Despite the high-tech approach, the robot-made food was described as mediocre, with the beef a little rubbery and the fries, while crispy, not particularly crave-worthy. The restaurant also offers a $10 discount for customers who sign up with a facial recognition system to pay with a smile. The founders insist that the robots are not designed to replace human workers completely, but to make their work easier and safer. However, the author noted that the human-made burger from a nearby McDonald's was not only cheaper and tastier, but also delivered faster than the robot-made meal.
Key takeaways:
- CaliExpress by Flippy, which claims to be the world’s first fully autonomous restaurant, opened in Los Angeles, using AI-powered robots to prepare fast-food burgers and fries.
- The restaurant is a collaboration between multiple companies using it as a “test kitchen” for the future of fast-food technology, including Cucina, which makes the burger-making machine, and Miso Robotics, which created the french fry-making robot, Flippy.
- Flippy's AI components are designed for subtle and difficult tasks, such as adjusting to differently sized kitchens and ranges, and it uses computer vision to monitor where fry baskets are placed and adjust accordingly.
- Despite the technology, the robot-made burger was described as mediocre, though the fries were crispy and nicely browned. The author noted that human-made burgers at McDonald's were delivered faster than the robot-made ones.