Robots are serving Twin Cities area diners — but are they taking human jobs?

Robot servers escort diners to tables, take orders, carry dishes, cook and clean, tasks they’ve been performing in Asian countries for more than a decade. Now they’re working at a dozen restaurants across the Twin Cities and it appears they are here to stay.

Those in the industry say this new dining frontier is about finding ways for the technology to co-exist, not to pit robots against humans.

“I really hope America leans into this type of automation. It doesn’t replace people; a robot is only as smart as the coordinates you program into it,” said Aaron Oesterreich, founder of Minneapolis-based Useabot, a go-between for manufacturers and restaurants. “Studies show that it improves guest service scores that generally results in better tips and boosts the morale of employees.”

The use of robots in restaurants increased during the pandemic amid labor shortages, according to the research journal Cell Press. But the robots have stuck around as restaurateurs are seeing additional benefits from the AI-driven technology.

According to the restaurant industry resource organization Restaurant HQ, Asian Pacific countries are more likely to employ restaurant robots while North America is the next largest growing market.

In the Twin Cities area, the majority of restaurants employing robots are Asian eateries, where the machines act as food runners. Sawatdee was the first Minnesota restaurant to bring service robots into the fold. The Thai eatery introduced them at its downtown Minneapolis and Maple Grove locations in October 2021.

“Things were kind of winding down on pandemic stuff and at the time we were really struggling with staffing,” said co-owner Cyndy Harrison. “They supported the employees that we already had and, at the time, we didn’t know what would happen.”

The robots, both named DeeDee (a play off the last part of the restaurant name, which means good in Thai), strictly transport food to tables. Harrison said she wanted to be purposeful about the robots not taking away jobs. And when business returned to pre-pandemic levels, so did the regular staff count.

“The robots are supplemental and only help run food,” she said. “The customer interaction and everything else all happens with the server.”

Employee feedback has been mostly positive, Harrison said. The robots have allowed staff more time to interact with customers and have lightened their physical load.

“At first, a lot of my staff thought it was a marketing gimmick, but with time they realized the weight that they have to carry is much less. Instead of taking a huge tray with four dishes, DeeDee can take some,” Harrison said.

“It’s really had an impact in terms of well-being and health and stress, so that’s really the biggest thing that she’s provided us.”

For Jeff Le, a server and manager at Bambu pan-Asian restaurant in Oakdale, the bringing in of a robot over a year ago was a moment of mixed feelings. But he said the robot, which staff lovingly named Rosie, has been helpful, especially when he’s the only one working the front of the house and the restaurant gets slammed. Rosie helps carry dishes to the takeout counter or dining room so Le can concentrate on food orders.

Le especially realized the extent of Rosie’s contributions a few weeks ago, when she unexpectedly “took the night off.” He tried to keep up with a dinner rush, but orders got backed up and there were delays in taking orders and food arriving. (Rosie needed a software update and is running again.)

“I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and we have our way of doing things, and when we first got it, I didn’t know if I would like it,” Le said. “But in the end, it’s been very useful.”

Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse in Roseville factored robots into the equation right from the start. When the all-you-can-eat restaurant opened its doors more than a year ago, the format — Korean barbecue and hot pot, in which customers select from an expansive menu of ingredients to cook tableside — meant that a dozen or more items per table were constantly coming out of the kitchen.

The restaurant uses the robots to bring food from the kitchen to customers, said Shinhwa’s Nancy Zheng, shortening the time it takes to complete orders.

Service robots can be leased or bought, with prices based on model and maintenance plans. Some restaurants have looked to Texas-based Robot Lab, where leases start at $333 per month and the purchase price starts at $15,900. At Minneapolis’ Useabot, service robots start at $361 a month to lease on a three-year term or $13,000 to purchase. Oesterreich said his company acts not only as a distributor to local and national restaurants, but includes extensive tech support.

The companies go on-site at restaurants to program the robots, mapping out spaces. Once in service, staff puts food on trays built into the robot and enters a destination via touchscreen. The restaurants’ DeeDees and Rosies then head to their programmed destinations, such as a dining table, bar or takeout counter.

En route, the robot knows to weave in and out of furniture, thanks to the mapping system. Meanwhile, cameras and sensors also direct them to stop — sometimes backing up, pivoting and rerouting — when an object or person unexpectedly appears.

Like home computers, robots receive regular software updates that upgrade function and performance. That includes a catalog of phrases and songs. The robots play everything from pop to classical music, also serving as audio cues that they are passing through. At Hot Pot City at Asia Mall in Eden Prairie, a robot delivered dessert to a birthday girl while playing a happy birthday tune.

Some even have speaking roles.

“Excuse me, here I am” and “Here I am, coming through,” robots chimed at Shinhwa in Roseville and Dragon Pot in Richfield as they moved through the room.

Although meant to make life smoother, the robots come with caveats beyond the occasional technical glitch.

“Like any restaurant technology, robot waiters have their limits. They break down. They don’t work well with stairs or the outdoors,” according to a report from Restaurant HQ. “They aren’t as maneuverable as a human and need more space to operate in. And, of course, they don’t have the capacity of humans to deal with the unexpected or empathize with a customer.”

The report cited the 2020 move by Chili’s restaurant chain to bring robot servers, all named Rita, to 61 locations, only to put the move on pause two years later. “It found Rita was too slow, got in the way of the human servers, and didn’t significantly enhance customer experience. They may not work well for soups or drinks, either.”

Sawatdee’s Harrison can relate, and wonders if she’ll get a replacement robot if any of the current ones break down permanently. While many are built with a “gyroscopic tray” to prevent spills, Harrison found it doesn’t work when factoring in things such as changes in elevation. As a result, DeeDee is not allowed to carry drinks.

And while no collisions have occurred — DeeDee knows to yield or reroute when its path is obstructed — co-workers joke that it’s sometimes they who end up having to stop in their tracks.

“When she’s moving through the kitchen, it’s tight so my staff will stand back along the wall and try to give her room because she has a pretty wide berth. If you’re too close to her, she’ll say ‘obstruction’ and just stop,” Harrison said. For those reasons, they’ll take DeeDee off the floor if it’s too busy.

Still, they’ve found those quirks to be a small trade-off for what the technology has brought to the staff and customer experience. They’ve even come to embrace the fact that DeeDee is something of a novelty.

“It’s really fun seeing people who haven’t seen that kind of thing before come in and you see them taking pictures,” Harrison said. “And kids get super excited when they see DeeDee, they’re jumping up and down.”

Local restaurants where robots have been spotted:

Bambu pan-Asian and sushi, Bergen Plaza, 7061 10th St. N., Oakdale, 651-747-1000; bamburestaurants.com

Dragon Pot all-you-can-eat hotpot, 9 E. 66th St, Richfield, bit.ly/dragonpot

Hot Pot City all-you-can-eat hot pot, Asia Mall, 12160 Technology Dr., Eden Prairie, 952-856-5880, asiamallmn.com

Jpot all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue and hot pot, 1845 County Rd. D, Maplewood, 651-363-3346, jpotmn.com

Kura Sushi a la carte Japanese dishes and all-you-can-eat sushi, Mall of America, 378 North Garden, Bloomington, 612-601-0778, kurasushi.com

New Fresh Wok Chinese and sushi, 1533 Larpenteur Av. W., Falcon Heights, 651-645-8883, newfreshwokusa.com

Rose Garden Chinese restaurant (shift starts 2 p.m. after the buffet closes), 1925 Coon Rapids Blvd. NW, Coon Rapids, 763-323-2080, rosegardencr.com

Sawatdee Thai fare, downtown Minneapolis (607 Washington Av. S. 612-338-6451) and Maple Grove (7885 Main St. N.,763-494-5708) locations, sawatdee.com

Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse all-you-can-eat barbecue and hot pot, 2181 Snelling Av. N., Roseville, 651-583-5688, bit.ly/shinhwakorean

Upin Hotpot and sushi, 8000 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Park, 763-898-3380, upinhotpotmn.com