If you have ever been to a slot machine, you recognize that they are usually meant for things like chips, drinks, or candy.
But one particular slot machine in Jersey City, New Jersey, offers such a lot quite that.
It serves up hot, made-to-order burgers at the press of a button. The machine, called RoboBurger, was recently installed inside the Newport Centre Mall. And surprisingly enough, a review of the burgers themselves is pretty good.
Co-founded by Audley Wilson, the company serves “restaurant-quality freshly grilled burgers from scratch.” Their first machine is often found at the mall’s northern exit on the second floor.
Taking the COVID-19 restaurant era to new heights, the slot machine offers an entire contactless ordering and delivery experience via a chute at the front of the machine.
Despite the physical constraints of a slot machine, RoboBurger uses a five-step cooking process. The machine grills the patty, toasts the bun, dispenses condiments, assembles the burger, and delivers the food to the customer. In addition, the machine includes an indoor refrigerator, an automatic grill, and a cleaning unit.
Using a touch screen, customers can add toppings to their burger while the robot grills the patty and delivers it around six minutes later. The machine accepts cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
RoboBurger’s patties are 100% grass-fed beef, rounding out the value of a burger to be around $7 each. So what do the burgers taste like?
\Today.com writer Jessica Montgomery tried RoboBurger for the primary time—and she was shocked at how good it had been.
“My perception of slot machine food completely changed once I took my first bite,” Montgomery wrote. “RoboBurger is simply the start of a revolution within the food industry where meals are prepared using artificially intelligent technology.”
According to Wilson, RoboBurger has technology that will control what proportion of burger scent is released into the air while its robot chef cooks up the meal. It’s the potential to lure in customers with its aroma as they rehearse the mall.
“After a couple of simple clicks on the RoboBurger’s screen, it started the method of cooking my meal,” Montgomery said. “Moments later, the encompassing area crammed with an aroma that would only be described as a 4th of July barbecue.”
RoboBurger enters the market as high-tech innovations sweep the restaurant world. AI is becoming increasingly common in drive-thrus, where chains like Sonic and White Castle address robots to require orders and flip burgers. Last month, Chipotle announced it’s created a robot named Chippy which will make fresh tortilla chips.
RoboBurger says it’ll soon be opening locations in airports, malls, colleges, and factories.
“After trying out RoboBurger for myself, I can see it was becoming a staple in any high-traffic building,” Montgomery said. “Not only is it efficient and affordable — it tastes good, too.”
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