Robots, with catlike faces, join the wait staff at Wichita sushi restaurants
There’s something causing a stir at the new Ninza Sushi Bar at 13th and Tyler along with the Ninza Sushi East at 306 N. Rock Road, but it’s not the food.
Robots with catlike faces are attracting attention for serving meals.
Owner Ada Yang said she invested tens of thousands of dollars — she won’t say precisely how much — in the robots for a number of reasons.
“I don’t expect to make the money back. It’s just part of my investment. . . . I want people to see we’re spending money on them.”
And the customers love it.
“Especially kids,” Yang said.
She said children want to go more often and spend birthdays there. A lot of customers shoot video of the robots as well.
“I didn’t expect that.”
Also, in a time of staffing shortages, Yang said the robots provide an extra set of hands, even if there are no hands.
The robots basically are carts that are programmed to deliver food and drinks around the restaurant.
Usually, Yang tries to make sure the robots are accompanied by staff members who can unload food and drinks — she said she still wants to provide that customer service — but if the restaurant is slammed, she might send the robots on their own.
“Our staff are still adjusting,” Yang said of working with the robots.
Yang’s Blue Fin Sake Bar & Sushi downtown doesn’t yet have a robot because the floors are more uneven, and she wants to test her existing robots first.
A lot of customers pet the robots, and the robots respond with various phrases.
Yang is going to start a Facebook poll this week for customers to name the robots.
She’s hoping for something like Mochi or Ginger or another name that relates to Asian food.
Yang is taking all name suggestions, but she has an idea for the direction she wants to go.
“I’m still debating, but from its voice, I think it’s female.”
Yang said she first saw a robot at a restaurant in Dallas and thought the fad wouldn’t last long, but she’s changed her mind, and she said skeptical customers have, too.
“They don’t equal another employee. Never. But I think they help relieve some of their stress.”
