WAUWATOSA, Wis. — With many restaurants still facing staffing challenges, Golden Nest Pancakes & Cafe has come up with a high-tech solution.
When the lunch rush begins, it doesn’t stop for Ashley Mueller. She is the customer service manager.
To make life easier, Mueller said they recently got a robot server.
“He is here to support our staff. We brought him in. He helps deliver the food to the tables,” Mueller said. “That gives the servers a little more time to spend out on the floor, out with their guests and being on the floor, seeing and talking to their guest.”
After a whole order is placed on the robot shelves, it is sent off into the restaurant.
“He is self-preservation, so if someone gets in his path. He automatically stops to say excuse me,” Mueller said. “He knows every single table number and follows the same path every time to each table.”
Jenell Hackley ate here for the first time on her birthday.
Hackley said she was quite surprised to see her server.
“I thought it was awesome that the food came here via robot and then our waitress showed up right afterwards and served us and the service was very quick,” said Hackley.
Mueller believes this is exactly the type of customer service the restaurant wants to provide.
“We have no intention of replacing any of our staff with this robot. He is here to help support our staff and give them a little bit of movement on the floor so they can spend more time with their guest,” said Mueller.
The robot still doesn’t have a name, but the restaurant is seeking the community’s help to change that.
For Mueller, once the robot has a name he it will feel even more like a member of the team and build a stronger bond with their customers.