Fully Autonomous Pizzeria Helps Restaurants Tackle Labor Shortages

AI tech group Nala Robotics’ new restaurant-as-a-service platform offering; Pizzaiola brings automated services to restaurants to ease pressure on an industry still facing post-pandemic labor shortages and economic instability.

The automated robotic chef and kitchen’s AI-controlled robotic arms can make up to 50 pizzas per hour, as well as other menu options including salads, pasta and burgers, with components for these additional items easily added or dismantled depending on a customer’s needs.

The bot features natural language processing capabilities, allowing it to hear and respond to customers’ spoken orders, with the bot also able to scan and assess more than 1,200 parameters every microsecond, keeping tabs on both food safety and other possible surrounding hazards.

Ajay Sunkara, Nala Robotics co-founder and CEO, says the model allows kitchens to seamlessly add friers, grills and other food making and prep stations within the same 144-square foot area to offer additional menu items, such as fries, bowls, burgers, wings, salads, pasta and more.

 “While the restaurant industry continues to experience labor shortages, consumers still crave unique dining experiences,” Sunkara said. “The Pizzaiola platform enables restaurants to serve a variety of popular dishes beyond pizza that will increase revenue per square foot, as well as helps fill employment gaps associated with brick-and-mortar establishments. Our own analysis has shown that Pizzaiola can provide the same output as two full-time workers, plus it’s capable of working 24-7-365, while yielding a solid return on investment in less than two years.”