![Newspaper clipping from February 25, 1970 in the Daily Barometer showing an article written by Bob Allen, past Barometer Editor. This article was written to spotlight both the student body’s lack of participation with student government at the time in conjunction with their class representatives response. [It’s important to note ASOSU was not structured identically to today’s standards, likely having a president on behalf of each class work together as one entity as opposed to one president representing all classes.]](https://dailybaro.orangemedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-12-1.00.42-PM-e1741811160853.png)
Hana Sushi & Izakaya on Monroe Ave. has recently imported robots from China to be used to serve customers food and drinks.
Integrated early fall term of 2024, the robot waiter has since been assisting staff in improving customer service. After seeing an increased use of robot servers in Asian countries such as Japan, the owners of Hana decided they would be a great help to their human employees.
“It definitely helps to improve the customer’s dining experience,” said April Zhao, one of the owners of Hana Sushi & Izakaya.
The main goal of introducing the robots was to reduce wait time for customers at the restaurant.
While most of the food is already rotating around the customers at a conveyor sushi spot, servers are still necessary to grab drinks, condiments and special orders.
The tables at the location feature buttons customers can press to notify servers of the table that needs assistance. After learning what the customer needs, the server will add the requested items to the robot’s shelves. Then, using the screen on the robot, the server directs the bot to deliver to the correct table.
The robots use sensors on the ceiling and their bodies to know their way around and make sure not to run into people walking around.
“If you’re blocking the way, it will say ‘excuse me,’ the robots can also sing happy birthday songs and they can make really basic conversation,” Zhao said.
When asked if the robots would be used to reduce labor costs or replace staff, Zhao said, “We mainly want to have the robots to support the staff, definitely it cannot replace staff. It just saves a lot of time and legwork for the servers.” Most of their employees will remain Oregon State University students, not robots.
Opening on Monroe in 2022, Hana has opened three more locations across Portland and Bridgeport. The expanding business imported six total robots to be used across their restaurants. While she could not recall the exact cost of the robots, Zhao estimated the total coming to “more than a few grand.”
Not all the robots are currently in use. One is currently serving at the Corvallis location, and more are being used across their other restaurants, but some are being held for possible future locations.