Robot servers In Metro Vancouver restaurants get mixed reviews

While one restaurant in Metro Vancouver has "fired" robot servers in favour of human ones, another says they work well and that their novelty attracts customers.

Hao's Lamb Restaurant in Richmond was one of the first in the region to bring in robot servers, but the excitement quickly died down.

"It's not too convenient," said Xianqi Wei, an employee at the restaurant.

The restaurant brought in the bots during the pandemic when restrictions were put in place which limited the number of people inside a restaurant, but when the restrictions were lifted, the restaurant realized the machines weren't agile enough to meet the demand.

"There are too many customers and the robots cannot keep up," Wei said.

"It's slow and cannot carry too many dishes. (Humans) can run anywhere, can walk anywhere. For example, if there's an obstruction, we can go around it, but robots cannot," he continued.

But HaiDiLao, a popular hotpot chain uses robot servers in its Richmond location and loves having them around.

"For me, it's really useful because with hot pots, we get a lot of small items, so when the robots bring the food to the table, it's useful and helpful," said Justin Ding, the front manager.

He said the robots have also proven popular with diners who enjoy watching them zoom around and taking photos.

"When the robot moves itself around, the customers take a photo, so it's really attractive," Ding said.

But business owners agree—nothing can entirely replace the warmth and smile of a human server.