I went to the world's first Sweetgreen where robots make your salad, and now I'm convinced it's the future of restaurants
Joe Ciolli
- The world's first robot-driven Sweetgreen recently opened in Naperville, Illinois.
- A futuristic machine called the Infinite Kitchen prepares orders flawlessly and quickly.
When I moved from New York City to the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois during the heart of the pandemic, I figured I'd be making some culinary compromises.
I'd have to trade NYC staples like Joe's Pizza for the casserole-style deep dish Chicago is best known for. If I wanted a Michelin star I'd have to drive an hour to downtown. Good bagels? Forget about it.
So imagine my surprise when Sweetgreen — the LA-based fast-casual salad restaurant with more than 200 locations nationwide — announced it was opening in Naperville. And not just any Sweetgreen. This was set to be the world's first robot-operated location.
The centerpiece of the restaurant is a massive apparatus called the Infinite Kitchen. Featuring dozens of clear glass tubes packed with Sweetgreen's 50-or-so ingredients, it looks like something you might find in a sci-fi movie. Already a Sweetgreen enthusiast from my time in NYC, I knew I had to try it. And when I made the trip, it exceeded even my wildest expectations.
If this type of robo-driven restaurant turns out to be scalable, I feel confident saying what I experienced could very well be the future of the food industry. Now, without further adieu, here's what it's like to get salad at the world's first robo-Sweetgreen:
I found the new Sweetgreen in downtown Naperville next to a Nike Running store, making it a prime destination for the health-inclined.
Walking inside, I spotted a resplendent ordering counter. Multiple touchscreens were available for customers to enter their selections, and the lighting was vibrant.
I've always been a Harvest Bowl guy, so obviously I had to go with my old favorite. My wife opted for the Chicken Tostada Bowl.
Then the magic began. A bowl dropped out of the machine and salad was dispensed inside. The bowl then spun around a few times, giving the proceedings some extra flair. Any non-salad bowls scooted down to the next station.
The Infinite Kitchen machine uses tubes to dispense and mix the greens. Humans have to periodically refill the tubes with ingredients.
Further down the assembly line, I spotted tubes of about 50 various ingredients waiting to be dispensed into the bowls below. Beets, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas, assorted cheeses... this automated smorgasbord had it all.
Bowls hummed along the conveyor-belt undercarriage of the ingredient section, collecting veggies and rotating accordingly.
At one point I counted nine bowls in total making their way down the assembly line. This place really cranked 'em out.
At the end of the line, after all the ingredients were dispensed, the bowls awaited a final human touch.
Look, a human! At this point in the process, an employee stepped in to put the final touches on the orders. They added sides of dressing and additional garnishes.
Another employee made sure containers were sealed and labeled, and placed them on a to-go rack.
The to-go racks held orders for delivery and online order pickup. More than 60% of Sweetgreen's orders are placed online.
Despite the autonomous nature of the wildly impressive Infinite Kitchen, human labor was still crucial for the operation. I spotted employees preparing ingredients, same as any other Sweetgreen. There was also someone monitoring the ordering kiosks, offering assistance and even handing out samples.
The finished product looked no different than a bowl prepared by a human. When ordering, I chose to keep my ingredients separate, while my wife selected the option to have hers mixed.
The Harvest Bowl in particular was a model of perfection. Look at those carefully measured and distributed ingredients! At this point it's safe to say I'm an Infinite Kitchen believer.
If this Sweetgreen location is successful, it will surely raise questions around whether robot-driven food preparation is possible on a grander scale. Giant machines are expensive and difficult to install, and employees will need to be trained for the new systems.
There's also the matter of how similar mechanisms can be adapted for more complex types of food. It's very much still an ambitious idea, but one that could offer an exciting new dimension to the food industry.
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