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Don’t take it personally if the service is a little stiff. After all, you’re ordering from a robot.
A restaurant in the Netherlands will employ two robotic waiters when it reopens for business on Monday — though it remains unclear if diners are expected to tip.
The owners of the Royal Palace restuarant in Renesse, southwestern Netherlands, demonstrate the use of robots for serving purposes, or for the collection of dirty dishes, as part of a tryout process aimed at helping to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
After a trip to China last fall, Royal Palace restaurant owner Shaosong Hu was inspired to “hire” some to work at his business in the beachside town of Renesse, The Associated Press reports.
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Robots at the Hu family's Royal Palace restaurant in Renesse. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Though Dutch restaurants have been closed for over two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, the new staffers arrived just in time for the Royal Palace’s grand reopening on Monday.
“Hello and welcome,” the two shiny white-and-red robots will say upon greeting customers, and helping to serve Chinese and Indonesian specialties like Babi Pangang and Char Siu.
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The yet-unnamed robots will be tasked with essential duties like welcoming guests, serving food and drinks and returning used tableware for cleaning. To heed new health and safety protocol in the fight against COVID-19, the robots will also help enforce social distancing rules, Hu’s daughter Leah said.
The yet-unnamed robots will be tasked with essential duties like greeting customers, serving food and drinks and returning used tablewares. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
“We will use them to make sure the 1.5 meters [5 feet] we need during the corona crisis sticks,” Leah claimed.
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Though the robots will be a big help to Royal Palace’s human employees, Leah said, their debut has been criticized by some as “impersonal.”
Though the robots will be a big help to Royal Palace’s human employees, their debut has been criticized by some as “impersonal.” (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Like it or not, the robotic servers could be just the thing to ease customer’s minds and get business booming again when restaurants finally open their doors next week, as lockdown restrictions are further eased.
When Royal Palace reopens on June 1, a maximum of 30 customers will be allowed inside, and adjustments to the robot’s programmed floorplans may have to be made at the last minute to accommodate.
The Hus also said they don’t want to hear any complaints about the robots taking a job opportunity away, claiming that it’s difficult enough to find staff in the rural region as it is.
Owners Shu Lei Hu, left, and her husband Shao Song Hu, right, demonstrate the use of their robots. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The automatic new servers also free up the human employees for greater customer engagement, they claim.
The robotic servers may help to ease customer’s minds and get business booming again when restaurants finally open their doors next week, as lockdown restrictions are further eased in the Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
“We are not disappearing. We are still here. They will always need people in this industry,” Leah said.
“For us, it is still trying to see what works.”
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As the pandemic continues, food service establishments around the world are testing creative new ways to adapt operations amid coronavirus concerns. From clear, bucket-shaped domes for diners in France to shower curtain partitions in England and socially distanced inner tube tables in Maryland, the future of dining out might look a whole lot different than what we once knew.
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