Florida restaurant turns to robot servers during staffing shortages

A Florida restaurant debuted their newest employee due to COVID staff shortages: a robot waiter.

Eat District in Boca Raton says the addition of the robot, named Bella, is a hit with customers.

Owner Louis Grayson told WSVN "all the reaction has been great. Everybody’s loved it."

The reaction to Bella at Eat District has been similar to reactions of robots working at another of Grayson’s restaurants, The Sea in Delray Beach.

Grayson said the robots are the answer to staffing shortages caused by the pandemic, telling WSVN "with the labor shortage, it’s helped us with having an extra helping hand inside the restaurant."

According to Grayson, Bella's efficient and provides contactless delivery of food.

Despite only working at the restaurants for a few weeks, Grayson says the robots are a hit with diners.

As for concerns robots are taking away jobs from humans, Grayson says that’s not the case and that he's hiring for every position at every one of his restaurants.

The robots, made by Pudu Robotics, retail for $20,000.00 a piece.