high tech foods in japan

San Francisco is known for having a food culture based on fresh ingredients. A new restaurant concept that opened on August 31, called Eatsa, aims to provide nutritious and tasty meals that cost less than most fast food chains. Being that this is the tech-savvy Bay Area, Eatsa accomplishes this by using technology to help keep costs down while delivering food quickly.

The food service industry might seem like the last bastion for an old-world experience, but technology is increasingly playing a role in its evolution, as evidenced by the computer-based terminals that send orders to the kitchen and split checks three ways, and mobile-based transaction systems like Square and PayPal that let even the local ice cream truck take credit card payments. Chili’s has installed more than 45,000 tabletop kiosks from Ziosk that handle payment, as well as reordering beverages or games. Technology is not only allowing restaurants to operate more efficiently, but also refocus their staff on other duties or even, gasp, replace them.

Of course, there are restaurants that employ tech as gimmicks, like the ones using robots that do triple duty as servers, cooks, and clowns. It’s not a surprise that many of these restaurants have also closed. But here are eight examples of eateries that are using tech to either maximize their profits or enhance the customer experience.