CLOSE AD ×

Sleek quinoa automat coming to NYC

Lunchtime!

Sleek quinoa automat coming to NYC

Love quinoa but loathe human interaction? A California–based restaurant is bringing its healthy quinoa power bowl automat (yeah) to Midtown this fall.

At Eatsa, which has locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, patrons order via iPads instead of popping coins into a slot in exchange for food. Diners can customize their quinoa bowls, or choose options like the “Cantina Kale Salad” or “Chili con Quinoa” a-la-carte. In the video below, food blogger Eddie Lin, alternating between amazement and pure, unadulterated joy, offers a blow-by-blow look at the bowl-ordering process:

Other corners of the internet are abuzz about the old-fangled concept updated for 21st-century habits. See this diner pick up his food and beverages from the slot with his name displayed on it:

Greetings from the future. Coolest restaurant ever!!! #eatsa @meagle23

A video posted by Chelsea Franco (@francothetank0) on

Quinoa bowls are prepared behind the scenes by real live people but delivered automatically into cubbies with light-up, numbered displays and include the diner’s name. While Bamn!, the short-lived automat on St. Marks Place, had a vintage, Jetsons-in-pink aesthetic, Eatsa’s brand skews more Apple Store. Crucially, while the automats of yore kept items to temperature with in-cubby heating, Eatsa’s items are made to order.
As an added bonus, all dishes are priced under $7.00. Mmmm.
CLOSE AD ×