Imagine you’re a freshman at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. You’re strolling the campus. Your 10 a.m. class is out of the way. Your next one isn’t until 2. You’re hungry. What to do? Maybe order something. But wait? Didn’t some kid in the dorm say you can get pasta Alfredo for $10.50 at the Eighth Street Campus Kitchen? And it would be made by a robot? Yeah, this needs to happen.
FIU students, meet Beastro.
Beastro is an automated commercial kitchen from Kitchen Robotics. It can cook four dishes at a time. It is programmed by a chef at the university who uses 37 different ingredients, including liquids, pasta, proteins, and vegetables. No burgers. Nor pizzas. Nothing fried. Pastas. Omelets. Stir-fries. Even that college staple, macaroni and cheese.
The process works smoothly. A student orders on a kiosk, choosing dishes off the menu or creating something from available ingredients. A phone number is requested and when the meal is plated by a staff member a text notification sent out. The whole thing takes about four minutes. Generative AI technology collects data on choices for future analysis and menu prep. And in what may be an alluring element to prospective operators, it washes and sterilizes its pots and pans.
Beastro is proving a hit with student Panthers.
“They enjoy seeing the engineering of the machine as all the preparation is done right in front of them,” said Chris Valdes, resident district manager at FIU.
Right now Beastro is cranking out 179 dishes a day, according to Valdes. “The build-your-own pasta bowl is the most popular option,” he said.
Ofer Zinger, co-founder of Kitchen Robotics
Beastro may be a glimpse into the future, but Kitchen Robotics CEO Ofer Zinger insists it is rooted in something traditional.
“When I used to ask my grandma what was for dinner, she would look at the pantry and figure out what to prepare,” he said. “We are supporting that concept. You take out what fresh ingredients you have and build menus according to your taste. You can do Italian one week, Asian the next. We’re not cuisine dependent. It’s like conversing with your pantry.”
FIU marks the first Beastro to be fully commercial and operational, following a trial run at a Bank of America in Tampa. But Kitchen Robotics is not the first to offer an automated makeline. Miso Robotics has one. Chipotle uses one. There are others. Zinger is delighted to be mentioned with Chipotle.
“When you go to a Chipotle franchise, you will be getting the same menu every day, every week, every year,” he said. “With us, it’s fresh and innovative but also personalized.”
Kitchen Robotics offers Beastro for lease for $3,970 a month. Zinger points to savings in labor and food waste as selling points as well as the consistency in quality that automation delivers. He notes that the company has one in use in a restaurant in Toronto and one coming in Germany, as well as future locations to come on the East Coast in 2025.
The company has raised around $10 million from investors, including the Compass Group, and is preparing for another round. But Zinger makes it clear that a Beastro can now be delivered anywhere in the world, as soon as an operator wants it.
“We are one of the only companies, if not the only company, that is ready to scale,” said Zinger. “All of those videos out there of cool prototypes, maybe they’re commercial, maybe they’re tested, maybe they’ve been piloted, maybe they’re NSF certified, maybe they’ve been tried by a trusted Fortune 500 company. Or maybe they’re not. Our solution is piloted, tested, has been run live, and is ready to be installed tomorrow.”
