‘The reactions from the customers have been fantastic’: Eastbourne restaurant raves about robot waiter

Taylor’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in The Beacon got ‘BellaBot’ at the beginning of April.

Mark Taylor, who is the managing director at the restaurant, said: “The reactions from the customers have been fantastic. The first post we put up on Facebook and Instagram got over 5,000 views.

"Of course there is the very select few making comments of ‘who lost their job?’ or ‘that is ridiculous’ and we have even had a couple of customers that have directly told the staff they don't want to be served by the robot.”

Mr Taylor said no one has lost their job because of the robot and that Bella is there to assist staff.

He added: “Of course the biggest fan base is children. They are just mesmerised by Bella as soon as they walk in.”

Mr Taylor said he believes there has been an increase in new customers visiting the restaurant and that the amount of birthday bookings has doubled.

He added: “Bella comes to the table and on route sings happy birthday. This gives an amazing personal experience to the customer.”

Mr Taylor explained that Bella works out to cost £85 a week – around £12 a day.

He said: “The reason we got Bella was after we visited the HRC Catering Exhibition up in London at the ExCeL Arena. The company we purchased Bella from is called Hutech Robotics.

"The idea and the looks on people faces as these robots were going around was amazing. It got me thinking when we got home and I believed not only could we use Bella to attract new customers up here but practically as well, with taking food out, she could make it easier with bigger tables as it would save time for the waitresses going back and forward to the kitchen and therefore they could spend more time on the restaurant floor being more attentive to the customers and creating more revenue.”

The restaurant and sports bar opened in The Beacon in Terminus Road back in November 2019.

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