Chennai gets country’s first robot-served restaurant

Indeed, India’s first robot-themed eatery that opened recently in Semmancheri has been creating a lot of hype, with actual android waiters that take orders from patrons. The décor and atmosphere, all designed with a futuristic ideal in mind, only serves to transport guests into a new world. However, the menu comprises mainly Chinese and Thai cuisine – all perfectly palatable.

The idea was the brainchild of Karthik Kannan and Venkatesh Rajendran, who had initially collaborated on opening ‘747’, a flight-themed restaurant in Chennai a couple of years ago. They can be called the ‘Shankars’ of the restaurateur world. “Naturally, we had to push the ante with our next project. ‘747’ was designed with the interior of a plane in mind with a cockpit, the works, etc. We understood then that people liked different themes… it’s all about the experience these days. China has plenty of such restaurants – but there are none in India! So, we decided to import these robots from Japan and China, and then programmed them to work at the restaurant,” Karthik said.

Customers can order food with the tablets placed on the table, after which the robots (that run on wheels) will deliver the order. “They can also interact with customers saying basic sentences. There is some artificial intelligence involved in the programming, but we can’t disclose the costs. We are thrilled that the concept has worked, since the restaurant has been booked out since we opened,” he added. They signed off saying that there is another branch with the same concept being planned, while the robots are also being synchronised further to guide customers to the table, and maybe even recognise them on repeat visits.