RoboBurger: Vending machine turns out cooked burgers
NEW JERSEY - We've all probably purchased a snack or candy bar from a vending machine. Now, imagine buying a cheeseburger. Let me introduce you to RoboBurger.
RoboBurger is a restaurant in miniature. It's called "the world’s first burger robot in a box."
It's the creation of co-founders and former college roommates Audley Wilson and Dan Braido. The RoboBurger is now set up inside the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City.
"We've been friends for a really long time. We've been focused on really trying to reinvent the food industry and we've produced this robo-burger," Wilson said.
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"It was a lot of work. Basically, the first one of these Audley, and I made by hand in his garage," Braido told me. "A true garage startup. and that gave us the backing to really go build our factory in Newark," he said.
The factory that makes the machines is in Newark and Braido says they try to hire local.
It's a new approach that could shake up the industry says fellow co-founder, Andy Siegel.
"This is an individual purchase product, you can get 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," he said. "It's a better burger, because we're making a custom for you individually."
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RoboBurger had approval from NSF International, which monitors food and water quality. It's due in large part to the machine's extremely well done cleaning system, that removes microbes and bacteria before making food.
So how does it work? Audley Wilson explains:
"Well, that's the best part. Inside of this unit, we have a freezer. and once the user selects it, it takes the patty out of the fridge, puts it into a griddle, it cooks the patty, while that's cooking it then dispense the buns puts them into a toaster (and it) toasts the buns. Then after that, the box will then go grab your buns go grab add the condiments that the user selected, then go grab the patty."
Every time you see someone try something on television -- afterward they always say it's "really good" -- Well, I was determined to not approach my taste test with that mindset.
The result: It was very good. I like to describe it this way.
If this was available at any office building, school, hospital cafeteria or most other workplaces... it would constantly be sold out and if I was nearby... I might be tempted to pop in and pick one up.
It's efficient and delicious.
"I remember when we were freshmen in college, we're at Carnegie Mellon, you know, we're an all-male dorm. if this was located there, it would be sold out every day," Wilson said.
"This is a dream come true," Braido said "You basically have a passion project and turn into our careers.