MIAMI – The future of dining has arrived in Miami, and it’s cooking dinner, too.
Better Days Robotic Kitchens, the city’s first fully robot-run restaurant, is serving up Mediterranean-inspired gourmet meals for as little as $4 to $15.
Using three different heating methods, the AI-powered robots prepare dishes in just two to four minutes, offering precision cooking that rivals human chefs.
“It starts in a real kitchen with real chefs,” said Ryan Ramseyer, general manager of Better Days Robotic Kitchens. “We have a team of chefs here in Miami who have curated a menu that we think is attractive for this market.”
Meals are prepared in batches, packaged with recipes embedded in the labels, and handed off to the robots for final cooking.
Once an order is placed, the robots take over, measuring weight, moisture, and even accounting for whether the meal is for pickup or delivery.
“These ovens are deceptively simple looking, but they’re actually communicating with the robotic arm and with the freezers,” Ramseyer added. “Using AI, our ovens are able to cook the food to precision so you never have something that is overcooked or undercooked. As a last step, we do a thermal scan on all the dishes to ensure they’re cooked to perfection.”
In a demonstration, Local 10 News reporter Alexis Frazier sampled the restaurant’s homestyle macaroni and cheese, saying, “OK, it does not taste like it’s been frozen for one second. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Her favorite, however, was the spicy rigatoni.
The meals are then packaged, labeled, and placed on shelves for pickup by delivery drivers or customers.
“We don’t really have any waste in our system because of the way the robot is set up,” Ramseyer said. “The robot can continue to serve all night, 24 hours a day.”
Currently, Better Days Robotic Kitchens is operating as a pickup-only service and is available through food delivery apps.
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