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China Open Robot- Operated Restaurant
Well, it’s not exactly as advanced as you’re used to seeing in sci-fi movies, but China’s colorful robot-themed restaurant can be a sign of things to come.
They’re probably going to render us extinct one day, so we might as well enjoy their servitude, while it lasts. A unique restaurant, in Harbin, China’s Heilongjiang Province, has 18 different robots doing all kinds of jobs, from ushering in guests to waiting tables and cooking various dishes.
All the robots were designed and created by the Harbin Haohai Robot Company. Chief Engineer Liu Hasheng, they invested around 5 million yuan ($790,000) in the restaurant, with each robot costing 200,000 to 300,000 yuan ($31,500 – $47,000). With an average cost per dinner of between $6 and $10, they won’t be recovering their investment anytime soon, but it is great advertisement for what the robot company can create.
So what happens at the Harbin robot-operated restaurant that makes it so special? As customers walk through the door, they are greeted by a robot usher that extends its right arm and says “Earth Person, Hello, Welcome to the Robot Restaurant,” with a robotic accent. After you’ve placed your order with one of the human waiters, the robots in the kitchen get cooking. There are dumpling-making robots, noodle experts and even robot chefs that get the foods right every time.
Once the meals are ready, robot waiters bring guest their orders, following a set of tracks through the restaurant. All robots are equipped with sensors which allow them to move freely without bumping into anything or anyone. As human guests enjoy their robot-cooked food, a singing robot provides the entertainment.
According to China Daily, the 18 differently-colored robots range from 1.3meters to 1.6meters in height, can show more than 10 different facial expressions and speak simple Chinese. They are controlled by a human staff in the computer room, and can work for five straight hours after a 2-hour charge
Chinese people must not enjoy working in restaurants, as they’ve had quite a few previous attempts to replace humans with robots. In 2010, they opened their first robot restaurant, in Jiang, but they’ve also invented robot cooks a couple of times. If you like this kind of robot-operated joints, you should definitely visit the Hajime Restaurant, in Japan, where robot samurai have replaced human waiters.
Halal Guys food open restaurant in East Village
The famed Halal Guys are bringing their ‘magic’ white sauce and fiery red chili sauce to 14th Street and 2nd Ave. The general manager promises more vegetarian options and, perhaps, a juice bar.
It’s official! In November, The Halal Guys will be opening up a new restaurant on 14th St.
The Halal Guys are heading downtown.
The famed food cart, known for the long late-night lines it draws on 53rd St. and 6th Ave., is opening a restaurant in the East Village this November.
The new location on 14th St. and 2nd Ave. will feature shish kebabs, more vegetarian options, and a juice bar, according to general manager Hesham Hegazy.
The food stand started out as a hot dog cart in 1990, according to general manager Hesham Hegazy.
“We’re working with the interior designer now,” Hegazy confirmed to The News, adding that The Guys are planning to add some sparse indoor seating to the venue.
The team scouted out the area by opening up a cart on that corner two weeks ago. They chose the East Village for its club scene and NYU’s nearby 14th street dorm, Hegazy said.
The cart is currently open from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m., and Hegazy plans to make sure the restaurant stays open for just as long.
The stand is popular destination in the tri-state area, especially among Desis—people of South Asian descent.
“It’s ambitious, yes,” Hegazy said. “But our customers have been asking about this for years.”
The news comes as both surprise and relief to many waiting it out on The Halal Guys line this Monday.
“Finally,” said Minsu No, a 22-year-old who traveled by car to the city from Palisades Park, N.J., just for the cart’s chicken and lamb combo. He couldn’t find parking, so he said a friend was driving around while he waited in line.
The Halal Guys are known for their gyros and rice platters, which have stayed around $6 for the past 23 years.
“I’ve been eating here for nine years,” No told The News. “I’d be at that store every day.”
The Halal Guys started out as just another hot dog cart in 1990. The company’s founders then realized there was money to be made by selling Halal food to the Muslim cabbies who drove through Midtown.
Since then, the company has grown to operate five food stands — including two stands on 6th Ave. another one on 7th Ave. and a lonely outpost at Queens’ LaGuardia Community College.
What’s so great about the food? Several people on line this Monday said that it was the white sauce. “What do they put in there? Magic, maybe?” asked Minsu No, from N.J.
Hegazy said he’s even fielded franchise requests from people in Europe and South Asia.
Still, the lines are the longest at the cart’s original location on the southwest corner of 53rd and 6th. Even though the cart on the southeast corner is selling the same food, there are rarely any lines on that side of the street.
Part of the The Halal Guys draw seems to be linked to the word-of-mouth marketing that built its fame in the first place. It’s the story people tell their friends, that there’s this one food cart on this one random corner in the city that sells this one amazing dish — but woe to the foodie who orders from the wrong guys.
“It’s psychological,” Hegazy explains. “Our name is a brand.”
It remains to be seen whether tying that brand to an actual New York address will hold the same mythical power over its fan base.
24-year-old Richard Park, from Palisades Park, N.J., has been eating The Halal Guys’ food for nearly a decade and he had no idea that there was more than one location. He’s a bit more hesitant about the move downtown.
“I’ll definitely go, but I don’t think there would be as much of a scene,” Park told The News. “I like this atmosphere, being outside. And at 4 a.m., watching all the drunk people from the clubs standing on line.”
