Discover: Eatsa (San Francisco)

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Promising a new kind of experience that will revolutionise the food industry, Eatsa in San Francisco offers diners vegetarian cuisine with a fully automated service.

Using iPads to place their orders, diners then collect their meals through specially designed cubby holes, eliminating the need for human interaction. The purpose, Eatsa founder Dave Friedberg told Forbes, is to sell ‘nutritious and sustainable food at a reasonable price.’

“In order to eat healthy and environmentally conscious, you’re paying a huge premium in dollars and time,” Friedberg, a tech industry veteran explained to Forbes. “I don’t think those trade-offs are needed if you’re smart about technology.”

Currently operating six locations, with the latest outpost marking the chain’s first venue in New York, it’s not just the technology that sets Eatsa apart from its competitors. The innovative eatery is making a name for itself thanks to a vegetarian that uses quinoa in every single dish.

Aside from the grain’s nutritional value, unlike animal-based proteins, which require significant food and water inputs, quinoa consumes few resources while producing high amounts of protein, which is better for the planet.

However, Eatsa doesn’t market itself as healthful or sustainable. Instead, in a bid to appeal to the mainstream market, Friedberg told Forbes that he is focused on selling off of the taste, price, and speed.

“If you tell people there’s no meat in the food, than they’re not inclined to go into the restaurant,” he told the publication. “If it’s healthy they think low taste profile.”

With Eatsa, Friedberg claims that 80% of customers who are unfamiliar with Eatsa’s products don’t even realize they are vegetarian.

Discover more about Eatsa at: www.eatsa.com