Nadia effortlessly glides across the restaurant, delivering food from the kitchen to the tables. Only Nadia is not your usual smiling restaurant lady: Nadia is a robot!
Equipped with advanced artificial intelligence and self-driving technology, Nadia navigates the dining area with precision, avoiding obstacles and ensuring that each order is delivered accurately and efficiently.
No wonder Robot Café, the newest restaurant in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, is generating a buzz and curious peeping. Located in Kileleshwa, a bustling neighbourhood west of Nairobi, the eatery offers a glimpse at the future of hospitality and even other professionals.
The star attractions at Robot Cafe are its three robot servers. And since it is arguably the first restaurant in Kenya and East Africa to deploy robotic technology in serving customers, it is hogging attention.
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Mr John Kariuki Mwangi, Robot Cafe’s manager, says they are out to create a memorable dining experience that combines technology with great service. “Our robot servers have helped streamline our operations,” Mr Mwangi told Anadolu News Agency. “They’ve made the delivery system more efficient, while also freeing up our human staff to focus on what they do best: connecting with our customers.”
Customers are overly excited. They are visibly amused less by the food than the electronic “individuals” whizzing around with trays of food and drinks.
Novelty and Concerns
Besides enhancing efficiency, the deployment of robots at Robot Café has added a touch of novelty to restaurant. Interestingly, the robots greet customers with a friendly digital smile and can even sing “Happy Birthday”, much to the delight of patrons.
“It was a great surprise,” says Ms Sharon Mwazemba, who on the Friday evening celebrated her 39th birthday at Robot Cafe, and the robots did a jig for her. “The sight of robots singing for me was just mind-boggling.”
With the entry of robots in the hospitality industry, some worry about the potentially negative impact on human employment, while others fault the lack of human touch.
Alternating with normal waiters, the robots have taken a lot of pressure off during the busy hours, workers at Robot Café say. They can now dedicate more time to engage customers, thus improving their experience and strengthening their loyalty.
Mr Mwangi, the restaurant’s manager, said he believes the technology has the potential to revolutionise the dining experience, with Nadia hopefully being able to perform more technical functions. “The robots are not here to replace our staff, they’re here to assist them,” he says. “Our goal is to use technology to improve efficiency and service, not to take away the human element that is so important in hospitality.”
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