In a bold move that could reshape the fast food industry, a new restaurant in Silicon Valley is serving burgers faster than ever—without a single human hand in the kitchen. Burgerbots, a fully automated burger joint located in the affluent tech hub of Los Gatos, is using robotic technology to prepare and serve burgers in just 27 seconds.
The innovative concept is led by entrepreneur Elizabeth Truong, who developed the restaurant in collaboration with ABB Robotics. Her aim: to bring greater consistency, transparency, and efficiency to food service by removing the variability of human labor. According to Truong, the system allows for better visibility into food costs, more accurate forecasting, and ultimately smarter business decisions for restaurant owners.
Inside the restaurant, two robotic arms—named Flexpicker and YuMi—work together in a seamless process to assemble burgers from scratch. The Flexpicker identifies customer preferences using QR code data, then rapidly picks toppings like cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, and the restaurant’s signature sauce. Once the toppings are added, the YuMi arm takes over to finish assembling, wrapping, and presenting the final product. The entire process is completed in less than 30 seconds, delivering a hot, fresh burger with mechanical precision and no downtime.
The launch of Burgerbots follows closely behind California’s recent implementation of a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, a move that has significantly impacted the economics of the industry. While many businesses have struggled with rising labor costs, Truong viewed the moment as an opportunity to innovate. By automating the kitchen, Burgerbots reduces dependency on human workers and increases operational efficiency, though not necessarily at a lower cost to customers. A single burger at Burgerbots is priced at $18, a figure that has surprised many who assumed automation would drive prices down.
Despite its futuristic appeal, the high-tech kitchen has also raised serious concerns about job displacement. A 2025 report from the World Economic Forum projects that 92 million jobs worldwide could be lost to automation and artificial intelligence by 2030, with fast food workers and cashiers among the most vulnerable. Critics argue that while automation may benefit business owners and tech developers, it leaves millions of workers at risk, especially those relying on service jobs for income.
Truong maintains that Burgerbots isn’t about replacing workers, but rather redefining the customer experience and restaurant model for the modern age. With labor shortages and growing demand for fast service, robotic kitchens could be the answer to persistent staffing challenges, she said. And with the ability to operate around the clock without breaks or sick days, robots offer a level of consistency that even the most experienced kitchen staff might struggle to match.
Customer reactions to the experience have been mixed. Some are fascinated by the novelty of watching their food being assembled by robotic arms, while others feel uneasy about the lack of human interaction. For many, the sleek, minimal design of the restaurant and the high-speed assembly process is more reminiscent of a tech expo than a traditional burger joint. Some diners have praised the accuracy and cleanliness of the service, calling it impressive and efficient. Others, however, question whether an $18 burger is worth the price of losing the personal touch and hospitality typically associated with dining out.
Regardless of opinion, Burgerbots is clearly a glimpse into what the future of fast food might look like. Across the country and around the world, similar technologies are being tested, from robotic coffee machines to AI-powered drive-thrus and salad-assembling arms. As labor laws evolve and demand for quick service grows, restaurants may increasingly turn to automation not just as a luxury, but as a necessity.
What remains to be seen is how this transformation will affect the human workforce in the long term. While robots might solve some short-term business problems, they could also deepen economic divides by pushing low-income workers out of jobs with few alternatives. Whether automation in food service is a sign of progress or a warning of what’s to come, one thing is clear: the burger business will never be quite the same.
In Los Gatos, the age of the burger-flipping robot has officially begun—and it’s serving meals faster than most humans can say “with fries, please.”
