Sunny serves them sunny side up at Denny’s in Hybla Valley
The Denny’s in Hybla Valley has been there for years and served its share of the late-night party crowd on the way home from the bar, but now Denny’s has a robot that doesn’t get tired at 3 a.m.
Introducing “Sunny,” the robotic wait staffer that is always on the ball as long as the internal battery is all charged up. Local resident Angie Trijo recently came into the Hybla Valley Denny’s with her mother for a bite to eat. The robot serving tables was a surprise. “I saw our server place the plates on it and I told my mom, ‘I think a robot is about to bring us lunch!’ I thought it was pretty cool, because I'd never seen such a thing,” she said. The food was hot and the order was accurate so score one for the robot.
These robots at Denny's are made by Bear Robotics, based in California and Texas, and are models called “Servi,” and “Servi Mini.” Bear Robotics specializes in hospitality robots and works with restaurants, hotels, sports arenas and senior living facilities, their information said. The folks at Bear don't look at it as taking jobs from real people, but with a robot nearby the "staff always had a helping hand when they need it," they said on the promo video.
Vanessa Sink, Sr. Director of Media Relations at the National Restaurant Association, sees the robot as an extra hand too. When the wait staff is taking orders, interacting with the customers or socializing, the robot is there with the food on the shelves or retrieving orders, making things easier.
Robots could appear to be taking away jobs from actual people but the National Restaurant Association doesn't see it that way. "The goal for tech is not to replace people, but to get tech to take on the tasks that take up time, freeing industry professionals to focus on their core purpose: delivering a great customer experience," they said in their association publication. "The right technology integrations can help us enhance that customer experience, improve operational efficiencies, and manage risks," the NRA said.
According to the latest State of the Restaurant Industry Report, 62% of restaurant operators said their restaurant can’t support customer demand with the number of staffers they currently have on hand and 79% of operators had jobs open that were tough to fill. To support the workers they have and to find efficiencies, operators are looking to technology. More than half of adults (54%) like the amount of technology they find in restaurants, said the NRA. Surprisingly, that’s 58% of boomers, while 48% for Gen Z adults think there could be even more technology in restaurants.
No data was offered about whether patrons tip differently when they are served in part by a robot.
Trijo hopes that the robot doesn’t put people out of work and looks at the bigger picture surrounding the concerns with artificial intelligence. “It’s kind of scary to see the direction in which our world heading,” she said.
Diversity at Denny’s
Denny's has 1,649 restaurants across the world and 148 of those restaurants are outside the U.S. In 2013 and 2014 Latino Magazine named Denny’s among “Top 100 Companies providing the most opportunities for Latinos” and in 2006-2007, they were named one of the “Best 40 Companies for Diversity,” Denny’s information said.
Fortune Magazine continually ranks Denny’s at the top of its survey of “America’s 50 Best Companies for Minorities.” Denny’s ranked No. 2 in 1998; No. 6 in 1999; No. 1 in 2000 and 2001 and No. 3 in 2002, 2003. The survey is conducted among 1,200 U.S. companies.