Pho restaurant brings in Norman's first robot waiter
May 28—Customers at a Vietnamese restaurant on Campus Corner are the first in Norman to be served by a robot, according to a city official.
Nguyen Pham, owner of the Pho House, 331 White St., recently programmed a robot to dish out pho, spring rolls, fried rice, flat noodles and other delicacies to patrons.
Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat.
Pham said he was inspired to purchase a robot during the pandemic when it was difficult to hire staff. While the COVID-19 virus has subsided, he found many students still aren't willing to work as servers.
"For my staff and the kitchen, I think the robots will help, he said. "I think it will be faster for us to bring the food to customers and cut down costs."
Pham typically hires three staff members at a time to take orders, serve food and bus tables. With the robot, he can reduce his staff down to one since he has started bus tables, too.
"A lot of that is just for marketing purposes," Pham said. "I don't think anybody here in the Oklahoma City area has a robot yet."
Scott Martin, president of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, said Pho House is the first restaurant with a robot waiter in Norman, and it may be the first in Oklahoma.
"I think it's fun and innovative. It's such a neat concept to have in Norman, and I think it's gonna go over very well," he said. "And to be fair, it certainly addresses some of the workforce issues that people are having as far as trying to find labor."
While the wait staff now runs on electricity, the kitchen staff remain human, and locals are raving at the quality of food, especially the pho.
Vic Long, a Pho House customer, said he hasn't enjoyed finer pho.
"It's delicious food," he said. "It couldn't have been better, and the robot's unique. We've been watching it since we've been here."
Long said he had never been to Pho House before Thursday, but said he'd be back, and not just to dine indoors. He said the electric kiosk at the front of the restaurant will allow him to order his food to go, and the robot will bring it to him.
Long said he had never been served by a robot before, but in the 1970s, he had been served by a miniature train.
"Back in the day in Del City, there was the Burger Train. A train came down the track and brought your hamburger to you," he said. "It was a little Choo Choo train, and it had car boxes which had your food sitting in it. You would put your money in it, and it would go back in."
Wife Lisa Long said the two had been watching the robot ever since arriving at the restaurant. She said it made sense to set up a robot at a pho restaurant because the soup comes in large, heavy, hot bowls that could do damage if spilled.
"How do they manage to bring out the heavy soup?" she said. "It makes sense."
Vince Nguyen is a regular at Pho House, and he said he prefers to be served by robots.
"It's cozy here, and it's quiet. The robot is fancy and convenient," he said.
Pham said it is essential for pho to be served immediately, which is why robots make sense for his style of food.
"We just didn't have enough hands to bring out the food, especially the hot soup," Pham said "If we left it out for three or four minutes, it would look soggy.
"I don't want our customers to have that kind of experience. I wanted to speed up the process so when the food is done it can go directly to the customers."
Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.
