China Cottage in Centerville uses robot for carryout
If you’ve been to the China Cottage on Far Hills Avenue in Centerville, you might have noticed the red rugs leading customers through the restaurant are moved to the side. That’s because this location uses a robot to help with carryout orders.
Michele Argeroplos, whose family owns and operates China Cottage, said they started using a robot about two years ago. Owner Tiger Wang saw robots being used at restaurants in larger cities, so he wanted to explore how robots could benefit their restaurants.
“I don’t even know how we did it without the robot before,” Argeroplos said.
China Cottage uses the robot to bring carryout orders from the kitchen to the front of the restaurant where they are picked up.
“It makes it so we can get the food to the front a lot faster as oppose to the carryout sitting in the back waiting. Customers have access to their food a little quicker, so it keeps everything fresher,” Argeroplos said. “During busy hours it makes it so we don’t have to have an extra staff member here just to carry carryout from the front to the back.”
Using a robot to streamline a task that doesn’t require human thought or interaction has allowed their team to have more time and energy to focus on other things around the restaurant.
So, how does it work? The robot was programmed to learn the layout of the restaurant. When a carryout is ordered, the kitchen packs it up, places it on the robot and presses a button to send it to the front. Once the robot arrives, a staff member takes the bag off the robot, which automatically heads back to the kitchen.
Argeroplos said they’re always looking to evolve and find innovative ways to make the restaurant run more efficient.
At this point, they are only using the robot for carryout orders.
“It has benefited us so much at this location that we will definitely implement it at the other locations,” Argeroplos said.
China Cottage particularly plans to open new restaurants in Springboro and Huber Heights, locations that could feature robots. Argeroplos hopes both restaurants will be completed sometime next year, but was unable to give a timeline.
China Cottage opened its first restaurant in 1987 at 3718 Wilmington Pike in Kettering, followed by 6290 Far Hills Ave. in Centerville and 1983 Shiloh Springs Road in Trotwood.
Argeroplos said her grandmother immigrated to the United States from Taiwan about 40 years ago followed by her dad, uncle and the rest of her family. The restaurant has kept many of the same recipes since opening nearly 40 years ago. Items like General Tso’s Chicken and the potstickers are a big hit. China Cottage also offers a menu with traditional Chinese dishes for people who want to venture out and try something a little less Americanized. Recommended dishes include the Three Cups Chicken or Chinese Rock Salt Prawn.
For more information about China Cottage, visit chinacottagerestaurant.com or the restaurant’s Facebook or Instagram pages.