The new concept restaurant in San Francisco is wildly reminiscent of Hointer – the store with no visible manual labor and jeans that magically appear in fitting rooms via chutes. The store in question, Eastsa, is a robot-operated, quinoa-serving vegetarian restaurant.
The order process is done through an app, which is nothing new. Even stores like McDonalds allow customers to build their own burgers via mobile apps. However, based on the credit card you use, the cashier will remember your customised orders from every order. In time, a discount system will be built in to reward those based on frequency of dining.
Once an order is placed,it is processed through the backend of the restaurant while customers wait in front of blue-lit transparent locker sized boxes.
Once the order is ready, customer’s name will appear on the screen. Tap on the top right corner of the box and the door will be opened for food retrieval.
At $7 (R102,69) per bowl, it charges pretty much the same price as any other quinoa bowl would cost in San Francisco. However it will, as Hointer does, be able to minimise its labor cost as there are no hosts or servers. There isn’t even a dining space. So the restaurant is optimised in providing food and no additional service.
The first store was launched in San Francisco in August 2015. Now a second store has been opened in LA. Ten more restaurants are set to open in 2016. So far, the “zero human interaction” has proved efficient and pleased customers.
As stores become more streamlined in mechanical processes, it begs the question of how it will transform the lower income job market.
By: Carol Lin
Image credit: Eatsa (all of the above)
