---
title: "San Francisco’s Robot Restaurants Are Going out of Business"
description: "Many of San Francisco's recently opened robot restaurants are already going out of business, as pointed out by a new Business Insider story."
date: "2020-01-14"
modified: "2020-01-14"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/san-francisco-robot-restaurants-out-business"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "restaurant"
  - "robot"
  - "san francisco"
  - "the digest"
---

# San Francisco’s Robot Restaurants Are Going out of Business

![Many of San Francisco's recently opened robot restaurants are already going out of business, as pointed out by a new Business Insider story.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/san-francisco-robot-run-restaurants-going-out-of-business.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: CafeX\</em\>*

## Kitchen Nightmares

Given its close proximity to Silicon Valley, it's no surprise that San Francisco is one of the more tech-forward cities in the world.

Case in point: in recent years, a number of restaurants run to varying degrees by robots have opened in San Fran. But according to a new *Business Insider* [story](<https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-robot-restaurants-failing-eatsa-cafex-2020-1>), if you're hoping to enjoy a meal at one of the futuristic eateries, you better hurry — because many are already going out of business.

## Closing Up Shop

In July 2019, [Eatsa](<https://www.businessinsider.com/eatsa-review-2016-6>) — a restaurant serving quinoa bowls via futuristic pickup windows — closed its locations in San Francisco because owners couldn't pay the rent. Meanwhile, robotic coffee bar [Cafe X](<https://www.businessinsider.com/cafe-x-robotic-coffee-bar-automation-2018-6>) closed all of its San Francisco locations except the one in the airport just this week, *BI* reports.

And in November 2018, Softbank-backed startup Zume pivoted from running a San Francisco-based restaurant for its pizza-making robot to focusing only on deliveries. On Wednesday, it [announced](<https://twitter.com/zumepizza/status/1215073973228261377>) it wouldn't even be doing that anymore.

## Food Failure

The failure of these San Fransisco-based robot restaurants could be attributable to the simple fact that they're restaurants, a notoriously difficult business.

Or, perhaps *BI* is onto something when it posits that diners might just prefer that their food come with a side of human interaction.

**READ MORE:** [Some of San Francisco's robot-run restaurants are failing. It could simply be that we still want to be served by humans, not machines.](<https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-robot-restaurants-failing-eatsa-cafex-2020-1>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on robot restaurants:** *[People With Paralysis Control the Robot Waiters at This Cafe](<https://futurism.com/robot-waiters-paralysis>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)