Upon arrival, customers input their name in a kiosk, along with the number of people in their group. A receipt with a number was printed and, several minutes later, the number was called and a real-life person escorts the diner to a seat.
As it happens, that’s the point at which interaction with a human ends.
Upon being seated, everything from sushi to noodle dishes and even cheesecake is delivered by an automated train—directly to the diner. There’s no human involvement at all, even someone to explain the process .
There wasn’t exactly a lack of staff at this location —but a lack of things to do for the staff with machines doing virtually all of the work. Looking around the restaurant, CNBC noticed plenty of employees standing around—their only visible job was to clear the numerous amounts of plates collected in between customers.
Upon paying, one would assume there would be a credit card system on the tablet. There wasn’t.
At the counter near the entrance where a human worker was ready to settle the bill, and ending transaction was just like any other.