A Chinese restaurant chain in the north west of England has been forced to make use of robotic waiters, after struggling for staff during the Covid pandemic.
Directors at The Chinese Buffet unleashed one BellaBot in each of four restaurants in Liverpool, St Helens, Bolton and Wigan, to serve food to diners.
When the buffet re-opened after the last lockdown, its owners decided to serve food to people at the table, ordered via an app, rather than allow them to serve themselves.
This added an extra strain on the already short waiting staff, according to owners Paolo Hu and Peter Wu, who said the BellaBots had already proved popular with diners.
The guide price for the friendly-faced robots is $20,000 (£14,500), which is less than the cost of employing a waiter at minimum wage for 40 hours per week.
Quirky footage shows Bella, who features a wide-eyed feline face, sweeping across the restaurant floor dishing out delicacies to delighted customers.
A Chinese restaurant chain in the north west of England has been forced to make use of robotic waiters, after struggling for staff during the Covid pandemic
Fung laing, Kamilla Waluck, Joseph Telford, with owner Paolo Hu and restaurant manager Yuki Lee) pose with BellaBot, brought in due to Covid staff shortages
The restaurant, like many others around the world, has battled with low staff numbers since reopening after the pandemic, made worse by employees having to isolate due to the Omicron variant of Covid.
It meant that as more things opened up and got busier, the restaurant struggled to find enough servers to keep up with demand.
The Chinese Buffet spokesman David Ramsden said the BellaBot has proved to be a novel solution to the ongoing staffing problem.
He said that 'customers love it,' adding 'we have people doing TikToks, others saying the children loved the robot.
'It's quirky and really interesting. It'll attract people to come to the restaurant to see the robot serving. It's a good pull for people into restaurants.'
Families come in specifically to see Bella, and when it is someone's birthday, the robot can join human staff at the table to sing Happy Birthday to the diners, the owners said.
'During the covid pandemic, the buffets were closed even when restaurants were open because people needed to remain seated,' Mr Ramsden explained.
'Rather than being a [traditional] buffet, it became a table-service buffet. You order via the app and it was delivered directly to your table.'
This put more pressure on the waiting staff, as previously customers would go up and collect their own food, requiring fewer waiters.
Directors at The Chinese Buffet unveiled one BellaBot in each of four restaurants in Liverpool, St Helens, Bolton and Wigan, to serve food to diners in place of humans
When the buffet re-opened after the last lockdown, the restaurant chain decided to serve food to people at the table, ordered via an app, rather than allow them to serve themselves
In their testing stages, staff at The Chinese Buffet found that Bella covers 67 miles per week on average, while moving around the restaurant.
Bella has four shelves meaning she can serve four tables at once and even talk to diners in the process.
Customers place their order using The Chinese Buffet app, and the food arrives on Bella's shelves at the table - coming out 'tapas style'.
'You order a number of dishes and it's an unlimited dining experience. You order in lots of three, then you can order again and again,' explained Mr Ramsden.
'The order goes to the kitchen via the app. Prior to robots, the order would be put together and the waiting staff would take it to the table.
In their testing stages, staff at The Chinese Buffet found that Bella covers 67 miles per week on average, while moving around the restaurant
Bella has four shelves meaning she can serve four tables at once and even talk to diners in the process
