast food. 

What does that mean exactly?

As far as the food, the base for these affordable, fast, healthy — and completely meat-free — meals is quinoa. Diners can select from about 8 menu options ($6.95/bowl) — like the burrito bowl with beans, corn and guacamole — or choose to customize their own bowl themselves.

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/08/31/fast-food-reinvented-eatsa-a-fully-automated-restaurant-opens-today/

 

[Opinionated Blowhard]

straight out of an episode of The Jetsons. . . . Welcome to Eatsa, a new futuristic fast food chain opening Monday

I guess this is the positive spin on raising the minimum wage so high that fast food restaurants can no longer afford to hire workers to work there. "Futuristic", as in a Hellish liberal future.

[Paladin2]

NYC has hhad an automat for decades.

[Slyfox]

But how many germs are there in robot spit?

[taxcontrol]

Is the robot getting paid $15 per hour?

[unixfox]

But I thought they wanted to pay all of those poor fast food workers $15.00 an hour.

Oh well.

[DannyTN]

"As far as the food, the base for these affordable, fast, healthy — and completely meat-free — meals is quinoa."

Somebody needs to reprogram those robots to prepare food.

Robots grilling Ribeye's now that's a story.

[DannyTN]

"As far as the food, the base for these affordable, fast, healthy — and completely meat-free — meals is quinoa."

Somebody needs to reprogram those robots to prepare food.

Robots grilling Ribeye's now that's a story.

[Bob]

As did Philadelphia in the 1950’s. The Horn and Hardardts (sp?), IIRC. Put in your coins and take out your item.

[Moonman62]

[Covenantor]

NYC Automat had coin operated doors on the menu items. Way better than this vegan place. Automats had meat dishes and as the photo shows pie and cake.

The one on East 42nd and Third was still there in the early seventies. They were the original fast food restaurants.

[JMS]

I loved the Automat! It was great fun and the food was actually pretty good. They still have them in the Netherlands at the FEBO chain.

[Maceman]

NYC has had an automat for decades.

I was thinking that the photo looked like the NYC Horn & Hardart automat that I used visit when I was a boy.

Are they still there? I always thought they closed. I could Google it and find out, but I'm too lazy.

[TBP]

“You forgot to leave a tip. A tip. A tip.”
Whack!
“Thank you.”

[Calvin Locke]

I thought the “automat” was dead, even a revived Horn & Hardart didn’t survive in NYC.

YouTube has a bunch of clips, from movie scenes set in automats, to aficionados putting together slide shows from its heydays.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Liberal techies eating away at Liberal Arts majors employment opportunities.

Will the hilarity ever cease?

[Snickering Hound]

San Fran Comical click bait.

There are no robots involved in the concept anywhere despite the headline.

[Covenantor]

Several reasons for that. The primary one being that the compartment tiers and aisle occupied way too much very expensive floorc area. Compare that to the funnel effect of MacD’s et al. Also, customers felt free to ponder and look over the portions, slowly moving from one verticle tier to another and scanning up and down, looking, say for the best appearing slice of blueberry pie.

Secondly, people sat at the tables too long. The one I mentioned had several folks who seemed to be using them as offices, always there at the same tables with only a cup of coffee.

[smokingfrog]