Robot Works Alongside Wait Staff At Oklahoma City Restaurant

An Oklahoma City restaurant is using a robot, which works alongside the wait staff, to serve customers.

Bunny's Onion Burgers on South Meridian Avenue has been operating BellaBot since November, said Kellie Mitchell, the restaurant's manager and one of the servers. The owner decided to purchase the $16,000 robot after a similar robot brought success to his brother's restaurant.

BellaBot is a robot with four decks to carry trays of food directly to customers' tables. A server would input a table number and the robot would know exactly where to go, thanks to guidance from sensors on its body and markers installed on the ceiling of the restaurant. Bellabot also automatically stops if someone is in front of her.

In addition, the robot features a digital face of a cat that interacts with customers. If someone pets the robot's head, it would respond.

"People are like, 'I've seen her on TikTok or Instagram,'" Mitchell said. "You can pet her and, like, when she sings Happy Birthday. And she doesn't take your order or anything. So she can't replace me."

Mitchell said their wait staff has actually increased since they got the robot. She said BellaBot has also made their jobs easier.

"She carries all the plates for me. And when I'm really busy and I need to get somebody's food out right then and I don't have time, she can take it out and you can get if off yourself," said Mitchell. "My wrist is hurt right now. And so if I have to carry all those heavy trays, it would hurt me."

Although BellaBot can be self-sufficient when carrying meals to tables, Mitchell said she prefers to walk with the robot and interact with customers at their tables.

"It gives us more to talk about, really," said Mitchell. "Yeah, I think it'll help our future. Especially if it starts sweeping and mopping."