At a new restaurant in California called Creator, robots flip the burgers. Two large machines slice and toast bread, cook beef patties, and apply condiments—all without human help. Together, the two burger-making bots can serve 240 burgers per hour.
Creator is the latest restaurant to combine cooking with automation. This kind of technology allows machinery to operate without assistance. Creator’s bots can make burgers faster, fresher, and more cheaply than most kitchens, says company founder Alex Vardakostas. “Tomatoes, pickles, and onions are freshly sliced,” he says. “Sauce is dispensed down to the milliliter, and seasoning is dispensed down to the gram.”
Some critics worry that autonomous robots may take jobs from people. But Creator still has about 10 staff members taking care of the machines and customers. And some things on the menu, like french fries, must still be cooked by hand . . . for now.