Robot waiters in Northern Ireland: The robots are coming - and they are serving burgers... meet Pudu's Bellabot

According to Bryan Chan, the reaction so far has been.... several complaints from people who hoped to be served by a robot - but got a human instead.

Bryan is Group Digital Optimisation Manager with SSP Group, a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in worldwide travel venues.

Four robots are currently operating at their Sip & Stone restaurant in Belfast International Airport.

"Families love it when they walk in and see the robots walking about the floor. serving food," Brian told the News Letter.

"Straight away people are getting their phones out and want to take pictures and videos.

"We actually had a few complaints where people were saying, 'Oh, we wanted to be served by a robot waiter but got a human instead'. So the feedback has been very positive.

"Little kids in particular will walk up to them and try to talk to them - the robot has the face of a cat on its digital screen."

The robots have radar so will stop if a child walks up to them and according to promotional material, they can be stroked on the head and will smile in return.

The waiters zoom along quite quietly and even wink as they pass you by.

"They have pre-recorded messages like, 'Excuse me I'm here', or 'Can I get back to work' if people are holding them back.

"They can even sing happy birthday as they go along, if you want to send it to a table with a birthday cake."

The company currently has trials ongoing in airports in Frankfurt, Oslo and Belfast - which is the biggest trial of the three.

And as SSP owns hundreds of food outlets in travel venues across the UK, they could soon become a common sight in airports and railways stations much further afield.

Sarah Nash is Marketing Director of Broughshane-based company Stephens Catering, which markets the robots across the island of Ireland.

The company currently has robots operating in businesses such as restaurants, leisure centres, airports and supermarkets from Belfast to Omagh and across to Donegal.

The model featured is called 'Bellabot' and is made by Chinese company Pudu, costing £11,665. An entry level model, the KettyBot, is £8330.

"It is not pricey when you think that they work seven days a week and are sometimes doing hundreds of miles in that timespan," Sarah told the News Letter.

"Especially since Covid, employing and retaining staff has been really hard, so these aren't taking jobs, they are making life easier.

"In some restaurants it is quite a big distance from the kitchen to the front-of-house, and these guys are mapped out in advance - they are really intelligent kit.

"So the kitchen staff can send it to, say table 5, and off it goes.

"In some places the waiter meets the robot at the table and serves the food.

"But in other places they go straight to the table and people serve themselves.

"And then in a lot of restaurants they bring the dirty dishes back to the kitchen as well."