“Rosey the Robot” at the Good Ole’ Nite Owl in Columbia Falls

A popular Flathead Valley, Montana cafe is now home to a robot that helps deliver the food. "Rosey the Robot" is giving wait staff a helpful hand at The Nite Owl in Columbia Falls.

Whenever we bust out of our studios and do our radio show out on the town in the Flathead Valley, we typically link up with our friends from KJJR Radio in Kalispell and head to The Nite Owl in Columbia Falls for breakfast. I typically enjoy a chili cheese omelette.

We caught up with Nite Owl owner Jay Marqueson Tuesday morning. The Nite Owl has been in the family since 1979. He wanted to stress to Nite Owl customers that the robot is meant to assist the wait staff, not to replace the wait staff.

Jay Marqueson: It's not replacing staff by any means. It's a motorized cart that is a server assistant. And they're pretty cool- they're programmed into the building so that they can go to any table they want. The server puts the food on it, sends it to the table, and they meet it at the table and give them the food. They can use it for bussing tables, they can use it for all kinds of different things. It doesn't take orders, and it doesn't take money. So it's not a self checkout by any means. So that's one thing we're trying to get through to people.

They've had Rosey the Robot at The Nite Owl for about three weeks now. Not all of the servers use it, but many do. According to the Hungry Horse News, "Rosey is technically a Servi-Plus, built by Bear Robotics." Marqueson says Rosey is very popular with customers.

Jay Marqueson: The number one injury of servers is shoulders, and we have a lot of servers that are getting up there in age. And this gives them a chance to not have to carry all those plates. They can get the food to the table all at once instead of making multiple trips. And, so far, it's been great with the customers. The kids seem to love it. People are coming in to see it.

 

 

Full audio of our chat is in the last 15 minutes of the below podcast: