Newest Food Tech: Burger Flipping Robots, Burrito Vending Machines

New "Alpha Machine" will take order, chop up toppings and cook more than 300 burgers per hour, while the "Burrito Box" Kiosk is lining up customers at L.A. gas station.

You can almost always count on the state of California to be on the leading edge of food technology, so it's not surprising to see this from NeonTommy.com about robots cooking up gourmet burgers in San Francisco and vending machines preparing ready-made Mexican burritos in a Los Angeles vending machine.

Coined as the “next generation of fast food” by its creators at Momentum Machines, the 24-square foot hamburger-producing "Alpha Machine" can prepare more than 300 burgers per hour, take custom orders and chop up toppings all by itself to provide the freshest burger possible. 

“With our technology, a restaurant can offer gourmet quality burgers at fast food prices. Our alpha machine frees up all of the hamburger line cooks in a restaurant,” explained the company on their website. “It does everything employees can do except better.”

Momentum says their current machine can also be used in other restaurants, convenience stores, food trucks, and even in a vending application.

But a robot flipping burgers hasn't even reached the heights of popularity of the Burrito Box, which is whipping up a buzz amongst Los Angeles foodies. The Burrito Box takes gas station burritos to new heights as customers can choose between six different types of burritos prepared on the spot from a koisk for $3 plus tax. For a few cents more customers can add a side of Daisy sour cream, Tabasco hot sauce or Wholly Guacamole, and customers can also watch a music video from the monitor screen while they wait for their burrito. 

The first Burrito Box kiosk is located at gas station in West Hollywood and it's so popular that one employee noted that customers are coming into the station just to check out the new burrito vending machine, while another Burrito Box opened in Century City last Saturday to a massive launch party. To read more, click HERE.

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