Robotic Restaurant Created By MIT Grads Opens Second Location

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) - It's a meal prepared by robots. Spyce is the creation of four MIT graduates, including CEO Michael Farid.

The idea came about when they were students, frustrated with the lack of healthy and inexpensive meals available nearby. Farid said, "We felt like being mechanical engineers, actually there was a ton of potential in a restaurant to use automation."

Spyce, which uses a fully-automated kitchen, was born in 2018 with a restaurant in Downtown Crossing.

On Wednesday, their second spot opens its doors to customers in Harvard Square. It's located at 1 Brattle Square.

So, how does a robotic kitchen work? Farid explained, "We steam other ingredients like pasta and grains using a super-heated steamer and we have this assembly process that puts together your beautiful, delicious bowls in two to three minutes."

Spyce is all about customizing your meal, taking into account allergies and dietary restrictions. Efficiency is a big part too, as the kitchen can produce over 300 bowls an hour.

VP of Food & Development Jeff Tenner said, "There's really these elements that the infinite kitchen enables us to balance of technique, timing, and measurement and those things translate to an incredible guest experience."

Farid said, "We wanted to be able to accommodate people with dietary preferences, that are following diets like whole30, paleo, keto, vegetarian."

And while machines seemingly do all the work, the goal was never to take jobs away from people. "We have roles for folks to actually service the technology and actually maintain it. We have customer service roles in front of house. So we don't see it as taking away jobs, we see it as creating better jobs that pay a little bit more," said Farid.

Tenner said, "You can expect to be in and out of here as quickly as you want and have a good engaging experience and some delicious food."

For more information, visit: www.spyce.com